POST: ‘Digital’ is Not the Opposite of ‘Humanities’

The Chronicle of Higher Education has published “‘Digital’ is Not the Opposite of ‘Humanities’,” a response to Timothy Brennan’s recent “Digital Humanities Bust” article, written by Sarah E. Bond (University of Iowa), Hoyt Long (University of Chicago), and Ted Underwood (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

Taking issue with Brennan’s dismissal of literary analysis using quantitative methods, the article emphasizes recent advancements in statistical models that “represent phenomena like genre, character, and literary judgment” to go beyond “mere word-counting”:

Models of literary patterns are shaped by social evidence, as well as by the cultural knowledge of the scholars who build them.

The article ends with a recognition of the recent mapathons held to aid hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, noting that “a critical literacy of information technology allows humanists to teach and collaborate with the public in unprecedented and meaningful ways.”