Previously, I have helped with sections of proposals for company projects, usually as supporting research or collecting information about partnerships or collaborators. The experience of needing to propose a justifiable project and theoretically sell why it should happen, and how one might go about doing it, was an enlightening experience. I found the ideation process challenging, making sure that it fit into the context of the class and the Digital Humanities. I am personally not a fan of needing to suggest a project on my own, so trying to evaluate the usefulness of a project idea proved to be the first and most daunting challenge. After finalizing an idea (many were abandoned) I found following the Digital Humanities Research Institute Project Lab helpful in thinking through the proposal. The National Endowment for the Humanities articles were also helpful, but I realized it was making my experience more complicated and I needed to focus on what would be feasible for a semester-long project. Keeping in mind the time scale helped me narrow down the scope after receiving the in class feedback. I had not done many field scans before this and found it to be difficult, but also vital. First, I was just impressed by a lot of what I found, but also it was great to break down the components I felt were like what I would write about in the proposal and where I felt my proposed project could diverge.

Going forward, I would probably continue to use the Digital Humanities Research Institute Project Lab when working through a project. I found the experience of drafting a project proposal to be a great skill to add to my toolset. I also have a deeper understanding of the less glamorous side of developing something and have immense appreciation for the team members who are responsible for drafting proposals to get funding for projects and initiatives.