Center for Middletown Studies Joins Knowledge Indiana Initiative
The Center for Middletown Studies is partnering with the IDIA Lab at Ball State University on Knowledge Indiana, a major statewide initiative led by IU Indianapolis’ Polis Center and the Indiana Historical Society. Designed as an innovative and authoritative digital knowledge base, Knowledge Indiana will bring together Indiana’s rich history, culture, and communities through cutting-edge digital scholarship.
Building on nearly two decades of collaboration with the Polis Center, the Center for Middletown Studies will play a central role in developing original scholarly content for the project. Center Director Dr. James Connolly has contributed to the initiative’s development as a member of its content advisory committee, helping shape the project’s vision during its planning phase.
As the project moves into implementation, the Center for Middletown Studies and the IDIA Lab will research and produce innovative digital content, including interactive exhibits, data visualizations, maps, immersive storytelling experiences, and other digital resources that make Indiana’s history accessible to broad public audiences. These efforts will complement the technical platform developed by the Polis Center and the IU School of Informatics and the historical content organized by the Indiana Historical Society.
Knowledge Indiana represents an exciting opportunity to expand public engagement with Indiana’s history while showcasing Ball State University’s leadership in digital humanities, community-based research, and public scholarship. The project will also create valuable research, internship, and assistantship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, further strengthening the Center’s mission to connect academic research with the communities it serves.