Abstract
The 2020’s have become the decade of online education. Whether through digital classrooms, online influencers, or malicious disinformation, the majority of material absorbed by young students is digital and “short-form” content. Controversies around the curation practices of social media platforms directly intersect with methods of education. The ease of digital tools (for education and entertainment) come at a time of increased challenges for students- both mental and educational. Both through the careful implementation of education specialists and through the madness of anonymous online crowds, more humanities material than ever- particularly history- has been transmitted via uniquely online methods of communication- memes, bite-sized documentaries, listicles (list-articles), digital edits, subversive uses of AI and so on. This has democratized the humanities more than ever before, with the barrier to entry for students being reduced to almost nil. Simultaneously, the new universal communication has opened the floodgates for sloppy methods of analysis, rampant false and outdated material, and even malicious intent within the online humanities. Through my experience as an archival researcher, a museum curator, exhibits designer and a history teacher, I have a unique combination of experience to analyze this phenomenon. I assess the state-of-the-field of digital humanities for the casual public student: from Wikipedia to webcomics. I discuss the pros and cons of the new normal. Additionally I offer some positive steps that teachers and professionals can do to best succeed in conveying hard-researched, ethically-created material online.
Presenters
James BlandDoctoral Candidate (ABD), Graduate Assistant, Department of History, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—Traveling Concepts: The Transfer and Translation of Ideas in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
Education, Humanities, History, Curation, Controversy, Digital
