By Amanda Malel
Trevisanut
This blog has
been adapted from a presentation given on 4 April 2014, at the Methods Models
and Meanings Symposium, which was hosted by the Digital Humanities Research
Incubator. While it attempts to map the institutional terrain of the digital
humanities, it must be acknowledged that this paper is hardly exhaustive. The
purpose, rather, is orient newcomers to the digital humanities, and to provide
an all important starting point for thinking about how The University of
Melbourne might position itself in relation to the burgeoning field.
To that end, it
does well to acknowledge that there is more research to be done, and that this
overview is Anglo-centric insofar as it focuses on English-speaking centres
largely located in the US, the UK, and to a lesser extent, Australia and
Canada. It is also worth noting that the digital humanities is a rapidly
evolving constellation of departments, centres, hubs and networks, and insights
that were relevant at the time the paper was written are likely to become
outdated.
This paper is
organised under four broad categories that represent the different types of
digital humanities institutions that currently characterise the field:
departments, centres, hubs and networks. The development of each category has
accounted for various factors including axes of inter-disciplinary
collaboration, teaching programs, publication outputs, and relationships with
internal IT departments and with external stakeholders.
Departments
As suggested by the term “department”, this category encompasses those
organisations that have been established for a considerable length of time,
such as, such as the Department of Digital
Humanities at Kings College, London, which has a long tradition of digital
humanities research stretching back to the 1970s. Departments are
characteristically embedded within their particular academic institution and
the international field. They are significant sites of inter-disciplinary
collaboration across traditional boundaries, including the arts, humanities,
social sciences, sciences, libraries and IT. For instance, UCLA Center for
Digital Humanities nurtures strong links between the Arts and Architecture, Social
Sciences, Humanities, Information Studies, and its Theater, Film, and
Television departments.
Departments are
also characterised by teaching programs incorporating bachelor, masters and
doctorate degrees. Summer schools, workshops and short coursework is also
common, and the UCL Centre for Digital
Humanities will also soon run an open access platform DHOER: Digital Humanities Open Educational Resources.
Moreover, Kings College directs their digital expertise toward the provision of
a commercial consultancy service.
Computer
science and IT researchers assume a central role, which have allowed departments
to pioneer new digital tools and methods. UCL has for instance, developed the Bentham Project, Textal and QRator, and metaLAB
at Harvard University is launching new experimental modes of publication, with three new releases in 2014.
metaLAB is also is involved in documentary arts and media innovation, such as
the creation of multilinear/multimedia documentaries modelled on databases.
Departments
have developed productive and enduring collaborations with external
stakeholders, particularly public museums, libraries, galleries and other types
of archives and repositories. UCL is most prominent in this respect. UCL has
capitalised on its location in central London, and has forged collaborative
projects with institutions such as the British Museum and the British Library,
and which reflect the mutual needs and agendas of all collaborators.
Departments have also harnessed communicative potential of online
platforms including twitter, blogs, websites, open access journals. As well as
facilitating real time global debate amongst peers, web platforms provide
access to digital research projects associated with the department.
Centres
The key factor
distinguishing centres from departments is their relative youth. That said,
they have been around for long enough to establish a stable presence within
their respective universities and the international field. For example,
research conducted at The ANU Centre for
Digital Humanities spans multiple disciplines including visual culture
research and visual anthropology; collections-based research; social and
environmental history; language, literary studies and linguistics. Its slate of
teaching programs is increasing, with the recent incorporation of the second
year course Hashtag Communities, into a BA.
They also offer MA coursework in digital humanities, digital media methods and
visual anthropology. Training and access to digital media resources are also
available for grad students.
ANU is also exemplary insofar as IT has a prominent place within the centre, and
there is a focus on the development of digital tools, such as OCCAMS (Online Cultural Collection and Management
System). Some ANU research projects are in partnership with external
organisations, for example AUSTLANG: the
Australian Indigenous Languages Database is in partnership with AIATSIS; the PAMBU Collaboration is for the
Pacific Manuscripts Bureau and the PNG Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
The web presence developed by centres also often utilise online
platforms including websites, which aggregate portals to research projects and
blogs.
Notably, three scholars within Center for Digital Research in the Humanities,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln maintain individual blogs cultivating a real
time link with the public and international colleagues. The Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities
at the LOYOLA University of Chicago holds an annual colloquium and
publishes an associated
journal.
Hubs
Hubs provide a physical
or virtual space for collocating different research projects across the
university, and for facilitating dialogue between researchers who share an
interest in the digital humanities. Hubs serve as a node of activity, and
functions to improve the visibility and viability of the digital humanities
within a given university, thereby allowing scholars to build a profile for
their research and providing them with new opportunities for inter-disciplinary
collaboration.
Education is
serviced based, for example, The Centre
for Digital Scholarship at Brown Library University is resourced to provide
digital tools, training and research support. Librarians and archivists produce
a significant contingent of digital humanities scholarship, and university
libraries are key sites for labs designed to optimise research practice. IT
researchers and computer scientists are also important collaborators within
hubs, working with humanities researchers to develop digital methodologies.
Hubs provide an
important precursor to the development of formalised relationships between a
university institution and external stakeholders, insofar as members are
involved in research projects with cultural institutions. Hubs generally have websites
which allows portal access to multiple digital projects via a single interface,
for example the Digital
Humanities Research Group at the University of Western Sydney. Conferences,
symposia and regular seminars are regularly conducted to build the existing
research community.
Networks
Networks are emerging communities of collaboration between humanities
scholars with a shared interest in learning new digital methodologies,
investigating digital technologies and using digital tools. These networks seek
to connect with more experienced colleagues working within IT departments
libraries, and across other disciplines in their academic institutions.
The internet is utilised as a powerful tool of collaboration and
communication, helping to build a new research community and facilitate new
opportunities for collaboration. For example, University of Toronto
hasn’t secured funding so uses a blog as a mechanism for forging a cross-institutional
digital humanities community. Seminars, reading groups and meetings are also
key strategies for building a cohesive community with a significant profile.
