Digital Humanities - Jeffrey Schnapp

Summary

The digital humanities have undergone a transformative evolution, deeply rooted in the post-WW2 era's computational beginnings. Pioneers applied mainframe computing to cultural analysis, particularly literary texts. This interdisciplinary field has grown with personal computing and the internet, becoming a significant area of experimental scholarship. It challenges traditional humanities by introducing innovative scholarly practices, large-scale collaborations, and digital media's power. The digital humanities disrupt and extend the boundaries of humanistic inquiry, integrating design into research and knowledge presentation, raising questions about the sustainability and evaluation of new scholarly genres.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The humanities have been undergoing a radical transformation, deeply rooted in the history of the evolution of these disciplines, starting from the post-World War 2 era with the advent of mainframe computing.
• 💡 Early pioneers in the field, known by various names such as computational humanities, began experimenting with mainframe computers to analyze cultural objects, particularly literary texts.
• 📈 The transformation gained momentum in the 1980s and 1990s with the revolution in personal computing and the emergence of the World Wide Web, leading to the rise of what is now known as digital humanities.
• 🔍 Digital humanities represents an umbrella term for a series of experimental approaches to core questions that have animated the humanities from the beginning, such as meaning, truth, beauty, and the social history of cultural objects.
• 📚 The digital humanities movement is not just a continuation of traditional humanistic inquiry but also involves disruptive and innovative possibilities, enhancing the rigor and expanding the audience of scholarly work.
• 🤝 It often involves large-scale collaborations, cutting across boundaries between the humanities and other disciplines, and integrating design into the scholarship process itself.
• 🔗 The digital transformation challenges traditional print-based scholarship and introduces new forms of knowledge that leverage digital media and computational techniques.
• 🎨 In the digital humanities, every research question becomes a design question, requiring consideration of the presentation and communication of knowledge in various digital and dynamic media forms.
• 🏆 Evaluating emerging genres of scholarly practice in digital humanities presents a challenge, as they differ significantly from traditional forms of scholarship.
• 🌐 Sustainability of digital humanities projects is a concern, as the rapid evolution of digital media can render early experiments obsolete, necessitating long-term community support and development.

Q & A

What is the significance of the post-World War 2 era in the development of digital humanities?

The post-World War 2 era is significant because it marks the beginning of the use of mainframe computing to analyze cultural objects, particularly literary texts, which laid the foundation for what would later be known as digital humanities.

How did the 1980s and 1990s revolutionize the field of humanities?

The 1980s and 1990s brought about a revolution in personal computing and the emergence of the World Wide Web, which accelerated the transformation of humanities into what is now recognized as digital humanities.

What is the core focus of digital humanities?

Digital humanities focus on experimental approaches to core questions that have animated the humanities from the beginning, such as the meaning of cultural objects, their relation to social history, and the transformation of myths and ideas.

What does the term 'digital humanities' imply about the intersection of the digital and the humanistic?

The term 'digital humanities' implies an exploration of how digital technologies intersect with humanistic studies and how this intersection transforms our understanding of the humanities or human sciences.

How does the author describe the shift from print-based to digital-based scholarship?

The author describes the shift as a transformation where print moves from being the normative medium to a supporting role within a larger constellation of media that are increasingly digitally based.

What is the role of design in digital humanities according to the author?

In digital humanities, design plays a crucial role at every phase of research and knowledge presentation, from conceptualization to the professional sense such as graphic design, information design, and data visualization.

Why is evaluating digital humanities projects challenging?

Evaluating digital humanities projects is challenging because they often involve large-scale collaborations and produce knowledge in forms that differ significantly from traditional scholarly genres.

What are some of the key challenges faced by the digital humanities field?

Key challenges include evaluating emerging genres of scholarly practice, sustaining projects beyond their initial publication, and ensuring the long-term viability of digital media in a rapidly changing technological landscape.

How does the author view the future of knowledge production in the digital humanities?

The author views the future of knowledge production as one where research questions are inherently linked to design propositions, requiring scholars to consider the presentation and communication of knowledge from the outset.

What is the significance of the Stanford Humanities Laboratory and the Metalab in the context of digital humanities?

The Stanford Humanities Laboratory and the Metalab are significant as they represent collaborative spaces that combine elements of design studios and natural science labs, reflecting the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of digital humanities.

How does the author define 'knowledge design' in the context of digital humanities?

In the context of digital humanities, 'knowledge design' refers to the process of conceptualizing and creating the forms and genres through which complex research findings are communicated, including the use of digital media and dynamic forms of argumentation.