Anyone studying humanities has everything to gain, and nothing to lose from learning how to code. Today, humanities is undertaking a tremendous shift into the digital world. Rather than relying simply on an academic article or journal, those studying humanities are utilizing technological abilities to present their research and interests in creative, organized, and interactive forms on the internet. There are thousands of interactive exhibits that preserve historical photos without having to worry about the deterioration of the physical image, 3d models that don’t have to worry about crumbling from the conditions of the physical world, and so much more. If humanities wants to reach to a wider audience while also increasing relevancy and collaboration, those studying humanities should learn to code. It makes their work far more accessible and, generally, more fun for viewers to experience. Not only would those studying humanities be able to proudly display their work, but they can harness the attention of those generally not concerned with their studies. Also, taking free or cheap courses to learn coding can help them communicate with people they collaborate in the future, even if they don’t believe they’ll code themselves. For instance, a humanities professor may collaborate with a CS professor to create a 3d digital exhibit. Even if the humanities professor doesn’t know how to code well but still knows simple concepts like object-oriented programming, they can easily convey what exactly they want from the CS professor. And when that CS professor produces something that the humanities professor doesn’t like, they can return to the code and help search for potential errors or mistakes. This is summed up well by Kirschenbaum’s article in favor of coding, saying, “Knowledge of a foreign language is desirable so that a scholar does not have to rely exclusively on existing translations and so that the accuracy of others’ translations can be scrutinized.”
Like I imagine many studying humanities to feel about coding, I too was worried to even begin. I always view coding as being far too complex for most people. However, after taking just a few classes here at Carleton, I’ve learned that all it takes is practice. Coding itself isn’t too hard. Plus, there are plenty of resources online that make coding tremendously learnable to all. Prior to the few classes I’ve taken at Carleton, I had 0 programming experience. Now I know R, Python, SQL, and more.
<body>
<h1>This is my first time learning HTML, how exciting!</h1>
<h3> Here are some programming languages I know</h3>
<ul>
<li>R</li>
<li>Java</li>
<li>Python</li>
<li>SQL</li>
</ul>
<h4>My favorite R project was this heart disease predictor app</h4>
<p> <a
href="https://aiden200.shinyapps.io/final_project/">HDPredictor</a></p>
1 thought on “To Code or Not to Code: A Humanities Issue”
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I like the point you brought up on collaborating becoming easier when understanding simple concepts of computer science. I think the quote you use really brings out this point. Yes, you can certainly use google translate from English to Spanish and get your point across. But the grammar and even some of the words will not exactly convey the message you are trying to send. This works exactly the same with a programming language, and when it comes to big projects, have those details clearly laid out is essential.