Our world began with an image. A leaf falls from a tree and lands on the surface of the water, carried by ripples and whirlpools to a new place far removed from ins origin. There is he able to form ...new streams in calm water. This image is a metaphor, representing the interweaving of technology with the practices and values of humanities research, being both a point of intersection and a torrent of unexpected and predictable contingencies. Logical methods in the digital humanities lend themselves well to theory and documentation. At a level of a distinct set of defined statistical topics that can be generated using a software tool such as MALLET (Machine Learning for Language toolkit, a cross – platform topic modeling tool) rather that a set equivalent retrieved a linear normal reading process, representing the difference in degree. The methodological stake and consequences of the choice for the knowledge it creates are questioned, but taken into account and understood in scientific discussions. The falling leaf, getting into the wave, continues to move down, and the open frame of its fall can be lost, changing the path of the leaf. However, the leaf may later grow together, thus forming a barrier that affects further flows. Technology is sublimated into the fabric of scientific methods and the organization of the work of scientists is marked by a certain inevitability because of the methodological forces at work and because of the technologies that enable communication and interaction in the wide society.
On May 21, 2010, Daniel J. Cohen and Tom Scheinfeldt posted the following provocative questions online:“Can an algorithm edit a journal? Can a library exist without books? Can students build and ...manage their own learning management platforms? Can a conference be held without a program? Can Twitter replace a scholarly society?”As recently as the mid-2000s, questions like these would have been unthinkable. But today serious scholars are asking whether the institutions of the academy as they have existed for decades, even centuries, aren’t becoming obsolete. Every aspect of scholarly infrastructure is being questioned, and even more importantly, being hacked. Sympathetic scholars of traditionally disparate disciplines are canceling their association memberships and building their own networks on Facebook and Twitter. Journals are being compiled automatically from self-published blog posts. Newly minted PhDs are forgoing the tenure track for alternative academic careers that blur the lines between research, teaching, and service. Graduate students are looking beyond the categories of the traditional CV and building expansive professional identities and popular followings through social media. Educational technologists are “punking” established technology vendors by rolling out their own open source infrastructure.Here, in Hacking the Academy, Daniel J. Cohen and Tom Scheinfeldt have gathered a sampling of the answers to their initial questions from scores of engaged academics who care deeply about higher education. These are the responses from a wide array of scholars, presenting their thoughts and approaches with a vibrant intensity, as they explore and contribute to ongoing efforts to rebuild scholarly infrastructure for a new millennium.
Debates in the Digital Humanities brings together leading figures in the field to explore its theories, methods, and practices and to clarify its multiple possibilities and tensions. Together, the ...essays—which will be published later as an ongoing, open-access website—suggest that the digital humanities is uniquely positioned to contribute to the revival of the humanities and academic life.
PDF
