Routledge Defining Digital Humanities: A Reader (Digital Research in the Arts and Humanities)

Digital Humanities is becoming an increasingly popular focus of academic endeavour. There are now hundreds of Digital Humanities centres worldwide and the subject is taught at both postgraduate and undergraduate level. Yet the term ’Digital Humanities’ is much debated. This reader brings together, for the first time, in one core volume the essential readings that have emerged in Digital Humanities. We provide a historical overview of how the term ’Humanities Computing’ developed into the term ’Digital Humanities’, and highlight core readings which explore the meaning, scope, and implementation of the field. To contextualize and frame each included reading, the editors and authors provide a commentary on the original piece. There is also an annotated bibliography of other material not included in the text to provide an essential list of reading in the discipline. This text will be required reading for scholars and students who want to discover the history of Digital Humanities through its core writings, and for those who wish to understand the many possibilities that exist when trying to define Digital Humanities. Review ’This reader presents a comprehensive selection of contributions discussing the role and potential definition of Humanities Computing or, as the more recently coined label has it, of Digital Humanities - a change in name that is significant in that it expresses the field’s progression from an application-centered practice of computing in the Humanities to a critically reflected digital, i.e. a distinct methodological, variant of Humanities research.’ Jan Christoph Meister, University of Hamburg, Germany ’Defining Digital Humanities does just that: it gathers articles published over the past 10 years that explore the digital humanities as a field. It captures current and past debates, its developing history, and divergent views of the field’s porous boundaries. It is an ideal introductory reader for the classroom as well as for the curious’. Susan Schreibman, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland ’This definitive collection captures the intense activity and sheer energy in digital humanities for over more than a decade. Charting its emergence and expansion as an academic field in its own right, this work provides a map and guide to the past, the present and the future of digital humanities. An indispensable resource for teaching and research.’ Paul Arthur, University of Western Sydney, Australia ’Foremost among many strengths of this collection is that it brings together a confluence of the many views and perspectives about the Digital Humanities - and the past histories as well as the present shapes and forms of Digital Humanities that point to its possible futures.’ Ray Siemens, University of Victoria, Canada 'This is not only a valuable resource for digital humanities scholars and students; it also offers valuable insights on discipline formation, on vexed questions about the role of computing and on the relationships between established and emerging fields for those working in the traditional humanities.' Online Information R About the Author Melissa Terras is Director of UCL’s Centre for Digital Humanities, and Professor in Digital Humanities at University College London, Julianne Nyhan is Lecturer in Digital Information Studies in the Department of Information Studies at University College London, and Edward Vanhoutte is Director of Research and Publications in the Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature - KANTL, Belgium and Editor-in-Chief of LLC: The Journal of Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.