Category Archives: Digital Humanities

More on Menand

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Timothy Burke

Almost back to feeling normal, so I thought I’d return to my somewhat fever-delirious notes on the Menand talk last week at Swarthmore and see what I could pull out of them. Menand’s talk, following some of his recent writing, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Generalist's Work, Swarthmore | 2 Comments

The State of the Art III: Facebook (and 500px and Flickr) as a Window Into Social Media

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Timothy Burke

III. The Business Model as Belief and Reality Why is Facebook such a repeatedly bad actor in its relationship to its users, constantly testing and probing for ways to quietly or secretly breach the privacy constraints that most of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Cleaning Out the Augean Stables, Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Intellectual Property | 3 Comments

Apres Le Perturbation

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Timothy Burke

There are three ways to look at what’s happening right now to the economic and social viability of the professions and various kinds of cultural work. One is silly, one is depressing and one is ambiguous. Guess which I prefer? … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Intellectual Property | 4 Comments

The State of the Art: 500px and Flickr as a Window Into Social Media (II)

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Timothy Burke

II. Algorithmic Culture: Code and Agency New media theorists and digital humanists, most prominently Alexander Galloway, have been writing over the last decade about “algorithmic culture”, about practices, interpretations and readings that arise within and around algorithmic media. Galloway often … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System, Pictures from an Institution | 1 Comment

The State of the Art: 500px and Flickr as a Window Into Social Media (I)

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been exploring Flickr and 500px a lot over the last month, partly as a way of sharpening my own growing interest in photography and visuality. Both sites, however, are also fantastic case studies of the evolving character of social … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Pictures from an Institution | Comments Off on The State of the Art: 500px and Flickr as a Window Into Social Media (I)

The Frenzy

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Timothy Burke

I like the idea of “entrepreneurship” a lot when it describes the compression of several complicated things into one concept or practice. The first would be a structured kind of practical creativity, a purposeful or directed path to having and … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 5 Comments

Bad Research and Informational Heresies (Draft Syllabus)

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Still polishing this a bit, but I think it’s at the point where we can share it and get comments. I’m co-teaching this with my totally awesome colleague Rachel Buurma in the Department of English at Swarthmore. I’m really excited … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Swarthmore | 12 Comments

Social Networks Then and Now

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Reading through the old notes and papers that I’ve stuck in a closet and not touched for almost a decade, compiled from the decade of professional work before that (so the 1990s), is a sobering experience. On one hand, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Swarthmore | 1 Comment

Calling All Librarians, Info Scientists, Digital Humanists

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Timothy Burke

I’m still struggling with how to begin a project that I would like to be a lifelong commitment for the rest of my career. The issues are technical and conceptual. What I want to do is begin publishing and archiving … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Swarthmore | 16 Comments

Hell Is Other Gamers (And Some Games)

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Game developers talking about “culture” are often deeply frustrating. Either they are overly credulous about how design directly and symmetrically can create a particular set of cultural practices and outlook within a game, as my friend Thomas Malaby has observed … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Humanities, Games and Gaming, Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System | 1 Comment