鈥楧igital humanities鈥 explored this week during 性视界传媒鈥檚 humanities institute speaker series
Contact: John Burrow
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擨n a virtual format open to the public, a Mississippi 性视界传媒 faculty member specializing in digital humanities will provide expert analysis this week about today鈥檚 level of digital interaction and how it can be used in a positive way.
On Thursday [Oct. 15] at 4 p.m., Dhanashree Thorat, assistant professor in 性视界传媒鈥檚 Department of English, will present 鈥淲hat is the Digital Humanities Anyway?鈥
To participate in the presentation, visit .
Hosted by Julia Osman, associate professor of history and director of the 性视界传媒 Institute for the Humanities, the event highlights how researchers can use digital humanities to their advantage and what can be gained from it. A question-and-answer period will follow Thorat鈥檚 discussion.
鈥淪o much of what we do face-to-face is now online, including our ways of using and enjoying the humanities,鈥 Osman said. 鈥淔or many researchers, time spent with physical objects or books are now going to be spent online. This is perfect for researchers trying to span their horizons as well as teachers looking for new resources or anyone who is just curious.鈥
Osman said Thorat鈥檚 insight will be useful for a broad audience.
鈥淭here are a lot of rich possibilities for digital storytelling through maps, archives, visualizations, tweets, TikToks and other digitally mediated forms and genres. Given broader national conversations about the importance of the humanities, we have to find ways to engage broader public audiences in our work, especially on timely issues,鈥 Thorat said.
She explained that digital humanities is generally framed in two ways.
鈥淔irst, it offers humanities scholars a set of digital methods such as digital mapping or text analysis to pursue their research questions. Second, it suggests taking a humanities-based approach to studying digital culture and spaces鈥攆or example, hashtag activism or code studies. For me, it鈥檚 an exciting area because it offers a way to study the digital world we live in and participate in transforming it.鈥
She emphasized that digital humanities is not a replacement or supplement to humanities or humanities departments.
鈥淚 especially encourage grad students to learn about recent scholarship in digital humanities as it intersects with their research,鈥 Thorat said. 鈥淎t the moment, we鈥檝e also seen a lot of discussions about virtual learning and digital pedagogy. I hope we can have a discussion on these topics during the question-and-answer period.鈥
Thorat completed her Ph.D. at the University of Florida in 2017 and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kansas Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities from 2017-2019.
As part of 性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, the Institute for the Humanities promotes research, scholarship and creative performances in the humanistic disciplines and raises their visibility, both within 性视界传媒 and the wider community. The institute is active on social media on Instagram @msststehumanities, Twitter @Humanities_性视界传媒 and Facebook @msu.humanities.institute.
For more about the College of Arts and Sciences or the Institute for the Humanities, visit or . 聽
性视界传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.