In a recent report, “the edgeless university: why higher education must embrace technology” author Peter Bradwell compares universities to Robert Lang’s study of sprawling urban areas that produce “cities in function . . . but not in form.” Bradwell locates technology at the heart of the edgeless sprawl of higher education:
The internet, social networks, collaborative online tools that allow people to work together more easily and open access to content are both the cause of change for universities, and a tool with which they can respond.
Digital tools and resources enhance collaborative networks and partnerships, break down disciplinary boundaries, link institutions, connect universities with the public, and create new possibilities for both learning and research. However, the recent John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation report on digital media and “The Future of Learning” suggests that change is slow in coming:
Modes of learning have changed dramatically over the past two decades—our sources of information, the ways we exchange and interact with information, how information informs and shapes us. But our schools—how we teach, where we teach, who we teach, who teaches, who administers, and who services—have changed mostly around the edges.
At the same time, the Kettering Foundation here in Ohio has joined with others to call for new ways to imagine the relationship between higher education and public practice. Consider the potential for digital humanities in regards to the goals for public scholarship laid out in theImagining America initiative:
- Scholarly and creative work jointly planned and carried out by university and community partners;
Intellectual work that produces a public good;
Artistic, critical, and historical work that contributes to public debates;
Efforts to expand the place of public scholarship in higher education itself, including the development of new programs and research on the successes of such efforts.
How do digital humanities enhance opportunities for public scholarship? What promising new pedagogies integrate civic engagement with learning? How can we expand on opportunities for both collaborative and self-directed learning that engages these goals? How can we assess these learning experiences? What new qualities or values regarding learning emerge from the practice of digital humanities? Should we take advantage of digital resources and tools to offer collaborative humanities learning opportunities across institutions?
I look forward to exploring ways to understand the significance of digital humanities for both public scholarship and learning.
I think this is a good topic for anyone involved in public history/humanities, certainly something I deal with on a regular basis at the Humanities Council. I remember something along these lines coming up at the CHNM Thatcamp this year- I think there was a consensus that all (or the vast majority of) Digital Humanists and also Public Humanists/Historians, but not all Public Humanists/Historians are Digital Humanists. I think that is an interesting way to engage in this topic, and I wonder if people agree or disagree with that statement. I certainly would argue that, since there is undoubtedly a strong “public” element in Digital Humanities (along with very strong scholarly, theoretical, historiographical, etc. elements), DH provides an excellent opportunity to offer serious scholarship in a public way.
Correction:
By
“I think there was a consensus that all (or the vast majority of) Digital Humanists and also Public Humanists/Historians”
I meant
“I think there was a consensus that all (or the vast majority of) Digital Humanists **ARE** also Public Humanists/Historians”
which makes a lot more sense.
Great topic! I will be teaching a course this winter that combines academic work with a digital oral history project. The most challenging aspect has been forging the community connections and working out the logistics — something we clearly need to do on a more regular, reciprocal basis. I look forward to learning more about your work at THATCamp.
I agree that the relationships and logistics are a challenge for these projects. I am looking forward to our shift to semesters so that there is more time to develop projects. I am teaching two linked Service Learning-Civic Engagement courses on Community Development this Winter and Spring. Students will be working in the field on a Dayton project, Culture Builds Community. The first quarter they will be doing interviews and asset maps. During the second quarter, they will be involved in programs. The integration of digital resources with both the students, project staff, and the communities involved in this project are the challenges that I’m still thinking through and I’m eager to hear about these related projects.
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