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(1/n) I spoke to yet another advanced CS+English double major at a DH-y uni who was thrilled but SHOCKED to hear that humanities data science (HDS) is a thing.
Anecdotally, CS+HUMA majors are way less likely to know about HDS than they ought to be.
What's going on here?
Anecdotally, CS+HUMA majors are way less likely to know about HDS than they ought to be.
What's going on here?
(2/n) Hot take time.
CS depts, on the whole, are WAY better than HUMA depts at undergrad community building. Group projects as the standard, hackathons, huge undergrad TA+RA culture, active (and numerous) clubs, programming contests, undergrad conference culture, ...
CS depts, on the whole, are WAY better than HUMA depts at undergrad community building. Group projects as the standard, hackathons, huge undergrad TA+RA culture, active (and numerous) clubs, programming contests, undergrad conference culture, ...
(3/n) HUMA depts do some of these things, and some of them well, but they're still largely outclassed.
HUMA has huge structural disadvantages in this "competition." Solitary research culture? That's a KILLING BLOW. How do you build community when collaboration isn't the norm?
HUMA has huge structural disadvantages in this "competition." Solitary research culture? That's a KILLING BLOW. How do you build community when collaboration isn't the norm?
(4/n) HUMA also has methodological disadvantages: CS students all speak a coherent foundational language of algorithms, time/space efficiency, software craftsmanship, not to mention programming languages.
In HUMA? What we share is surely important, but...
In HUMA? What we share is surely important, but...
(5/n) ...it largely fails to be articulable and leverageable for community-building among, say, sophomores.
Grad students eventually learn to speak enough of our discipline's varied critical and methodological dialects, but that's far too late.
Grad students eventually learn to speak enough of our discipline's varied critical and methodological dialects, but that's far too late.
(6/n) To return to the CS+HUMA majors unaware of HDS:
They have two communities vying for their scarce time, and it's something less than a fair fight. So at places where HDS is HUMA-based, CS+HUMA majors can end up too under-engaged by HUMA to learn of and get involved in HDS.
They have two communities vying for their scarce time, and it's something less than a fair fight. So at places where HDS is HUMA-based, CS+HUMA majors can end up too under-engaged by HUMA to learn of and get involved in HDS.
(7/n) HUMA depts are more than capable of cultivating wonderfully engaging communities, and they oftentimes succeed in doing so to truly magical effect. But the structural advantages CS enjoys are so great that even deeply committed HUMA depts sometimes struggle to compete.
(n/n) I loved my undergrad English dept, and I loved being an English major. Spiritually, I'm English major. But the CS dept made it so easy to find community and belonging. English had my heart, but CS had my time and my presence.
