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DIGITAL HUMANITIES &IMAGE SCHOLARSHIPOER HUMANITIESIN THEDIGITAL POSTDIGITALSELVESTHINKINGIMAGES+ DOING DIGITALHUMANITIES(A TOOLKIT)

INTRODUCTIONdeveloping digital skills to undertake digitally born researchthinking critically about the current state of digital technologies in societynavigating a postgraduate career, academia and a digital workspaceThis is an open educational resource for visual and media studies scholars whohave been exposed to theoretical ideas in their studies, but often lack digital(humanities) skills. The aim is to provide an overview of digital discourses andpractices by immersing students in three themes with practical outputs. The goal is not technical mastery, but learning enough about technology tothink about, and through, their concepts and to discover which tools might beuseful for future research. Experimenting with different digitisation andvisualisation techniques allows for a fresh look and understanding of research. Thus this is an education resource to assist and guide students at theintersection between their theoretical research and integrating into the(post)digital society.We provide a guide for:Be familiar with the origins and characteristics of digital scholarship in acontent rich environmentBe familiar at a beginner's level with digital humanities methods, practices,and technologiesBe able to position yourself in the research community and publicdiscourse of the digital humanitiesIdentifying and solving problems in which responses display thatresponsible decisions using critical and creative thinking have been madeCollecting, analysing, organising and critically evaluating informationCommunicating effectively using visual and language skills in the modes oforal, visual and written persuasionParticipating as responsible citizens in the life of local, national and globalcommunitiesBeing culturally and aesthetically sensitive across a range of social contexts.Learning outcomes:Digital and visual inter-media scholarship OER © 2023by Amanda du Preez & Karli Brittz is licensed underCC BY-NC 4.0

MEET THE TEAM Prof Amanda du PreezAmanda du Preez is Professor in the School of the Arts at the University of Pretoria,where she teaches Visual Culture and Digital Culture and Media. Her bookpublications include Gendered Bodies and New Technologies: RethinkingEmbodiment in a Cyber-era (2009), Voices from the South. Digital Arts andHumanities (2018) and Art, the Sublime and Movement: Spaced Out (2022). Sheserved as assistant editor of two accredited journals, Image & Text, and De Arte.She has also served on the Advisory Board of the international journal PersonaStudies, and the Governing Board of the International Association for Visual Culture(IAVC). Currently she serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the DigitalHumanities Association of Southern Africa, as well the managing committee of theDigital Humanities Association of Southern Africa’s (DHASA). She is also the Chairof the Arts Commission of the South African Academy for the Sciences. Dr Karli BrittzKarli Brittz is a scholar in digital culture and media studies. She is a postdoctoralcandidate in the School of the Arts at the University of Pretoria, where she teachesVisual Culture Studies and Digital Culture and Media. Karli obtained a PhD in VisualStudies from the School of the Arts at the University of Pretoria and received theNIHSS award for best digital humanities visualisation project in 2021. Her mainresearch and teaching interests are the complexities of being human in the digitalage, as well as critically considering digital culture in relation to teaching andlearning.HOW TO USE THIS GUIDEThis guide has been designed to be used in a variety of ways:You can start at the beginning and work your way through the various themesand completing the activities. Using the guide in this way, you will be exposed tovarious themes in digital humanities and image scholarship, as well as practicevarious digital skills to work with images.Or, alternatively, you can select various sections of the guides which coverissues that are relevant to you at the moment. For example, if you are workingon a video essay project you can look at the section “postdigital selves” as wellas the “digital toolkit” for practical advise and applications.There are also various examples included throughout the guide to illustrateideas, tools and critical reflection essays. All of the examples are taken fromstudent work in the unit VKK756: Visual and Digital Scholarship. Student TeamThe VKK756 Honours students at the University ofPretoria 2023 contributed their work and ideas tothis project. They include:Denise Siima, Emma Schipholt, Janka Meyer,Jaudynn Denton, Megan Kimber, PhenyoMasenya, Rebecca Martin, Viljoen Swanepoel andXander Conradie

H U M A N I T I E S I N T H ED I G I T A L1 .2 . P O S T D I G I T A L S E L V E S3 . T H I N K I N G I M A G E S4 . D I G I T A L H U M A N I T I E ST O O L K I TCONTENTSSituate inter-mediascholarship within the field ofvisual/media studies. Find outwhy it is important to take acritical approach to thedigital.Consider what it means to behuman in the post digital age.Consider the medium of thedigital image. Learn to thinkwith and through theseimages about critical digitalideas.Learn basic digital skills forvarious projects, includingbuilding a video essay andimage atlas.

HUMANITIES IN THE DIGITAL1.Read a brief introduction to the digital humanitieshttps://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-are-digital-humanities/Watch the introductory discussion to the Digital Humanities1. INTRODUCING THE DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.

HUMANITIES IN THE DIGITAL1.Play around with the wide variety of definitions of Digital HumanitiesClick on the image below or visit: https://whatisdigitalhumanities.com/1. INTRODUCING THE DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.Read more about the current state of Digital Humanities

1. INTRODUCING THE DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.After working through the introduction to Digital Humanities, workthrough the following questions, formulate your answers into acomplete essay to showcase your understanding of Digital HumanitiesTEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE...1. Provide a description and overview of digital humanities. 2. Make a comparison between the three readings of what theyunderstand and describe as digital humanities. 3. What are some of the problems associated with digital humanities thatthe authors identify? (Three examples will be sufficient). 4. By utilising a word cloud capture the main ideas that you could pick upfrom the four readings about the main concepts and issues concerningdigital humanities.H T T P S : / / W W W . W O R D C L O U D S . C O M /H T T P S : / / W O R D A R T . C O M /H T T P : / / W W W . W O R D L E . N E T / WORD CLOUDRESOURCES: HUMANITIES IN THE DIGITAL1.For examples of essays ondigital humanities click onthe folder icon to visit theadditional resources page.

HUMANITIES IN THE DIGITAL1.2. CRITICAL DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.Read the following extract by David Berry (2019)Watch the following video lecture presented by Lorella Viola

HUMANITIES IN THE DIGITAL1.2. CRITICAL DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.Watch the following discussions about Viola and Berry’sunderstanding of Critical Digital HumanitiesExplore the visual world of AI and humans. Carefullyconsider what these exhibitions and imagery portray aboutthe digital future, for both technology and human beings?

1. In the editorial to the A Peer-Reviewed Journal About POST-DIGITALRESEARCH, Christian Ulrik Andersen, Geoff Cox, Georgios Papadopoulos(2014) define postdigital as follows: Post-digital, once understood as a critical reflection of “digital” aestheticimmaterialism, now describes the messy and paradoxical condition of artand media after digital technology revolutions. “Post-digital” neitherrecognizes the distinction between “old” and “new” media, nor ideologicalaffirmation of the one or the other. It merges “old” and “new”, oftenapplying network cultural experimentation to analog technologies which itreinvestigates and re-uses. It tends to focus on the experiential rather thanthe conceptual. It looks for DIY agency outside totalitarian innovationideology, and for networking off big data capitalism. At the same time, it already has become commercialized. In this journal issue we also find Florian Cramer’s (2014) “What is ‘post-digital’. As you probably picked-up in Cramer’s deliberation, he refers to thepostdigital “as a term that sucks but is useful”. In this reading assignment, use Cramer as a starting point to explain anddiscuss what you understand under the term postdigital (± 500 words). HUMANITIES IN THE DIGITAL1.2. CRITICAL DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.After working through the Critical Digital Humanities, work through thefollowing questions on the postdigitalTEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE...For examples of essays onthe postdigital, click on thefolder icon to visit theadditional resources page.

2. POSTDIGITAL SELVESWatch the introductory discussion to postdigital selves2.1. INTRODUCING THE POSTDIGITAL SELFExplore your visual self and doppelgänger by taking a selfieand searching artworks to find your match

THE SELF AND DOUBLEDATAFIED SELF2. POSTDIGITAL SELVESRead more about selected themes related to postdigital selves2.1. INTRODUCING THE POSTDIGITAL SELFTHE SELF AND PERFORMANCE

After working through Postdigital Selves, complete the followingassignmentTEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE...2. POSTDIGITAL SELVES2.1. INTRODUCING THE POSTDIGITAL SELFSelf as Performance Self and Double Datafied Self By selecting a specific approach or theme within the scholarly research of postdigital selvesyou have to create a visual essay. The visual essay should put into practice how the specificscholarly topic can be thought of when thinking through images. In other words, you arerequired to put these theories and ideas to the test by creating your own visual essay. Suggested topics related to postdigital selves or a combination thereof: You need to: 1. Read the prescribed material for your selected topic as it will provide a theoreticalframework and provide reference to appropriate examples, tools and outcomes. (By nomeans are these sources exhaustive-please also use your own sources and the reading andexercises completed during the digital skills section) 2. Create/produce/mix/collect/assemble images that can assist in putting your visualargument forward. The images can be found footage, web images, photos, memes, posters,film and video clips, webcam recordings, social media, paintings or any type of visual text. 3. Your visual output needs to be accompanied by a framing text/document. In the framingdocumentation you need to identify the visual argument by providing clear guidelines as towhat it is that you are attempting to argue through the images. 4. The video essay should be between 10 to 15 minutes and the visual argument should beevident.For more information on creating a visual essay visit the DIGITAL TOOLKITFor examples of video essayson the postdigital, click on thefolder icon to visit theadditional resources page.

3. THINKING IMAGESWatch the introductory discussion to Thinking Images3.1. IMAGES + DIGITAL HUMANITIES + SOCIAL MEDIAWatch the video on the Warburg image atlas

3. THINKING IMAGES3.1. IMAGES + DIGITAL HUMANITIES + SOCIAL MEDIAExplore various image driven projects that allow researchers to thinkwith and through images

3. THINKING IMAGES3.1. IMAGES + DIGITAL HUMANITIES + SOCIAL MEDIARead more about digital humanities, the image and social mediaON SOCIAL MEDIA + DIGITAL HUMANITIESON THINKING IMAGES

3. THINKING IMAGES3.1. IMAGES + DIGITAL HUMANITIES + SOCIAL MEDIAAfter working through Thinking images, build your own image atlasand critically reflect on the use of social media platforms in digitalhumanities.TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE...Briefly explain the theme of your image atlas and the importance of thinking with images tounderstand and research a specific theme Provide a close and distant reading of the uploaded images Informed by the above, elaborate on the image as a whole in the postdigital (humanities) Critically reflect on the use of social media as a digital humanities toolAfter working through the thinking images content, create your own image atlas that allowsresearchers to “think with images”. Thereafter in a brief reflective essay, reflect on theprocess of creating an image atlas under the broader understanding of the (post)digitalhumanities. Creating the image atlas: 1. Choose an image collection platform to build your image atlas. You can use Tropy or asocial media platform (such as Pinterest/Instagram). You must critically reflect on your choicein relation to scholarly practice and the digital humanities in your reflection essay. Thereforethink carefully about your choice. 2. Collect images (between 20 – 30) to upload to your platform. See if you can capture theirdata in detail and make sure you describe the image.3. Upload and organise your images on your chosen platform. Your organisation shouldallow viewers to search through your images using different themes, ideas, similarities etc. Inother words, there should be some form of a visual journey. 4. Fine-tune your atlas by adding a specific title and thinking about how you can aestheticallyadd to your platform to create a clear visual argument.Reflection essay: 1. Write an essay of 1000 – 1200 words in which you critically reflect on the use of an imageatlas. 2. Your essay should: 1.2.3.4.For examples of image atlases,click on the folder icon to visitthe additional resources page.

4. DIGITAL HUMANITIES TOOLKITPlaying in the field of digital humanities?Use the tools and resources below to get started.Click on the icon to visit the web-based version

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES1. INTRODUCING DIGITAL HUMANITIES1.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES2. CRITICAL DIGITAL HUMANITIES: 1. REFLECTIONS ON THE POSTDIGITAL ESSAYS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES2.1 POSTDIGITAL SELVES: EXAMPLE VIDEO ESSAYS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES3.1. IMAGES + DIGITAL HUMANITIES + SOCIAL MEDIA: IMAGE ATLAS EXAMPLES