Earlier this week, William Pannapacker published “‘Big Tent Digital Humanities,’ a View From the Edge, Part 1,” in which he provides some reflections–from a perspective he describes as not-insider and not-outsider, but someone at the edge–on the field as well as the 2011 Digital Humanities conference that took place at Stanford University earlier this summer. What always strikes me when reading the comments to such articles (and similar online conversations) is how many people are unclear about what, exactly, the field of digital humanities is. Similarly, there are many people who are interested in learning more, interested in becoming involved, but who don’t know what the best point of entry might be.
If you’d like to learn more about the field so that you have a better understanding of its history and its current state, I’d suggest you start with Matthew Kirschenbaum’s “What is Digital Humanities and What’s It Doing in English Departments” (ADE Bulletin 2010) and Patrick Svensson’s “The Landscape of Digital Humanities” (Digital Humanities Quarterly, 2010).
If you’d like to learn how to get involved with the field, you would do well to attend a THATCamp; we’ve written several posts about THATCamps, if you’re unfamiliar with them. And very recently, DH Commons announced a workshop at the 2012 meeting of the Modern Language Association: “Getting Started in Digital Humanities with DHCommons.” The review of applications will begin on September 15, and we’ll have more details next week.
How about you? Are you involved in digital humanities? What was your point of entry? What have you found most helpful? Let’s hear from you in the comments!
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