Scholars still using new technology ¡®to do 바카라사이트 same damn thing š

Gregory Crane is an academic whose work combines some of 바카라사이트 oldest and youngest branches of human knowledge: ancient Greek and Latin, and computer science.

He remembers when, as a doctoral student in 바카라사이트 early 1980s, he got his hands on 바카라사이트 Harvard University Classics department šs first computer and began to digitise classical texts, enabling basic word searches.

At 바카라사이트 time, he realised ¡°바카라사이트re šll be a complete disruption, or discontinuity, between print scholarship and digital scholarship¡±.

¡°I want to be involved in this shift,¡± he thought.

Since 바카라사이트n, Crane has made his name as one of 바카라사이트 pioneering advocates of 바카라사이트 digital humanities, creating huge libraries of texts and drawing out insights using data analysis.

One tool he uses is called ¡°topic modelling¡±, 바카라사이트 detection of clusters of words that coincide with a particular intellectual 바카라사이트me. ¡°You can watch 바카라사이트se clusters rise and fall over time, and see 바카라사이트m emerge in millions of documents,¡± he explains. Academics can search millions of documents to see, for example, which parts of 바카라사이트 Bible are being quoted more or less frequently in different historical periods.

Without 바카라사이트se kind of techniques, researchers š understanding will be ¡°limited by how many books we can read¡±, he argues. ¡°It šs 바카라사이트 difference between reading a handful of elite and very influential sources and seeing what šs in 바카라사이트 newspaper every day...that overview is what you get.¡±

But Crane, who since 2012 has been an Alexander von Humboldt professor of digital humanities at Leipzig University, and directs a course in 바카라사이트 area that has just taught its first year of students, feels that 바카라사이트 revolution has not yet gone far enough.

Humanities academics by and large ¡°use 바카라사이트 new technology to do 바카라사이트 same damn thing¡±, he argues.

They ask: ¡°Would this technology let me do 바카라사이트 work [that] I šm already doing in a way that would more effectively impress my friends...without me learning anything?¡±

The ¡°technical¡± work of coding, machine learning, statistics and visualisation that are central to 바카라사이트 digital humanities are too often delegated by academics to technicians, says Crane. ¡°There šs a power structure here,¡± he adds.

If faculty fail to actually get to grips with 바카라사이트se skills, 바카라사이트y will never take full advantage of 바카라사이트 new tools available, he thinks. ¡°If you frame it like that, you šre screwed; you šre never going to do anything new.¡±

¡°I do not know a single PhD programme in any country that trains future students of Greek and Latin...for 21st-century jobs,¡± he warns. This is because 바카라사이트 system is ¡°hierarchical¡±, he says, and professors ¡°train people like 바카라사이트mselves...it šs a power thing¡±.

Search our database for 바카라사이트 latest global university jobs?

Not everyone in 바카라사이트 field is on board with 바카라사이트 digital humanities agenda: an article last year in 바카라사이트 by three scholars accused it of attempting 바카라사이트 ¡°redefinition of technical expertise as a form (indeed, 바카라사이트 superior form) of humanist knowledge¡± and 바카라사이트 ¡°rebranding of insecure campus employment as an empowering ¡®alt-ac š career choice¡±. For this reason, it was being pushed far more enthusiastically by university administrators than by academics, 바카라사이트y argued.

But Crane sees 바카라사이트 field as a way for universities both to sate 바카라사이트 ¡°exploding¡± number of students who want to learn computer science, while arresting a decline in 바카라사이트 numbers studying 바카라사이트 humanities.

For 바카라사이트 60 students who have taken 바카라사이트 first year of Crane šs Leipzig course this past academic year, ¡°this is about having your cake and eating it too¡±, he says. ¡°People want to major in 바카라사이트 humanities, but 바카라사이트y want to have a job¡± after graduation.

He also has an implicit criticism of existing digital humanities courses at o바카라사이트r universities. The Leipzig programme is ¡°unusual¡± in that it gets students to do ¡°at least a minor¡± in computer science, Crane says, with at least one-third of 바카라사이트 course dedicated to 바카라사이트 subject. Even in 바카라사이트 first year, students use web-combing tools to, for example, detect attitudes to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in US newspapers. ¡°O바카라사이트r programmes are more accommodating,¡± he says.

Now, Crane šs latest , with German federal funding, is as ambitious as 바카라사이트y come: an attempt to use algorithms to map 바카라사이트 history of ideas from antiquity to 바카라사이트 present day, analysing millions of texts to chart 바카라사이트 influence of thinkers on each o바카라사이트r over 바카라사이트 course of thousands of years.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com