Bridging the Divide: How Digital Writing Can Save the Humanities

[This is the first post in a series on the benefits and advantages of digital writing and distribution over traditional scholarly inquiry. In you have thoughts, suggestions, questions, or contentions, please feel free to make them known in the comments.]

[Over to "Schematic Overview"] [Down to "Connectivity"]

Introduction

Image Credit: Sporti

Creative Commons License: Attribution 2.0 Generic

I began this project initially as a piece of formal academic writing. I realized, of course, the inherent irony in traditional academic writing, but I felt at that time that my work wouldn't be taken seriously if it were presented as a blog. As I began writing, though, I realized that if I held to that same form that I sought to reform, I would be limiting my ability to adequately express my ideas in a way that would be meaningful and powerful. In the introduction to Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, Peter Rudy explains Zamyatin's belief that form and content must complement one another, "that only a heretical form could adequately dramatize heretical ideas" (x). Perhaps saying that scholars need to look at digital writing as the salvation of the humanities isn't as heretical as some of the claims being made in contemporary scholarship, but nonetheless, if the humanities are to remain relevant within a modern context, they must learn to thrive within the mediums of our day. And if the humanities are to survive the transition to this brave new world of the digital age, there must be a bridge built between formal and digital writing. Academia must broaden its scope and prove its grand potential.
preparing a piece of academic writing dedicated to the weaknesses of

Pleasta Meecha

 Well, I was asked to write a blog post introducing myself for a class that I'm taking on John Milton, so I figured I would post it here as well just for fun. I am not a big guy on taking photos of myself, so any time I want to post one for a profile or whatever, I have to take one on the spot, so I've included an obligatory photo. I feel like when introducing themselves, most often people emphasize the same five or so things and then finish it all off with "something interesting" which invariably becomes nothing more than an extension of one of the first five things, so this time, I'm going to take a little bit of a different approach and share some things that not everyone might know. I hope you can get to know the everyday stuff about me from just regular interactions, here and in real life.

I am a technology enthusiast with reservations. I follow all sorts of cool new technologies, from transparent solar cells to 3D printers that can be used to print viable human tissue (to quote the oracle from Hercules, "...it's gonna be big"). I'm interested (though shamefully inexperienced) in lots of different forms of digital expression, from 2D art to filmmaking, and I'm really interested in reinterpretations of older forms, like spoken word poetry and the work of young and aspiring Youtube artists like Lindsey Stirling. It's secretly a dream to make a successful vlog or Youtube channel someday. I remain adamant, however, in my opinion that just because your phone is an egghead, mine doesn't have to be a "dumb phone" even though it's from 2005. I like a lot of the features of modern phones and stuff, but I know myself well enough to know that if I had a so-called "smart" phone, I would probably quickly get sucked into all the cool apps and other stuff. So, I stick with my museum-worthy RAZR. 

See, MSPaint isn't thaaaat bad...

Ever since I was 15 or so, I've wanted to develop a low-cost method of water purification for application in low-income areas. That's pretty much what made me want to study chemistry originally (that, and the prospect of going into food sciences and developing calorie-free Goldfish crackers so I could not feel bad about being practically addicted to them). I worked at a nature preserve for a summer and actually served on a municipal water council to raise awareness of water-born illness and to encourage "green" building techniques. Yep... closet hippie. Eventually, though, English called my name, so I can still be a hippie, just in different ways.