This episode of CHAT DHC captures the discussion from the recent live event at the Digital Humanities Center titled, "Powering AI from the Borderlands, Organizing against Data Centers". In this roundtable discussion, community advocates from two borderland regions of the Southwest U.S., Dona Ana County, New Mexico and Imperial County, California, detail their experiences organizing against the development of AI data centers. The panel includes panel host, Dustin Edwards, and guests, Annie Ersinghaus, Daisy A. Maldonado, and Gilberto Manzanarez.

Cover art by Alexis Curtis

Following the lecture, "Why Artists Make Robots," featuring Dr. Yin Yu and Dr. Qi Wang, DH team members Patrick Flanigan, Tyler Granger, and Syd Bowen discuss the the psychology of automation and the interdisciplinary possibilities of robotics, from biomorphic fabrication to artistic performance.

Podcast episode produced by Syd Bowen, cover art by Tyler Granger

The DH Team members, Brooklyn Longueira, Alexis Curtis, Ani Yeghoyan, Sofia Dell Aquila, Tyler Granger, Iris Cosgrove, Raine Porath, and Syd Bowen share their stories on how they came to the Digital Humanities Center, what they're looking forward to learning in the coming academic year and a fun fact about themselves.

Cover art by Sofia Dell Aquila

This is a special episode of CHAT DHC where we hear a discussion from our live event Ecocriticism, Blue Humanities, & Moby Dick, a conversation with Steve Mentz, Jessica Pressman & Diana Long. This event was held in the Digital Humanities Center at San Diego State University Library in Fall 2025.

Episode cover art by DHC Team member, Syd Bowen

DHC Friends, Robert Lang and Kasside Sahagun-Escalante chat with Mark Marino. Mark is a writer and scholar of digital literature living in Los Angeles. He is a Full Professor (Teaching) at the University of Southern California where he directs the Humanities and Critical Code Studies (HoCCS) Lab, which pursues collaborations with computer scientists in developing methodologies for humanities-based explorations of digital objects through the entry point of source code.

Dr. Marino's research focuses on conversational agents (chatbots), new media, emerging writing forms, instructional technology, game studies, social networking, selfies, fake news, contemporary writing practices and Critical Code Studies. He is the author of Critical Code Studies.