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Governance

The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) is a formal alliance of independent Digital Humanities (DH) organizations around the world that operate in diverse scholarly, cultural, and legal circumstances. Its primary remit is to support DH community activity at a global level and in all regions of the world, including those that are not currently supported by an established DH organization.

Its governing bodies are the following: 

  • The Constituent Organizations Board (COB), composed of one representative from each of the Constituent Organizations (COs) and a liaison to the Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Its role is to establish and develop vision, strategy, and policy for ADHO. 
  • The Executive Board (EB), appointed by the COB, includes the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Officer, and Conference Officer. Its role is to enact the decisions made by the COB, to administer the day-to-day running of the organization, and to ensure that ADHO abides by all applicable laws. Officers serve terms ranging from 2 to 4 years, depending on the nature of the post.
  • Standing committees (Admissions, Awards, Communications, Infrastructure, Multi-lingualism & Multi-culturalism), whose chairs are appointed by the COB, and whose members come from the different COs.
    • The Admissions Committee is responsible for advising on the admission of new organizations into ADHO as either (a) a Constituent Organization or (b) an Affiliated Organization.
    • The Awards Committee is responsible for the awards ADHO gives to recognize and encourage outstanding contributions to the Digital Humanities.
    • The Conference Officer and Deputy Conference Officer are responsible for developing, improving and maintaining the ADHO conference protocol and accompanying guidelines, and overseeing the annual conference.
    • The Communications Team advises on ADHO’s overall communications strategies and manages public communications channels via the ADHO website, social media, and related email lists. They also provide guidance on how to improve its web site, social media presence, and visibility as an inclusive, diverse organization.
    • The Infrastructure Committee is responsible for the creation and maintenance of a web infrastructure that can be shared by all ADHO COs, with a particular focus on stability, affordability, and sustainability across shared and distributed services.
    • The Multi-Lingualism & Multi-Culturalism Committee is responsible for developing and promoting policies in ADHO and its constituent organizations that will help our community to become more linguistically and culturally inclusive.
    • The Program Committee oversees the program of the annual Digital Humanities conference, and is reconstituted for each conference.
    • The Special Interest Group (SIG) Liaison and cohort of conveners help coordinate the activities of ADHO’s many SIGs, and to advocate for their needs.

ADHO officers, committee chairs, and members of its COB and EB are all volunteers affiliated with a Constituent Organization (in addition to their ADHO duties) and work in time zones around the world. We are always in need of people to fill these positions, and always welcome volunteers and self-nominations for various openings as they arise.

Learn more about how ADHO functions in our Governance Protocol.

Diagram of ADHO’s Governance

Documents