We are continually creating new ways of accessing and assessing this new cultural production, which continually open up important new spaces for exploring humanity’s cultural heritage and for imagining future possibilities using the transmedia methods and genres of the digital present. It is to these methods and genres that we now turn.
Burdick et al. “One: From Humanities to Digital Humanities,” in Digital_Humanities (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012), 3.
This conclusion highlights the immense potential of Digital Humanities.
Humanities studies -and to a larger scope civilization-is advancing(luckily! sometimes it feels like we’re just running in circles), and the rise of Digital Humanities serves as clear evidence of this evolution. By leveraging smarter tools and technologies, we’re not only enhancing our understanding of complex, abstract topics but also improving efficiency in research and communication. This interdisciplinary approach highlights our progress in blending innovation with humanistic inquiry, paving the way for a more connected and informed future.
The optimistic perspective in this final segment inspires me to want to learn more about Digital Humanities as a field, especially now in 2025, reflecting on the insights shared in this paper written back in 2012. What has changed in digital humanities? What has not changed? Are we still using the same tools, or have we upgraded to faster and better mechanisms?
I find Digital Humanites to be an extremely versatile field. Although the name suggests “humanities,” it isn’t constricted to it. As a biology major, the technologies we’re learning are quite useful in the STEM field. Think 3D modeling- biomedical devices or cell modeling. Ecological field work-ArcGIS. These technological skills you learn and interdisciplinary which I enjoy very much as someone who has a passion in both STEM and humanities.
Going into this term, I am most eager to pursue 3D modeling and I would like to explore website building. In general, 3D modeling is a very satisfying process and it brings me a lot of joy to be able to see a visual final product. Site building seems very tedious- especially in terms of coding- but I’m always up for a challenge! It’s the difficulty that makes the final product so rewarding.
