Ah, not last!
Being a historian with only a cursory background in the digital humanities (which is to say I can use the Internet and DIY the guts of my computer from time to time), I am interested in having a general meta discussion on brainstorming the best ways to introduce the concepts, skills, and technology of the digital humanities to non-DH scholars (aka Academic Luddites). This is a topic that has been of growing importance for me lately as I have stumbled and groped my way through this broad field/culture, following people on Twitter, poking through key websites (e.g. CHNM), and now even going to THAT Camps (hi all). However, one key takeaway I have from all this is the gap that exists between DH practitioners and, well, everybody else. Anecdotally, I know that among my current and past colleagues in higher education (historians primarily) interest in digital humanities, technology, or whatever is heavily tempered by tech resistance, perceptions of cliquish attitudes, code fear, or perceptions that learning how to harness new DH methods in research and teaching would be too alien, take too much time, or isn’t scholarly enough. What then are the best practices to help overcome this for an individual who finds themselves in an academic department or school relatively untouched by the digital humanities?
Discussion topics for the session could include: 1) the good technological first steps, easy and basic, for an Academic Luddite to start with to join the DH playing field; 2) the resources that exist to help one overcome code fear; 3) useful lines of discussion when talking about DH approaches with skeptical colleagues; 4) other Campers’ experiences bridging the DH-Luddite divide; and 5) the existence (or creation?) of a clearinghouse for best practices (a Digital Humanities for Dummies type thing, perhaps?).
Ideally, I would be interested, if the idea seems valuable or useful, to work towards compiling such a clearinghouse (if one doesn’t already exist, in which case, point me to it). However, I do not want to lay any grand expectations on the session beyond having an interesting discussion.
