Event Title

FSA06 - Crafting Digital Content for Contexts of Use: An Approach to the Digital Humanities in International Contexts

Presenter Information

Kirk St. Amant
Barry Mauer, University of Central FloridaFollow

Location

CB1-107

Streaming Media

Start Date

3-11-2017 1:45 PM

Description

The New Context for DH: Today, digital media allow us to engage in global-level interactions with almost the same speed and ease as speaking with individuals face to face. For the digital humanities (DH), this situation brings with it new possibilities for collaborating internationally on projects to offer a more holistic approach to examining what the humanities are, how works are interpreted, and how ideas are exchanged. Perhaps the greatest challenge to DH in the age of ready international access involves identifying where communication could break down or miscommunication or offense could occur. This situation involves various interrelated variables including culture, politics, economics, and technologies. Scholars, educator, artists, critics, and performers working in such contexts can thus benefit from frameworks that help them understand and deal with prospective problem areas that could affect online/technology-based discussions of DH in international contexts. Proposed Frameworks for DH: This presentation would overview two frameworks for mapping the variables affecting communication and comprehension in these emerging international contexts around DH. One focus of this proposed framework is to understand the context in which such exchanges take place and then identify – and map – the variables affecting communication and the use of materials in these international spaces of exchange in DH. This approach involves using script theory to identify the expectations individuals from different cultures bring to DH exchanges. In so doing, script theory helps identify those factors/variables individuals expect to encounter to interact effectively in a given context. By using script theory to guide research on communicating the digital humanities in different contexts, individuals can identify – and address – prospective problem areas that could affect international collaboration on or communication relating to the digital humanities. Humanities scholars often values obscure paradigms, and some of the most promising research in Digital Humanities involve collaborations across disciplines and across international boundaries. These opportunities also present numerous challenges. We can learn about how to develop effective collaborative strategies by looking at a second approach related to script theory: the pragmatic cognitive framework developed by James Peterson in his study of avant-garde cinema. Peterson's approach puts perception, cognition, and communication into the framework of problem solving, and his strategies for engaging with avant-garde cinema help us to deal with the ill-structured and difficult problems posed by international and cross-disciplinary humanities collaboration. They key to Peterson's strategy is to identify the relevant principles of communication, which include schemas such as prototype, template, and procedural knowledge, and discourse comprehension that includes semantics and pragmatics. Our panel will suggest ways to develop digital content for international contexts using script theory and cognitive theory.