tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post8086978569582215356..comments2024-03-25T16:59:28.263-04:00Comments on Works Cited: When DH Was in Vogue; or, THATCamp TheoryNataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07898457401179147102noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-64828580205797589592011-12-29T18:29:56.666-05:002011-12-29T18:29:56.666-05:00Thank you for your post. I am reminded of Jane Gal...Thank you for your post. I am reminded of Jane Gallop's book _Around 1981_ where she argues that just about the time when women began to get tenured in the Academy capital A, "theory" took hold in the Academy capital A--in the form of Derrida et al. Once "theory" took hold, departments needed to do cluster hires of theorists who could "do theory." And then, of course, women like Spivak and Gallop began to "do theory" and so it's really interesting that Tech is stepping in just in time to affect Women's Studies Depts. and Ethnic Studies dept. hiring--Doc McGrailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07201695279178381896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-40408616099258845462011-11-03T11:53:23.196-04:002011-11-03T11:53:23.196-04:00I agree that this post nicely brings up important ...I agree that this post nicely brings up important things that DH and THATCamp needs to consider as we imagine how we develop in the future. Here's a few thoughts about why I'm also strongly in the "more hack" camp. N.B. I spend a lot of time writing code (hacking), and have a Ph.D. in literature (yacking).<br /><br />I actually think the situation is the reverse of what Elijah describes. I see the hacking and Bootcamps as the humanities colonizing CS. Each of the applications we use has a worldview built into it. That's true right down to the level of the code, even the language, the application is built in. In general, though, the inner workings of applications are treated as a dark and mysterious territory that only CS people can navigate. So, to me, the bootcamps -- and intro to coding sessions that I have done -- are exactly about demystifying the application and the code specifically in order to be able to theorize about them better. To draw an analogy, one doesn't have to be a poet in order to do literary analysis of poetry, but both poet and critic share a common language about how poetry works. Similarly, I want the humanists and the coders to share a common knowledge about how these tools work. Ideally, the coders should learn from the humanists (or be both!) so that the products of theorizing can find their way into the worldview that the code, well, encodes.<br /><br />And so, I'd love to see a THATCamp Theory that also has bootcamps and intro to coding sessions, that maybe turns into paired sessions -- here's the structure built into WordPress, Drupal, and Omeka Bootcamp -- What modes of narrative are assumed? What assumptions about knowledge and the act of 'knowing' do they challenge? Theory session<br /><br />Or, an intro to coding session paired with a crit-code session that interrogates the assumptions made by programmers.<br /><br />Those kinds of things would make me a better humanist-coder, and help make sure that the humanities influences these tools and the coders who build them at a deep levelPatrick Murray-Johnhttp://hackingthehumanities.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-9707454713069637562011-11-03T00:05:12.773-04:002011-11-03T00:05:12.773-04:00I'm glad you wrote this, Natalia. I've be...I'm glad you wrote this, Natalia. I've been a bit nonplussed (get it?) about the THATCamp-type issues in DH and I think it's for some of the same reasons. For one thing, the sexless, genderless, raceless and "clean" digital realm seems well-entrenched. My first reaction, eons ago, to DH was that it seemed like a good excuse to wind the clocks back 50 years and write about history and literature without need to reference any of those annoying modern and post-modern problems. <br /><br />The other aspect you touch on, when collaboration between the humanities and CS becomes colonization of the humanities by CS (or "collaboration" in the more pernicious sense of the word) has also troubled me. I really think this is a sign of a growing creative weakness of CS departments, though, and don't expect it to be a long-term problem in DH, except insofar as it pushes a pragmatic colonial spirit of "best practices" and "efficiency" that may be picked up by humanities scholars as a whole.<br /><br />As far as theory, I'd attach Interpretation to your Narrative coattails. I think DH scholars are so worried about whether or not they understand their technology that they're only willing to present what they can "scientifically prove" (scare quotes because it's really an orientalized view of science) whereas they were perfectly willing to present their interpretation when that presentation occurred in the form of a linear text narrative rather than a dynamic visualization.Elijah Meekshttps://dhs.stanford.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-32855364398484097722011-10-24T22:18:08.125-04:002011-10-24T22:18:08.125-04:00Thanks for these responses, folks. I've been r...Thanks for these responses, folks. I've been remiss in not replying sooner. <br /><br />Ryan, I think I'm missing some context for your link, because I do not get the reference.<br /><br />Alexis, I was off the grid all weekend -- I hope to hear all about your roundtable. I, too, am curious about the too-easy metaphors of marginality that DH sometimes adopts.<br /><br />Tom, I'm particularly heartened by your response (I'm a fan of Digital Campus!). <br /><br />I fear I may have volunteered myself for something, but if I'm careful I think I can foist a lot of the work on my sister. Years of practice, folks. Years of practice.Nataliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954034499196842959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-19745050185679589602011-10-19T19:20:40.348-04:002011-10-19T19:20:40.348-04:00For me the key assertion here is that DH can and s...For me the key assertion here is that DH can and should change the way we think about the humanities. It's not purely additive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-13004352484605122672011-10-19T14:07:34.293-04:002011-10-19T14:07:34.293-04:00Thanks for this excellent post . You capture conce...Thanks for this excellent post . You capture concerns that have been on my mind for some time, but which I had not articulated. I'm so there for a politics and theory THATcamp.Micki McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06808040720917738718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-61339209922730029262011-10-19T13:26:14.916-04:002011-10-19T13:26:14.916-04:00Thanks for this post!Thanks for this post!Jentery Sayershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14025194680221271404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-44317381003313608722011-10-19T13:13:50.877-04:002011-10-19T13:13:50.877-04:00hm...and I always thought "yack" was sla...hm...and I always thought "yack" was slang for vomiting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-82222930893113453482011-10-19T13:07:23.567-04:002011-10-19T13:07:23.567-04:00Thanks for this thoughtful post. As a one of the m...Thanks for this thoughtful post. As a one of the more outspoken proponents of "hack" and "method" and a THATCamp founder to boot, I say go for it: http://thatcamp.org/plan/first/registry/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-43787837030013793582011-10-19T12:39:57.640-04:002011-10-19T12:39:57.640-04:00Thank you so much for this post––you're crysta...Thank you so much for this post––you're crystallizing and taking further so many of the ideas I've been thinking and talking about with Amanda Phillips, Anne Cong-Huyen, Micha Cardenas, Margaret Rhee and others. I really appreciated the connections to the Harlem Renaissance as well, which underlines exactly what the problems are with the way DH is sometimes construed as marginal or approached through metaphors of minority. I see the same appropriation happen with my related fields of science fiction studies and fan studies, sometimes.<br /><br />My favourite thing about this post, though, is that you take on these questions with the DH-style methodology of having a concrete response. THATCamp theory bootcamps! I absolutely love that idea, and I think it could make some vital strides in breaking down what seems to be to be an unnecessary barrier between DH and new media studies.Alexis Lothianhttp://queergeektheory.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-86129850532154819172011-10-19T12:09:48.953-04:002011-10-19T12:09:48.953-04:00I would totally sign up for a Humanities Bootcamp ...I would totally sign up for a Humanities Bootcamp on narrative and time.<br /><br />But, can we find another <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYxEIyNA_mk" rel="nofollow">word</a> to use?Ryan Shawhttp://aeshin.org/noreply@blogger.com