“Digital Humanities is a production-based endeavor in which theoretical issues get tested in the design of implementations, and implementations are loci of theoretical reflection and elaboration. “
Burdick et al. “One: From Humanities to Digital Humanities,” in Digital_Humanities (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012), 13.
This first full week has been a very interesting headfirst dive into the field of Digital Arts and Humanities, which has come with plenty of challenges, lessons, and opportunities to learn new skills. It’s safe to say that, if this week is any indicator, it’s only upwards from here!
The quote that resonated with me was the above foundational passage that I found on page thirteen of the assigned reading for Tuesday’s class. If anyone remembers, I tried to read this quote out in class and learned two things in doing so: one, the authors love to use unnecessary long and technical words and two, this is uncharted territory. The first revelation isn’t anything astounding, but when asked to simplify the quote I paused and thought it through; what really is Digital Humanities, and why am I interested in it?
I’m not sure exactly what I said after that, but for a solid ten minutes afterward I turned the question over in my head, trying to figure out what it was I wanted out of this course. I realized that I’ve always been a big proponent of pursuing multiple fields of study; something I practice myself here at Carleton, which often leads to deadlines for <em> very </em> different and time-consuming projects falling inconveniently close to each other.
Then it hit me: this (relatively) newly-minted minor was the perfect crossroads to unite my studies in both STEM and humanities in a project-oriented way! In a roundabout sense, I’m eager to see how my technical and humanities skills can mix in a more free-form environment where (seemingly) creativity is the only limiting factor.
I guess, in the end, it’s funny that an overly-complicated explanation of a concept that has no need to be so confusing provided me a deeper motivation to take part in this course!
— A.J.