“In doing the work of creating and utilizing digital tools for better digital humanities projects, shouldn’t we also be engaging the humanities themselves?”
Moya Z. Bailey, “All the Digital Humanists Are White, All the Nerds Are Men, but Some of Us Are Brave,” Journal of Digital Humanities, 2011.
This quote from Bailey’s piece on issues facing the Digital Humanities effectively summarizes some of these issues. Bailey points out that the people at the forefront of the digital humanities field are ignoring important humanistic issues. She poses this question, effectively saying that in order to create better DH projects, we need to be aware of diverse identities and how our projects can either lend to or against inequalities.
Bailey’s article reminded me of my own identities and the challenges I face in the fields that I am interested in. I hope to explore math and the digital humanities further, but I have found that certain people are surprised when I tell them what I want to pursue. Cisgender men tend to be encouraged to pursue math, science, or digital fields from a young age, and therefore often they build these skills earlier and have greater confidence in them. Because of my identities, I know what it is like to be the odd one out in a room full of people, but I continue to work hard and I believe these experiences will enrich my future work. Being different has made me care greatly about how identity plays a role in the world and how we can support each other in our differences.
My Hopes for the Term
Outside of being aware of identities when creating DH projects, I am very excited to explore mapping and modeling this term because I find spatial designing fascinating! I have worked with some mapping softwares and not a lot of modeling softwares, so I hope to explore them further this term. Maps have always interested me and there are so many ways they can be used. Overall, I’m really excited to try new programs and expand the possibilities for future projects!
