Defining Digital Humanities By What It Is Not
The following guest post comes from Filadelfia Soto. Soto is a second-year doctoral student in the Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese Department at the University of Virginia, where she is also pursuing a Digital Humanities certificate. She is interested in how technology can support the study of colonial archives and amplify voices historically underrepresented in traditional scholarship.
The hardest part about explaining Digital Humanities is that it refuses to fit into a single definition. Sometimes, to understand a concept, we must begin by clearing away what it is not, and Digital Humanities is a perfect example.
Try explaining Digital Humanities at a family dinner, and you will quickly realize how slippery the term can be. This October, I attended the 7th Digital Humanities Conference in Monterrey, Mexico. An international event at a well-known Mexican university that gathered humanists from around the world who integrate technology into their work. Therefore, one could say that we were a group of digital humanists. However, when at the final closing session, after three days of learning and enriching collaboration, the moderator asked “Colleagues, what is Digital Humanities?” We all sat in silence. After the awkward silence, the moderator continued, “then, what is Digital Humanities not?” I was deeply hooked. Sometimes, when attempting to explain what something is feels difficult, it becomes easier to begin with what it is not.
Digital Humanities is not one discipline but a multidisciplinary approach that combines computing and the humanities to strengthen research methods and outcomes. It is not about replacing the researcher with a digital tool. Rather, the focus lies on identifying or designing tools that complement and enhance human inquiry.
This led to questions that resonate deeply to me as I am a novice digital learner: How much computing should a humanist know to engage in a Digital Humanities project? Do we need to learn programming? The researcher does need to develop computational skills, but the kinds of skills required depend on the nature of the project. As a multidisciplinary field, teamwork is essential; it optimizes time and effort, strengthens results, and fosters a community of shared expertise. Digital Humanities is not a one-person endeavor.
Lastly, Digital Humanities is not the indiscriminate use of computers for any and every task. While humanities projects often begin with a problem, Digital Humanities projects arise from a specific need. For example, a historian might start with a question about migration patterns; the work becomes a Digital Humanities project when digital mapping is required to visualize and better analyze those patterns. In essence, the humanities address the problem until technology becomes necessary to enhance performance and results, then the digital component steps in!
The ideas presented here reflect my current understanding of the Digital Humanities field. This is a field that, as I realized during the closing session in Mexico, continues to resist a fixed definition. My intention is not to assert a definitive position but to keep exploring what Digital Humanities is and is not. Through this writing, I hope to invite dialogue and collective learning among those equally curious about the subject.