Hi there! My name is Carlee Mayo and I am one of the Digital Scholarship Summer Fellows for summer 2021. I am a rising senior at Gettysburg College with a double-major in English literature and Cinema/Media Studies. For our six-student cohort, this blog will be our opportunity to touch base about our progress and development throughout the summer.
So, the first prompt: what does DH mean to me? Prior to this fellowship – I’m almost embarrassed to admit – I had only heard of “digital humanities” in passing, and could barely define it in the vaguest of terms. It has hardly been on my radar, even though I am a humanities student.
As I have learned throughout my first week, the general definition of digital humanities is taking work and research already done in the humanities field, and then presenting it to your audience in digital ways. These digital resources can vary from websites and software to virtual maps, timelines, audio and video, and graphs/charts.
Personally, it goes much deeper than all that. To me, digital humanities provides an incomprehensible opportunity to share my passions with the world.
As an English major, trust me, I’ve written my fair share of papers; I would even venture to say that I enjoy writing papers. However, DH gives me the power beyond merely writing a paper because of how accessible and versatile it can be. The average person finds reading a paper or essay tedious or dull – but DH changes all that. Digital Humanities can reach a larger audience, appeal to a greater group of people, and provide a more interesting and interactive method for learning and teaching.
Another aspect of digital humanities that I love is the commitment to collaboration. Although it is a cliché, I have always agreed that “two heads are better than one.” DH allows for collaboration between people, scholars, data, and research from around the world. Is there anything better than the open flow of information for a greater increase of knowledge and understanding?
Clearly, I’m exhilarated to be a part of DSSF this summer. Each and every day brings something new and exciting to learn, explore, and experiment with, and my understanding of Digital Humanities is shifting with each week. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store!
Cheers,
Carlee Mayo
