“What would digital scholarship and the humanities disciplines be like if they centered around processes and possibilities of social and cultural transformation as well as institutional preservation? If they centered around questions of labor, race, gender, and justice at personal, local, and global scales? If their practitioners considered not only how the academy might reach out to underserved communities, but also how the kinds of knowledge production nurtured elsewhere could transform the academy itself? These questions are not hypothetical.” Can Digital Humanities Mean Transformative Critique?
In this topic we will explore readings, media, people, and collaborations that suggest the possibilities of a transformative and critical digital humanity: one where neither the digital nor the humanities will be terms taken for granted.”
Reading
Digital Creativity as Critical Material Thinking: The Disruptive Potential of Electronic Literature
Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism – Chapter 1: A Society, Searching (password: engl201)
Can Digital Humanities Mean Transformative Critique?
Media
The era of blind faith in big data must end | Cathy O’Neil
Is a Critical Digital Humanities Possible?| Roopika Risam
Digital transformation – a revolution in the humanities?
Exercises
You have a choice of exercises this week:
Option 1
1. Annotate the readings listed above
2. View the media items
3. Make a post at your website reflecting on your key takeaways from the readings and media items in this topic. There is no “word count requirement” for this post, but I will be looking for evidence of connection and reflection on key themes in these readings and media items.
Option 2
Suss Out Inherent Biases In Large Language Model (LLM) Data. Following activity instructions at https://dlinq.middcreate.net/detox-2024/activity/not-all-knowing/ and post about your process and findings at your website.