Tag Archives: #transformdh

DH for the People Part II

#transformDH

 

I had planned to blog yesterday for Day of DH but I got distracted by life. More specifically, I got distracted by trying to figure out how I am actually going to pay for my living in these United States of America. I started to think about how much money goes into digital humanities and how that money could work in other ways.

I in no way wish to disparage or bite the hand that feeds me because it is my connection to DH that is helping to pay my rent currently and in the future. It just got me thinking about how the money that universities are eager to invest in digital humanities could be leveraged in interesting ways.

At my university, faculty pitch ideas about digital projects that are then taken on by the DH team and executed. I am really enamored with the possibilities of initiatives like One week One Tool, that attempt to use DH resources to solve a particular problem. If I can be utopian for a moment I wonder what it would look like for people to use the digital humanities to help solve community problems.

I love the idea of community partners identifying problems and needs that may require a DH solution and university and colleges giving back in that way to the cities from which they extract so much. With signs of the apocalypse abounding, I’d like the good fortune of DH to be utilized in multiply beneficial ways for those on either side of the academic divide. When I think about transforming DH, this sort of project is on my mind as well.