When I hear “digital” my mind immediately goes to coding and the computer sciences, so I was surprised to hear that some people do not deem programming necessary for this field. I believe that learning to code can be a useful tool to understanding programming and how that relates to the digital humanities. What I thought was interesting about Donahue’s argument is that he was not necessarily against coding itself, rather, the way it negates the field of computer sciences.
“While programming will indeed usefully equip one better to understand computer scientific discourses, it should NOT be taken as the necessary precondition to engaging with the computer sciences…”
Donahue. “A ‘Hello World’ Apart (why humanities students should NOT learn to program),” (2010)
For this perspective, I can understand why some would not see coding as a useful tool in digital humanities, as it undermines the relevance and vastness of the computer sciences. Donahue did not seem against coding itself; he was upset that the digital humanities as a whole is combining two fields (the humanities and the computer sciences) that are large, distinct fields.
The Kirschenbaum argument focuses on the practical applications of learning to code for digital humanities. With the correct methods of teaching and motivation, Kirschenbaum argues that programming is a useful tool in the humanities. Especially as the humanities are expanding to include digital components.
“I believe that, increasingly, an appreciation of how complex ideas can be imagined and expressed as a set of formal procedures — rules, models, algorithms — in the virtual space of a computer will be an essential element of a humanities education.”
Kirschenbaum. “Hello Worlds (why humanities students should learn to program),” (2010)
I agree with this argument more than the other. Even if I am not fluent in any coding languages, the ability to describe what the code does, or what I want it to do, is an invaluable tool, especially in digital humanities.
When I was in high school, the most I ever did with coding was the Hour of Code- one hour every year where we would play a coding game. Going off of that experience, and that experience alone, I sign up for Intro to Computer Science in my freshman winter term. Computer science was totally new to me. I really struggled with it, and I told myself I probably wouldn’t try it again. Through that class, I learned Python. Since that class, I have definitely forgotten Python. As I worked through HTML Dog on our last assignment , I found that the logic, what Kirschenbaum describes as the “rules, models, algorithms,” was one of the few things I remembered from Intro to Computer Science. This basic knowledge allowed me to learn to functions of HTML, CSS, and Javascript without prior knowledge of any of the languages. The logic of computer science is a powerful tool and can be used for many things within the digital humanities field.
One reply on “Coding in the Humanities”
Would you include “the logic of computer science” (referenced in your final sentence) as an aspecting of “coding” or “programming”? In my mind, the logic is a theoretical element that is involved in programming and doesn’t require me to know how to write something in code, but I’d be interested to hear your perspective!