In the field of Digital Humanities, there is an ongoing debate about whether humanities students should learn to code. In my view, while coding is not an absolute necessity for all humanities students, it can be a highly valuable skill in today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, which increasingly influences humanities scholarship.
“Clearly the distinction between what’s on the screen (or page) and what lies beneath is beginning to disappear, as computer languages seep into the visible, legible spaces in which we read.”
“Procedural literacy, which starts with exercises like making a snowball, will be essential if humanities students are to understand virtual worlds as rhetorical and ideological spaces, just as film and the novel are likewise understood as forms of representation and rhetoric.”
Matt Kirschenbaum, Hello Worlds: Why Humanities Students Should Learn to Program
Humanities students equipped with procedural literacy can better understand how these systems operate as forms of representation and rhetoric in contemporary texts. Works created with or by AI, along with texts that were historically limited to print but are now interwoven with digital and multimedia expressions, are expanding the scope of what can be studied in the humanities. Understanding these new forms of text requires familiarity with the underlying technologies that shape them. Traditionally, what we see on a screen or page (e.g., websites, texts, or images) has been perceived as separate from the mechanisms (e.g., code, algorithms) that make them possible. However, as McPherson observes, the interplay between visible content and underlying computer languages—such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or data visualizations—has become more apparent. For instance, in web design, the use of specific HTML tags or CSS properties can influence how we interpret visual hierarchies or accessibility. In data journalism, visualizations often include annotations or references to the algorithms or datasets that generated them. Thus, engaging critically with these “modern texts” increasingly requires an understanding of their technological frameworks, including the implications and biases embedded in the code itself.
Moreover, developing procedural literacy can also serve as a gateway for humanities students to engage in interdisciplinary research. As digital technologies continue to shape the way we produce, consume, and interpret knowledge, the boundaries between traditional disciplines are becoming increasingly blurred. By learning and understanding code, humanities students can collaborate with scholars in fields such as computer science, cognitive psychology, or media studies to investigate complex, multifaceted questions. This interdisciplinary approach allows for more holistic analyses of phenomena, from examining the impact of algorithms on society to understanding how AI-generated art reflects human values. Consequently, procedural literacy empowers humanities students to contribute to a broader, cross-disciplinary dialogue that enriches their research and expands their intellectual horizons.
I took an Introduction to Computer Science class where I learned Python. The course covered basic programming skills like variables, lists, conditionals, loops, and functions, along with recursion, object-oriented programming, binary search, sorting algorithms, program efficiency evaluation, and debugging skills. I feel that the course helped me learn a framework for thinking that can be applied to problem-solving.
<pre
><!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>♡NINA’s Web Page♡</title>
<style>
body {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
}
h1 {
color: #FF007F;
}
p {
font-size: 16px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to Nina's Portfolio</h1>
<p>ようこそ！ここは、ニナのWebページです！</p>
</body>
</html>
</pre>4 thoughts on “Lab 2”
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Your explanation about how reading “modern texts” (e.g. websites) requires some knowledge of their frameworks was really interesting! I agree with your argument that as the world is getting more digital, it will be increasingly important to have some kind of basic knowledge of coding in order to do more interdisciplinary research. Also — did you use code to make your text pink and a different font? It looks so cool!
I appreciate your argument that coding can be a powerful tool for helping humanities students deepen their understanding of modern texts and engage in interdisciplinary research. I had a similar experience with Python in my Intro to CS classes and agree that it strengthened my critical thinking and problem-solving skills, such as dividing a big project into smaller, organized pieces.
I really like how you emphasized the importance of coding for humanities students, especially in understanding modern texts and engaging in interdisciplinary work. It’s awesome how you connected those skills to analyzing digital texts and understanding the technologies behind them. I completely agree that coding can open up new ways of thinking and collaborating across fields!
I like how you emphasized the fact that there is an increasingly blurred line and interplay between visible content and computer languages. I agree that learning to code or at least having a basic understanding of coding can be very helpful to humanities students in expanding their reach. Afterall, digital humanities is about just that, expanding and enhancing the humanities with the help of digital tools.