About
The Visual Narrative Initiative
The Visual Narrative Initiative (VNI) aims to push the shared frontiers of engineering and humanistic research to set a new agenda for advanced multimodal scholarship. It accomplishes this by opening research pathways in image analytics, design of interactive digital experiences, data visualization, digital history, and computational media. VNI researchers work on identifying pathbreaking opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations between engineering and humanities disciplines, particularly those invigorated by the emergence of digital humanities at the intersection of computation, analytics, and interpretation. Building on Digital Humanities’ traditional emphasis on text and data, the VNI is establishing an edge in the development of the multimodal landscape of digital images, gaming, virtual environments, and visualization.
A CFEP Cluster
The Visual Narrative Initiative is part of the NCSU Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program (CFEP). The CFEP has brought some of the best and brightest minds to join NC State University’s interdisciplinary efforts to solve some of the globe’s most significant problems. Guided by a strong strategic plan and an aggressive vision, the cluster hiring program added new faculty members in visual narrative in 2016. The CFEP marks a major initiative of the university’s strategic plan, “The Pathway to the Future.” After completing its initial cohort of twelve interdisciplinary clusters with 41 hires, NC State committed to establishing eight new clusters, including the VNI, consisting of 33 additional interdisciplinary faculty hires.
Funding and Support (Present and Past)
Visual Narrative Initiative research is funded by a wide range of government, institutional and industry partners. These include:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |