The Role of the Discipline of Humanities in the Society - Term Paper Example

Introduction The terminology referring to humanities represents the academic section that is mainly concerned with the study of human culture and behavior of people on the basis of historical events and elements. The study of humanities mainly includes modern day language of people, religion and philosophy among others. Contextually, it has been observed that in context of the modern day scenario, the study of humanities have obtained a vital position in the society. There are some disciplines of the study which are often signified to be essential to obtain a critical view of the ongoing affairs in the social as well as economic context of the 21st century. To be specific, it is quite crucial to understand that human behavior in accordance with various conditions which could not be assessed effectively without the knowledge of the concept of humanities (Schreibman, Siemens & Unsworth, 2008). Apparently, the role of the discipline of humanities in the society has today become more crucial owing to the fact that it engages the learners with the critical evaluation of situations as well as circumstances which are distinct and offers the learners with ample scope for brain storming. The significance of this particular doctrine has also intensified with the inclusion of technology, expanding the doctrine to a new paradigm of “digital humanities”. However, critics have been arguing that digitization of this particular realm is likely to give rise to various limitations in the accomplishment of the actual goals of studying humanities in contrast to its advantages of structural and innovative learning (Schreibman, Siemens & Unsworth, 2008). Considering such contrasting views among the theorists, this paper will emphasize on elaborating the role of digital humanities in context of the modern day scenario. Discussion Digital Humanities Digital humanities have today emerged as among the specific branches of humanities that have a crucial presence in the present day circumstances. It is known as the area of study, research as well as teaching that is mainly concerned with the juncture of computing with other sections of humanities. It has been developed from various crucial sections of humanities and computing which holds a variety of topics among which cultural areas are the prime. Furthermore, it covers certain traditional sections and disciplines of humanities such as philosophy, literatures and art among others which again makes it equally complex and multidimensional as compared to the traditional humanities doctrine. Social science is also among the vital sections of digital humanities. Digital humanities are also considered as the changing face of humanities in context of the modern day society which intends to minimize the existing limitations in the study of humanities through the traditional mode and simultaneously enhance learner’s aptitude in accordance with the 21st century needs. Stating precisely, it can be affirmed that the digital humanities is mainly concerned with the advent of digitalization in various sections of the human activities (Berry, 2012). Consequently, digital humanities have today emerged as an important concept or issue to be discussed in context of the modern day scenario of world culture, socio-demographic diversification and responses of the human society thereon. Apparently, in this era, internet has captured a larger section of the society. Within this technological oriented society, the role of digital humanities can further be justified as quite noteworthy. It has been noted in this regard that the changing trends of the society is largely owing to the digitalization that exists in and around the society owing to which, exclusion of digitization in humanities is somewhat inevitable. The impact of digital humanities on digital media has also been argued as quite a significant aspect to be studies, taking into concern a major section of the society. It is in this context that digital humanities have helped in learning, historical research as well as artistic work to name a few (Berry, 2012). These are further discussed below in detail. Digital Humanities and Learning With the emergence of digitization in the field of humanities, patterns of teaching all over the world have also changed drastically. Traditional methods of teachings have further been replaced by the technological approach. The new methods of teachings that are being evolved have further made teaching and learning experience quite attractive for learners developing the process as simpler and updated. As can be evidently presumed, it shall be a pleasure experience for any learner to be able to learn in a digital world when almost every process of the modern world has extreme technological influence. It has also been observed that in this digital world of humanities, students can find millions of studies or scholarly materials online with just a click. This helps to enhance knowledge of students as they can learn from a wider range of sources than obtainable through traditional learning modes reducing the barriers of geographic or economic divergences. Furthermore this development in technology also enables teachers to provide lectures on various other topics that might also not be included in the syllabus and thus expanding the learning process to a broader and deeper arena which is not always possible by sarcastically following the traditional way of learning. Moreover digitalized study materials are quite vital in regard to training scholars for conducting research on various other topics concerned with the realm of humanities. Additionally, the evolvement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in scholarly communications has depicted to play a vital role towards enhancing the learner’s communication skills. As most of the information can be easily gathered from the internet, it enables students to improve their communication substantially. This is also among the positive impacts of digital humanities to the society (Proffitt & Schaffner, 2008). However, it is worth mentioning in this context that any development in technology is accompanied by some negative impacts too. As critics argue, with the introduction or emergence of digitalization in the field of education, i.e. teaching or learning, students are inclined to attend less number of classes as they can find everything online through internet. Therefore, libraries have now-a-days have become place for gossip with the inclusion of digitization in the humanities sector. Also, with the increased availability of digitalized study materials, students are likely to become less keen to follow their teachers and get strongly influenced towards online digital education (Proffitt & Schaffner, 2008). Digital humanities and Research It has been noted that digital humanities or digitalization in humanities have profound impact on the process of conducting research on a particular topic in this doctrine. With the emergence of digital media in humanities, working in the field of research history has changed severely. With digitization, authenticated proofs and data without distortions, can be captured in numerous ways which can provide analytical thread to people’s imaginations. Historically, research has never been so easy and interesting that has been improved after the inclusion of digital tools in the sector of humanities. Over the years, images were seen to be painted and then used for or as historical evidences to keep records which were further criticized as lacking in terms of reliability and validity. However, this aspect of photography has changed drastically with the inception of the digitization era in humanities. Graphic images are the new inclusion in the list of inventions which are much accurate and reliable. It has been noted that these images give more strength to historical researches as they provide a clearer view of the entire scenario (Flowers, 2010). Furthermore, digitalization of sound has also contributed towards improvements in historical research of humanities. Sound recordings has further guided towards great progress in the field of historical research. Before the introduction of digitalization, sound recordings were not considered to be possible. However, in the modern day scenario, the inclusion of digitalization has enabled researchers to provide accurate information about a particular scenario as it acts as an effective as well as more trustworthy evidence. Likewise, with the advent of digitalization in the scene, video recordings have also become possible. Video recordings move one step further and provide better information about a particular situation as compared to that of sound recordings and graphic images within the research field of humanities. Video recordings of any sort of events are capable of coming up with vast amount of information. These videos, worth thousands of graphic images and sound recording as they provide picture and sound along with body language and other delicate evidences which are quite precious in the study of humanities (Flowers, 2010). Apart from these, there are some other forms of digital media that impose deep impacts on the conduct of historical research. Those include 3D scanning and Cyberware among others. All these aspects have apparently changed the methods of historical research up to a larger extent. However, with every innovation there exist some negative aspects too wherein the digital media has enabled anyone to publish low quality as well as historically imprecise work. This depicts that digital media has impacted moral values of people and therefore have increased the risk of inappropriate findings in the field of humanities (Flowers, 2010). Digital humanities and Creativity The role of digital media in creativity or artistic activities is quite commendable in the current day prospect. In this regard it has been noted that digital media has a vital prospect in the learning mechanism of humanities by enlarging the sphere of global cultural diversity. Digital media has inevitably enhanced the process of cultural awareness where the influence of one culture has been quite strong on another culture, giving a new shape to the modern human society which has further influenced the educational paradigm of humanities. Various artistic activities such as painting, sculpture and other forms of art has largely impacted with the emergence of digital art which are considered to be the symbolic representation of human culture and beliefs which form an inseparable facet of modern humanities. Technologies such as installation art and net art are among the byproduct of digital art which has further enriched the particular sphere of digital humanities over the traditional form of humanities (Lunenfeld, 2001). When assessing the modern day scenario, it can be observed that digitization has captured a major section of the society with its attractive features wherein almost every sphere of the global platform has been influenced quite strongly. Apparently, humanities have also not been excluded from the influence of digitization. Contextually, where humanities have been observed to involve these aspects of human society principally, it is quite likely that digitisation has also imposed a significant effect on this particular educational realm. Works or any sort of tasks nowadays are conducted mainly with the implementation of digital technologies. It has been noted that digitization have deep impact on the learning process as well which again signifies the potentialities of digital humanities as a modern educational paradigm. Conclusion From the overall analysis of the paper it can be summarized that digital humanities is an important aspect that needs to be provided with special emphasis owing to its potentials over the traditional method of learning humanities. Although critics on the basis of conservatisms have been arguing regarding the worth and significance of involving digitization in the study of humanities, it is quite likely that being aligned with the regular affairs of human society, the paradigm of humanities is also not excluded from the effects of digitization. Nonetheless, as similar to every innovative idea, digital humanities also possess certain disadvantages such as limitations in the form of authenticity in representing data accurately and over dependence on technology factors. It is in this context that the potentials of digital humanities lay subjected to its proper usage under specified guidelines. As can be evidently observed with reference to the above discussion, expansion of traditional humanities with the inculcation of digitization in the form of digital humanities has enhanced the role of creation, innovation and criticality when assessing the broad concept of humanities. Conclusively, it can be affirmed that digitization renders a broader and certainly a more creative vision to the traditional doctrine of humanities which can further be noted as one of the major roles of this particular paradigm, i.e. digital humanities. References Berry, D. M. (2012). Understanding digital humanities. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Flowers, J. (2010). Using media in historical research. Retrieved from http://jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/historymedia.htm Schreibman, S., Siemens, R., & Unsworth, J. (2008). A Companion to digital humanities. USA: John Wiley & Sons. Proffitt, M. & Schaffner, J. (2008). The impact of digitizing special collections on teaching and scholarship. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/library/2008/2008-04.pdf Lunenfeld, P. (2001). Snap to grid: a user's guide to digital arts, media and cultures. United States: MIT Press. Read More