We're Not Dead Yet

For all of the writing on the death of Humanities departments and the trouble of finding a solid Ph.D system, there are some things that keep the disciplines within the department alive. And it might be that technology will save us nerds of the ancient books.

Patricia Cohen, an education reporter for the New York Times, wrote "Digital Keys for Unlocking the Humanities' Riches" for this morning's paper and I must tip my hat. I've always enjoyed Cohen's stuff because she's always following modern Humanities scholarship and tends to bring out some gems for us nerds.

It's a short article that illuminates some sweet digital trends in a subject typically marked by its arcane factions.

"The humanities, after all, deal with elusive questions of aesthetics, existence and meaning, the words that bring tears or the melody that raises goose bumps. Are these elements that can be measured?

'The digital humanities do fantastic things,' said the eminent Princeton historian Anthony Grafton. 'I’m a believer in quantification. But I don’t believe quantification can do everything. So much of humanistic scholarship is about interpretation.'"

Go on....

"In Mr. Scheinfeldt’s view academia has moved into 'a post-theoretical age.' This 'methodological moment,' he said, is similar to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when scholars were preoccupied with collating and cataloging the flood of new information brought about by revolutions in communication, transportation and science. The practical issues of discipline building, of assembling an annotated biography, of defining the research agenda and what it means to be a historian 'were the main work of a great number of scholars,' he said."

I'm OK with this and also realize that I won't be a part of the movement as Blogger is sometimes a little difficult for me to navigate. I'll stick to the books. But, hey, more power to 'em. Me likey.

P.S. How about that guy's coat in that picture? Yes, please...