Digital humanities (DH) involves using digital technologies and computational methods to study the humanities. DH emerged in the 1940s and is an interdisciplinary field that combines humanities with computing. It is a changing field without a stable definition. Experts describe DH as a term of convenience and as methods for doing humanistic inquiry with computers in relation to topics in the humanities. The document discusses DH values and goals, which include providing background on DH, making it a safer and more welcoming space for experimentation, and building a DH community. It also provides examples of DH projects and resources for further DH training and collaboration.
MS4 level being good citizen -imperative- (1) (1).pdf
Demystifying Digital Humanities Fall Workshop 1
1. What is DH, and why does it matter?
Have you taken the DH Profile Quiz?
http://tinyurl.com/dmdhquiz
2. Defining DH
• By when it began (1946, approximately: date of
Roberto Busa’s plan for the Codex Thomisticus)
• Its stability, or lack thereof
• Its self-consciously mutable and multimodal nature
• According to its friction with traditional a.k.a.
analog humanities
3. What others say
“I don’t. I’m sick of trying to define it. When forced
to, “...I’ll I like “I make think to say the digital that referent humanities digital the humanities people is an unfortunate
instead is just of one
the
ideas or method methods for -- doing Digital humanistic Humanities enquiry.”
is the thing
practiced by people who self-identify as Digital
Humanists. It’s helpful to have a name for the field
chiefly for institutional authority. Though granted I
think it does involve coding/making/building/doing
things with computers, things related to, you know,
neologism, largely because the humanities itself is
--Brian Croxall, Emory University
a problematic term.”
--Trevor Owens, Library of Congress
“A term of tactical convenience.”
--Matthew Kirschenbaum, U of Maryland
the humanities.”
--Amanda French, Center for History and New
Media
5. Goals: what we can do
• Provide necessary background and vocabulary via
these workshops and the DMDH website.
• Make the digital humanities a safer, less intimidating,
and more welcoming space for experimenting.
• Allow you to begin charting your own course, and
developing your own projects.
• Build a DH cohort at UW.
9. Websites for Evaluation
Old Bailey Online : http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
DHPoco - Rewriting Wikipedia Project : http://dhpoco.org/rewriting-wikipedia/
The Homer Multitext Project : http://www.homermultitext.org/
TranscribeBentham : http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/transcribe-bentham/
UVic Maker Lab in the Humanities: http://maker.uvic.ca/
www.twitter.com/feministhulk
www.twitter.com/autoblake
http://tinyurl.com/fycchat2 and http://fycchat.blogspot.com
10. Website Evaluation Questions
What do you see as the project teams’ priorities?
Which DH values do you see in operation?
What sort of usage (and user) is being posited?
What aspects (if any) aren’t working well?
Is there anything else that stands out, or raises questions
for you?
11. Flash Project Development
(Students at Cabrini College brainstorm a DH project on porn. Image c/o Adeline Koh.)
Brainstorm a DH project with your team!
12. Flash Project Brainstorming
Will it focus on one distinct topic? Or on
bringing multiple topics together?
What perspectives do you want it to explore?
What artefacts will it contain, or collect?
How will users interact
and/or contribute?
What forms (modes) will it take?
13. Resources for further training and
collaboration
DMDH (http://www.dmdh.org)
HASTAC (http://www.hastac.org)
DHSI (http://www.dhsi.org)
TEI Seminars at Brown University
(http://www.wwp.brown.edu/outreach/seminars/)
UW Libraries Workshops (http://www.washington.edu/lst/workshops)
Profhacker (http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/)
Online coding courses: Skillcrush
(http://www.skillcrush.com) and Codecademy
(http://www.codecademy.com), many others (just google!)
Digital Humanities on Twitter -- no account needed
(https://twitter.com/paigecmorgan/digital-humanities)
14. With thanks to our sponsors...
Faculty sponsors: Tyler Fox, Ann Lally, Brian Reed, Miceal Vaughan,
Stacy Waters, Helene Williams
15. Works Cited
The quotes in the slide “What others say”
were taken from the essay “Day of DH,” in
Debates in the Digital Humanities, edited by
Matthew K. Gold, and published by the
University of Minnesota Press in 2012.
Thanks to Adeline Koh for permission to
use the image in Slide 11.
