Digital Humanities: Best fusion of society and technology
The dawn of 21 century brought about a phenomenal change in the human life and the world contracted into a global village. The term globalisation is the true representation of modern human existence as Professor Arjun Appadurai has aptly enumerated the transition of five scapes of global cultural flow viz.: Ethnoscapes, Technoscapes, Financescapes, Mediascapes and Ideoscapes. Never before in the history of humans was it possible to move so easily and frequently to different places for jobs, tourism or any other trivial activity and same is the case with transfer of new technologies, financial transactions, news, entertainment and ideas to every nook and corner of world within short span of time or on click of a button.
This change in the human life can be primarily credited to the convergence of Information & Communication technologies (ICT). The advent of ICT’s unlocked new horizons of communication, information, education, business, entertainment and nearly all aspects human life.
The ICT’s also influenced the various academic disciplines and also evolved some new branches with interdisciplinary coordination. The professional degrees or technical education were greatly assisted by ICT’s in bridging the gap between academia and industry, but the non- technical streams in India lagged behind in benefitting from this ICT revolution. Nevertheless, once the Humanities synchronised with digital world the fusion has created wonders. This novel interdisciplinary stream is yet to attain maturity but even in its nascent stage has altered the creative field and made it possible to quantify the qualitative research studies.
The digital humanities can be understood as a text of literary work analysed with the use of computer technology. The latest development in journalism using statistical tools to analyse data and interpreting the same in literary language has given rise to data journalism. The interception of digital media with film, photography, technology, literature, psychology and other fields will shape the future of humans within short period.
In India very few academic institutions and universities have taken initiative to expand the knowledge source in the field of digital media. The field is evolving at unbelieving pace with impending placements in lucrative jobs. The research studies in this direction hold the potential to make the world a better place and improve the quality of human life in coming years. The digital world is awaiting budding academic enthusiasts to dive in this unparalleled ocean of knowledge that will revolutionise the world as never before. The career in Digital humanities demands, “Being human is Being Digital”.