Direction and a Sigh of Relief

Of the articles assigned for today, "What is Digital Humanities and What's It Doing in English Departments?" by Matthew G. Kirschenbaum was the most meaningful for me.  Even though it was meant as more of an overview of the field, it has helped me to realize exactly where Digital Humanities is situated, what resources are available to scholars of it, and how much of a history it has.  That stuff may be more common-sense or basic knowledge to others, but through my thesis I've kind of been thrown serendipitously into the field of Digital Humanities.  Just a few months ago, all I knew was that I had an idea to study original species communities, and I wasn't even sure if that was "allowed."  I've only just begun to realize that Digital Humanities a thing, and this article said to me "Katherine, it's not just a thing; it's a serious thing.  Studying your original species stuff is SO allowed."  I have this weird habit of assuming that anything I'm passionate about can't be a serious or valid field of study; I don't know why.  This article made me feel like I'm not just trying to take something silly and say "But, wait, look!  There's value to it.  Just hold on like 2 seconds!"  Now I'm joining a community of scholars with conferences, journals, institutes, and a heritage.  Dr. Zamora has helped me to realize the value of my research interests too, but somehow reading it in an article has made it more "real."  This article also gives me hope about my academic future.  Maybe I don't need to restrict myself to trying to beg my way into a Composition and Rhetoric PhD program; instead, there might be digital Humanties programs actually begging to get their hands on me!

Additionally, this article presented info that I can use in my Lit Review and continuing work on my thesis.  Now I have some starting points of where to direct my research (and maybe even where to present it one day!) instead of just casting a net into the databases and Google Scholar to see what bites like I have been.  Most notably, it introduced me to the Library of Congress's "Preserving Digital Worlds" project.  What a great springboard!