Editorial Note, Issue 3

Call For Papers, Vol III

Perspectives: – A Peer-Reviewed, Bilingual, Interdisciplinary E-Journal

Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi

Episteme and techne, knowledge and instrument, means and ends, form and content, all these are familiar dialectics. Originally conceived as oppositional structures, they have emerged as symbiotic terms which create and facilitate each other. This symbiosis, which is so necessary for creative thinking, is also a precondition for the growth of knowledge systems.

It is increasingly a given that in the 20th century the basic conditions of material, social and political lives have been reconfigured by digital technology with profound  irreversible effects on individuals, families, communities, governments and institutions. This transformation of the contemporary has also impacted intellectual and academic engagements.

Within the social sciences, the character of the subject and the interpreter are both now changing and the field is being redefined as the digital transcends the boundaries of spatial limitations that have often stood in the way of indepth research and meaningful interpretive processes. It also opens up the field to plurally nuanced interpretation and analysis that may enable the transformation of our understanding of the field in newer ways. The phrase “digital humanities” refers to this intersection of technology and humanities scholarship that has led to new forms of creating, archiving, processing, sharing, and accessing information as well as facilitating collaboration and communication. This digitalisation of knowledge is a step toward reimagining the world from within the space of the virtual and at the same time remaining rooted in the global interconnectedness of reality.

In this issue of Perspectives on Digital Humanities, we invite papers that engage with the relationship of knowledge with technology – what happens to words, images, and numbers as they become codified through digital databases, artificial intelligence and user interfaces; will geo-mapping physical and cultural pasts facilitate the creation of new ways of thinking about heritage and history; how has the nature of political participation changed with a generation more engaged online than on the street; what has been the consequence of ‘algorithmic capitalism’ on national economies and labour practices; the evolving notions of space, time and distance; new pedagogies, multi-modal scholarship, social media collaboration for academic practices are just some of the questions we are interested in. We would also welcome papers that interrogate the optimism about the transformative role of new media, the question of the digital divide and digital affordances, the potential nightmare of digital control, the unexpected and paradoxical consequences for humanities scholarship as well as the possibility of counter-imaginaries and practices.  Papers engaging with the various uses of digital media in the process of academic writing are also welcome.

We invite abstracts to be submitted by September 20, 2022 at perspectives.jdmc@gmail.com.

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