Blog Post 1 – Jane Parson

The uptake of digital tools and platforms does not “solve” long-standing problems in the academy as much as offer what engineers refer to as “work-arounds,” provisional improvisations that allow whole systems to move forward without demanding perfection from every part.

Burdick et al. “One: From Humanities to Digital Humanities,” in Digital_Humanities (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012)

This passage grabs my attention because it makes clear an uncomfortable truth about not only the interactions between digital tools and the humanities, but also the interaction between any new tool and the humanities. Many of the problems that academics face are longrunning ones – their ability to understand and interpret the information given to them, how best to acknowledge criticisms of their works and creations while still maintaining control of their ideas, none of these are solved by the creation of digital platforms. 

The passage isn’t useful in the context of suggesting future plans, but it works great as a warning of what not to do. Some problems in academics have been legitimately solved, such as the internet for transmission of information, but each of those solved problems targeted a difficulty in an academic’s ability to do work, not the work itself. Anyone who creates tools, platforms, or methods for which to support academics should ensure that their creation is one designed to support, not replace. Look at ChatGPT – a tool designed to replace the work of writing, and one universally loathed by universities and high school teachers alike.

This term, I’m excited to look at interpretations of data, digital representations of historical artifacts and locations, and to do more work in fusion360. The graphs we looked at today that connected all of the online digital humanities enthusiasts was extremely interesting to look at, and I see so many possibilities for how those methods could work with other data – connecting multiple accounts of historical events to see where inaccuracies lie or mapping out which historical figures have documented interactions, for example. Additionally, 3d representations of old objects are technically impressive, and mean that anyone can see and explore them, not just those with physical access to them. And regarding fusion360, I’m just starting to learn how it works now, and am so excited to learn more.