I have learned so many new things about Digital Public Humanities during my internship. The field of Digital Public Humanities requires being flexible, adaptable, and most importantly having good time management skills. These specific themes have been discussed in other blog posts concerning my internship. However, as the semester slowly comes to an end, I have been reminiscing about my first Digital Public Humanities class. Something that has always been in the back of my mind was our very first assignment in the Digital Humanities Certificate program. For the assignment, we had to read different articles which all gave definitions for Digital Humanities. After completing the readings, we were assigned to create our own definitions. The definition I came up with was incredibly broad.
“Digital Humanities can be defined as a broad digital realm of methods, analysis, research, and organization. It typically consists of a collaborative and personal relationship between the digital humanists and the public.”
The more work I have done within the field of Digital Public Humanities, the more I find this definition to be true. There is a spot for everyone within this field. Whether you can build online exhibits, create videos, or produce research, these skills can all be utilized within digital public humanities. One of the crucial elements of Digital Public Humanities is collaboration. This thought is expressed in multiple internship posts, but it is the most important. As we continue to develop and use technology, problems and questions will always arise. This is a field where people are assigned individual tasks to contribute to the overall group. The whole field is one big group project. When everyone puts together their individual pieces, we are left with an exciting learning tool or an interactive exhibit, etc. We create digital tools and experiences which allow people from all around the world to connect with each other.
As a result of this experience, I have been able to find areas of the Digital Public Humanities that could potentially see myself having a future career in, education and research. However, I still have questions and interests about other areas of Digital Public Humanities. I am still interested in pursuing more information about digital curators and creating of digital exhibits.
