Humanities (setting the stage for the contemporary study of dh)*

For me, the study of humanities is a complicated one, as it deals with the study of the human experience and culture, as well as, humanistic inquires into the social sphere. At its core the humanities seeks to better understand the human condition and what  it means to be (or not be in some cases) a part of human culture and civilization. Inherent in this line of inquiry is a need to balance the voices of those who have and those who lack power in a given time and place and I think as a matter of course, that this has often lead to the erasure of oppressed peoples voices. Humanities today seeks now address that inequity and to bring to the fore the stories of all people, and tell a more full and holistic narrative about the human experience and condition. 

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Data Science (contextualizing the quantitative side of things for dh)

Data science in the practice of applying statistical interpretation and models to the collection of numerical or quantitative sources. It applies a veneer of objectivity by producing results in a rigorous and consistent way, however, I think this too as a discipline risks the potential of missing the nature of systemic oppression if not done carefully, the axiom of bad input = bad output, can also be understood in terms of the data scientists biases in coding, calculation and presentation of purportedly objective data (See Weapons of Math Destruction or Algorithms of Oppression). 

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Digital Humanities

Digital humanities seeks to take humanistic inquiry and apply data driven methodologies to them in order to quantify the nature of the systems at work in the discipline. Additionally, digital humanities contains a portion of it which is praxis. That is to say, dh is both a subject matter to study, but also a methodology by which the study is done. When taken in concert these two facets seek to illuminate the previously unseen aspects of historical, social, and cultural experience across time and place.

*these sections were originally produced for DH101 - Summer 2021, taught by Dr. A. Sanders.