The Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship has relaunched for Fall 2025 with an entirely new experience in the redesigned space in Kelvin Smith Library. The Freedman Center supports research projects that leverage digital technology, including software such as ArcGIS, R, Python, Nvivo, and more. In its new iteration, the Center is better positioned to support graduate student research projects with upgraded technology and a comfortable working environment.
The Freedman Center technology lab supports large-scale research projects like theses and dissertations. High-end Windows desktops are powerful enough to render large files and process models with thousands of data points in minutes rather than hours. The computers provide a customizable experience where settings, configurations, and tweaks to programs are preserved. If you are tweaking a model or training a deep learning library, your progress will be saved and waiting for you with repeated log-ins to the machine. Machines are available whenever KSL is open, including 24/5 access during the academic year.
We expanded on a substantial research software list by adding packages that allow for AI experimentation, including Ollama and LM Studio. If there is software you would like to see on our computers, email FreedmanCenter@case.edu to discuss or see if existing packages might meet your needs.
Staff are available to assist with everything from a troubleshooting question to sustained support for research projects. The Center has walk-in hours where staff assist online or in person with software and technology, no appointment needed. If you have in-depth questions about a research project, try our new online scheduling tool to make an appointment with a digital scholarship specialist.
The Center hosts the Digital Scholarship workshop series, a free set of online, hybrid, and in-person learning experiences that allow you to explore topics like using census data in R, photogrammetry in Agisoft Metashape, network analysis in Gephi, advanced photo editing and manipulation, and fine-tuning language models with PyTorch. Additionally, we have expanded our suite of self-guided online tutorials, which curate reliable and easy-to-follow open access resources on digital scholarship tools and topics.
Beginning in 2026, there will be new opportunities to work in the Freedman Center. The reimagined Freedman Scholars, formerly the Freedman Student Fellows, will support student internships to assist with the Center’s technology and digital scholarship projects. If you are interested in the opportunity, we encourage you to sign up for the Digital Scholarship Newsletter, where we will announce the call for applications later this semester.
Learn more about the Freedman Center, including a calendar of upcoming programming and the latest from the Freedman Fellows, at our website. Questions and feedback are welcome at FreedmanCenter@case.edu.