Throughout the course of this semester, my understanding of what Digital Humanities is has evolved, and my conception of what it is capable of doing has expanded greatly. In my first week, I defined the field as “a method of interpreting historical information as data through software and modeling systems… which seeks to find new ways of understanding the past and our relationships with one another through the use of technologies.” I know realize that this interpretation only scratches the surface of what DH can do, and that it is in fact so much more than any one method or approach. It is a way of looking at not just our past selves, but our future ones as well through the lens of a increasingly digital world, and finding new way to challenge what we think we know.
My research has a grad student has opened me up to the reading of Michel foucault who states “There is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations”. As we continue to grow out knowledge of digital humanities, we must be equally cognizant of our own motivations, and how we use our influence. We have the unique opportunity before us as digital humanists to shape the discourse of the public in new ways, weather that be challenging ideas of race with projects that map out disparities, or reminding America of its own past through the collection of former slave interviews, or creating interactive maps of 1800s Washington D.C.
The field of Digital Humanities is still relatively new compared to many others, but as technologies like OCR and AI continue to evolve day by day, so too will our definitions of its role in society. Right now, digital humanists are working on projects that aim to collect sensitive documents, digitize artifacts, or connect the past through spatial or temporal visualizations. But in 50 years we can only imagine what our work will be able to accomplish. The best thing we can do as Digital Humanists is to face the future head on, and be willing to adapt to the changes in our own work environments. As long as we continue to make new discoveries about the past that are relevant to the present, I have faith that the field will continue to thrive.
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