Blog post 1: what is DH?

     According to our class' manifesto, Digital Humanities has a very flexible definition. It is described as, "The incorporation of technology to make creations such as literature more accessible to the masses." While this is a valid description, digital humanities has much more to it. Others describe DH as, "a scholarly activity that uses digital technologies to study, conduct research, and educate people about the humanities." DH includes a variety of different avenues in which it adapts information such as; data analysis, digital archiving and preservation, digital mapping, cultural analytics, interactive and immersive technologies, etc.) DH is not only limited to computers- as we utilize many different technologies rather than your traditional computing such as; VR, augmented reality, etc.) Dh also is not intended to replace traditional humanities- but to emphasize or expand upon them on a digital forum. My personal understanding of digital humanities is that it is a digital or online avenue used to understand and spread information from physical humanities (i.e. literature, philosophies, language, and performing arts.) While digital humanities is initially a difficult concept to understand, its main focus is the spread of information on a digital platform. Coming into the course I had no clue what digital humanities entailed, though through the readings and various definitions, I have been able to come up with a loose definition of my own. While we are living in an age of technology, it is imperative that we maintain the information and lessons we've learned throughout history. Therefore, we must adapt to the current times- which is where digital humanities derives from.  An example of said digital humanities is a project dubbed 'Valley of the Shadow.' This was an early example of DH as their mission is to collect primary sources throughout history and apply them to a digital platform (https://valley.newamericanhistory.org/.)


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