I think this class is cutting edge in the sense that it is tackling a subject that is relatively new to our awareness. The idea that we have a digital culture is something that most of our generation has always known, or known for so long that we cannot remember the days when we didn't have the internet literally in our pockets. Since humanities is the study of humans (their culture, their products, their literature, their behavior, etc.), this class seems to be the most relevant of any modern humanities course. It is the study of human behavior through the medium of our digital culture. If anyone has ever seen "This is Water," a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace, then you will understand what I am trying to say here. I think that we have immersed ourselves in a digital culture, and for most of us, it has become the water around us, so to speak. Advertisements are everywhere, and they use an array of medias. We have become numb to the ads that play on YouTube before we watch a video, the billboards that shout at us to pull over at the next stop, the movie trailers, the commercials, and the list goes on. This is part of our life, and so much so that it has taken on its own identity: digital culture. The study of it, I think, will provide a lot of insight to methods of studying the past as well as the present. We used to have to go to the library or to World Books to learn. Now we just have to type a subject into a search bar. I'm excited to learn new skills in this class and to learn the forward thinking that will come with the study of humanities in the digital age.
Here is a link to "This is Water" if anyone is interested. It is not talking about our digital culture or the humanities, but it is discussing the blindness that accompanies an apathetic and unaware lifestyle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z5TIFr5XMo
I remember when we used World Books, too. I do very much agree with what was said in class last Wednesday about how the internet has democratized information: now anyone can have access to anything, anywhere, at anytime: you don't have to go to the library or to school to read, and you don't have to miss your favorite TV shows because you're not home to watch them. One question I wonder about is whether or not this trend towards instant gratification has made our culture less appreciative of the time and patience it takes to earn something.
ReplyDeleteWater is a powerful archetype. We can drown; we can be baptized. We can be washed, or washed away. A good connection to David Foster Wallace.
ReplyDelete