DEBATES IN THE DIGITAL HUMANITIES

Forthcoming from the University of Minnesota Press in January 2012, Debates in the Digital Humanities brings together leading digital humanists to explore the field’s rapidly evolving methods, practices, possibilities, and tensions.

From defining what a digital humanist is and determining whether the field has (or needs) theoretical grounding to discussions of coding as scholarship and trends in data-driven research, this volume delineates the current state of the digital humanities and envisions potential futures and challenges. At the same time, several essays level pointed critiques at the field for its lack of attention to race, gender, class, and sexuality; the inadequate level of diversity among its practitioners; its absence of political commitment; and its emphasis on research over teaching.

Together, the essays in Debates in the Digital Humanities—which will be published first as a printed book and later as an open-access webtext that will track and extend these discussions—provide a definitive view of the digital humanities at a key moment in the development of the field.

Advance Praise

"Is there such a thing as ‘digital’ humanities? From statistical crunches of texts to new forms of online collaboration and peer review, it’s clear something is happening. This book is an excellent primer on the arguments over just how much is changing—and how much more ought to—in the way scholars study the humanities." —Clive Thompson, columnist for Wired and contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine

I look forward to the day when anxieties about the disruptive nature of ‘digital humanities’ fade into memory and the innovative methods, theories, and approaches championed by those who have contributed to this valuable volume are respected across academia for their rigor and utility. This book will go a long way toward clarifying the debates within and about digital humanities. —Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Googlization of Everything—and Why We Should Worry

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Contributors to the print edition: Bryan Alexander, National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education; Rafael Alvarado, U of Virginia; Jamie “Skye” Bianco, U of Pittsburgh; Ian Bogost, Georgia Institute of Technology; Stephen Brier, CUNY Graduate Center; Daniel J. Cohen, George Mason U; Cathy N. Davidson, Duke U; Rebecca Frost Davis, National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education; Johanna Drucker, U of California, Los Angeles; Amy E. Earhart, Texas A&M U; Charlie Edwards, CUNY Graduate Center; Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Pomona College; Julia Flanders, Brown U; Neil Fraistat, U of Maryland; Paul Fyfe, Florida State U; Michael Gavin, Rice U; Matthew K. Gold, NYC College of Technology/CUNY Graduate Center; David Greetham, CUNY Graduate Center; Jim Groom, U of Mary Washington; Gary Hall, Coventry U, UK; Mills Kelly, George Mason U; Matthew Kirschenbaum, U of Maryland; Alan Liu, U of California, Santa Barbara; Elizabeth Losh, U of California, San Diego; Lev Manovich, U of California, San Diego; Willard McCarty, King’s College London, UK; Tara McPherson, U of Southern California; Bethany Nowviskie, U of Virginia; Trevor Owens, Library of Congress; William Pannapacker, Hope College; Dave Parry, U of Texas at Dallas; Stephen Ramsay, U of Nebraska-Lincoln; Alexander Reid, U at Buffalo; Geoffrey Rockwell, U of Alberta, Canada; Mark L. Sample, George Mason U; Tom Scheinfeldt, George Mason U; Lisa Spiro, National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education; Patrik Svensson, Umeå U, Sweden; Luke Waltzer, Baruch College; Matthew Wilkens, U of Notre Dame; George H. Williams, U of South Carolina Upstate; Michael Witmore, Folger Library.