Sudhir Venkatesh,
Professor of Sociology

"CCNMTL's Digital Bridges initiative has not only been extraordinarily helpful in my undergraduate teaching, but I have been able to re-conceptualize my approach to bringing ideas to life. Much of my research has been rooted in urban poor communities where source data is complex and multi-dimensional-- the most recent work is an archival project on community-based media in Chicago. CCNMTL staff have helped me to organize my work in a manner that creates innovative curricular opportunities-- effectively bringing undergraduates closer to the lives of those less fortunate in the city-- and opens up new research doors. I'm sure to repeat this venture in the future."

Manning Marable,
Professor of Public Affairs, Political Science, and History

"Digital Bridges allows us to utilize primary source materials available at Columbia, such as correspondence, original manuscripts, excerpts from oral history interviews, and photographs to bring Harlem's heritage to life. Instead of studying the collective experiences of a community from a distance, my students become immersed in the culture, politics and socioeconomic problems of daily life through the words and voices of those individuals who created that history."

Courtney Bender,
Associate Professor, Religion Department

"CCNMTL developed a number of city maps from several diverse data sets, including U.S. census data, city planning data, and New York City historical maps for my course on New York City's religious communities. After we got past the 'wow' factor of being able to work with all of these data sets within one live environment, they became an invaluable resource in my students' analyses of religious change in the city. CCNMTL's work on this project made it possible for all of my students to grasp the roles of various social, economic, and cultural forces on the city's diverse religious communities."