Oswego State’s new digital humanities minor will be a great tool for students to bridge the gap between traditional humanities and applied technology in an age where technical and computer literacy is increasingly valuable.
The humanities as an academic discipline dateS back to the wine-drinking, deep-thinking days of Plato and Aristotle. In fact, humanities studies were the foundation on which universities were built for thousands of years. Students from ancient Greece to Colonial Harvard attended universities to ponder deep philosophical questions of justice and ethics. History was created in the context of art, culture and human anthropology. Linguistics was studied through the literary works of history’s greatest writers.
It was only in the last several decades that computer science, programming and information technology have gained traction as major courses of study for colleges. Despite being young as a discipline relative to the humanities, cognitive science and applied technology have supplanted themselves at the top of the academic food chain. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors are multiplying just as quickly as the demand for computer-literate, ready-to-work graduates. Few quality jobs in the 21st century are available to recent graduates with no technical experience.
This is not to say a chosen area of undergraduate study immediately preparing one for a job after college is the most important issue; it is not. The four years and thousands of dollars spent in college should be used to learn about priorities to them. The digital humanities program makes this possible for students with a broad range of interests.
A strong case can be made that the balance of power has shifted too far in favor of technical studies in recent years. While STEM degrees may seem more valuable in terms of immediate employment upon graduation, a study in the humanities for four years provides perhaps even more value to a person’s critical thinking ability and communication with the world around them. The challenge for students today will be turning a degree into at least a valuable career during an age of rapid technological advancement.
In the past, scheduling constraints and major or minor requirements made it difficult to acquire adequate skills in two seemingly opposite areas of study.
Many schools across the country offer digital humanities minors and majors. Like Oswego State, other colleges are recognizing the need for a combination of the “technical and traditionally non-technical.” As students enter school who are even more familiar with technology than the current batch, digital humanities will continue to gain popularity. Moreover, and perhaps most important, students and faculty who take part will be pioneers in the relatively young field of research.
Photo By: Taylor Woods| The Oswegonian
