Some Assembly RequiredTeaching through/with/about/by/because of, the Digital Humanities

‘Henj’, c 2011 Stevyn Colgan

Shawn Graham, Carleton University@electricarchaeo

‘Boy with Commodore Vic 20 (1984)’ , Michael Surran. Wikimedia Commons

DH Strand 2: Deformation

Image at: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/andrew/scs/cs/15-463/f07/proj_final/www/mdougla1/

Historical Friction

Classic Romero Zombies, cc by Pedro Vezini, http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrovezini/4791322423/

Practical Necromancy: simulating our beliefs about past phenomena to explore the unintended consequences of those beliefs.

Recap: Key trends in DH for education

• Strand 1: implications of a cyborg consciousness

• Strand 2: deformance of our materials

• Strand 3: deformance of our thinking

c. 1590, World Map in a Fool’s Head http://www.retronaut.com/2011/03/world-map-in-a-fools-head/

Which is rather similar to (experimental) archaeology, too.

Making as a way of knowing.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeology101/tp/subfields.htmhttp://annrocks.co.uk/category/experimental-archaeology/http://www.archeologiasperimentale.it/ingleseprincipale.htm

...and it’s worth remembering that

the roots of DH go back to the 1940s, and the work of the Jesuit, Father Roberto Busa.

Not the latest fad, then.

So what would university teaching look like, if that were our foundation?

Ruined Chapel, cc Tony Austin http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruined_Chapel.jpg

...not as full of holes as this, trust me...

Caveat: 1994 Shawn

‘Salt Shaker’ cc Dubravko Soric http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salt_shaker_on_white_background.jpg

• Things I have tried:– Game based learning– Gamefication– The Screwmeneutical

Imperative

(and you can read about these at electricarchaeology.ca)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:One_man_band,_CDV_by_Knox,_c1865.JPG

Epic Fails‘A very big birdhouse’ cc James Gray-King

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesgrayking/2158280666/

Epic WinsJeff McNeill, http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmcneill/4194259736/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Cc Jpmueller99 http://www.flickr.com/photos/redarrow101/4414917091/sizes/m/in/photostream/OZinOH http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/773504348/

Again I hear you say:

So what would

university teaching look like, if DH was

our foundation?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egg_Under_Construction.pngConstruction of ‘The Egg’, Albany NY, 1976.

DH will save us, right?

Just sprinkle DH, right?

…and the backlash.

DH pushback

Know Your MOOCs

Corporate, one-size-fits-all xMOOCs, from the US

Personal learning environments,cMOOCS,from Canada

Alright, get to the point: What would you do, Shawn?

cc Harald Hoyer http://www.flickr.com/photos/hhoyer/3784430219/

Well…

• Need to think more about how our institutional processes form the worldviews and possibility spaces for/of our students

• And maybe, we would put things together differently.

Turn the University inside-out.

No More Walled Gardens

Massive? Bah.

Digital media is about connection. Make it personal.

Domain of One’s Own

…because right now, that’s not happening.

The Embedded University

Forget massively ‘open’.

Think massively embedded

Think massively accessible

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2671548

Some Assembly Required.