NOTE: This is an archived version of an old site. Visit scottbot.net for the new site, and any post updates

Not Enough Perspectives, Pt. 1

Right now DH is all texts, but not enough perspectives. –Andrew Piper Summary: Digital Humanities suffers from a lack of perspectives in two ways: we need to focus more on the perspectives of those who interact with the cultural objects we study, and we need more outside academic perspectives. In Part 1, I cover Russian Formalism, […]

Do historians need scientists?

[edit: I’m realizing I didn’t make it clear in this post that I’m aware many historians consider themselves scientists, and that there’s plenty of scientific historical archaeology and anthropology. That’s exactly what I’m advocating there be more of, and more varied.] Short Answer: Yes. Less Snarky Answer: Historians need to be flexible to fresh methods, […]

Appreciability & Experimental Digital Humanities

Operationalize: to express or define (something) in terms of the operations used to determine or prove it. Precision deceives. Quantification projects an illusion of certainty and solidity no matter the provenance of the underlying data. It is a black box, through which uncertain estimations become sterile observations. The process involves several steps: a cookie cutter to make […]

Bridging Token and Type

There’s an oft-spoken and somewhat strawman tale of how the digital humanities is bridging C.P. Snow’s “Two Culture” divide, between the sciences and the humanities. This story is sometimes true (it’s fun putting together Ocean’s Eleven-esque teams comprising every discipline needed to get the job done) and sometimes false (plenty of people on either side […]

the scottbot irregular

data are everywhen

theory

Not Enough Perspectives, Pt. 1

Do historians need scientists?

Appreciability & Experimental Digital Humanities