Slide deck for a short talk

1. brianbelen.blogspot.com
twitter.com/brianbelen

2. <presentation>

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4. Some definitions:

5. Hu•man•i•ties|(h)yoōˈmanitēs|
Academic disciplines that study the human
condition, using methods that are primarily
analytical, critical, or speculative, as
distinguished from the mainly empirical
approaches of the natural sciences.
Source: Wikipedia

6. Liberal arts |ˈlib(ə)rəl ärts|
Curriculum that imparts general knowledge
and develops the student’s rational thought
and intellectual capabilities.
The seven classic liberal arts are...
...grammar, logic and rhetoric (the Trivium)
...arithmetic, geometry, music and
astronomy (the Quadrivium)
Source: Wikipedia

7. So•cial me•dia |ˈsō sh əl ˈmēdēə|
Refers to the use of web-based and mobile
technologies to turn communications into an
interactive dialogue.
Source: Wikipedia

8. The potential for learning about the
Humanities through Social Media is huge.
1

9. Some statistics:

10. 74%
of Filipino schoolchildren
use the Internet.
Source: AIJC (2009)

11. Use of the Internet by Filipino Students
89% 88%
Social
Email
Networking
83% 77% 27%
Online
Schoolwork Blogging
Gaming
Source: AIJC (2009)

12. The Humanities still have some ways to go
to harness the potential of social media.
2

13. More statistics:

14. Academicians’ Use of Social Media
for Research (by Discipline)
100.00
90.00
84.00 83.70
75.00 79.20
73.70
Percent
50.00
25.00
0
Math &
Environmental Social Arts & Business &
Computer
Science Science Humanities Management
Science
Source: CIBER (2010)

15. There are already many innovative ways
to use digital/social media to study the
Humanities.
3

16. The Internet and Humanities:
Parallel Developments
“Computational
Web 1.0 Data aggregation Humanities 1.0
Humanities”
Customization,
collaboration,
Interactivity and
Web 2.0 decentering of Humanities 2.0
user participation
knowledge and
authority
Source: Davidson (2008)

17. Some examples:
Digital Humanities
Hastac.org
Google Earth Historical Imagery
Twitter

18. The Humanities are meant for “sharing”
and are therefore suited to social media.
4

19. Why do we use social media?
For Likes
For Hits
For Comments
To Relate
To Go Viral
To Participate
To Represent
Etc.

20. What makes ideas spread?
Exposure.
Attention.
Motivation.
Source: Zarella (2011)

21. Meme|mēm|
A unit of cultural inheritance.
Source: Zarella (2011)

22. Fe•cun•di•ty |feˈkəndətē|
Refers to the number of offspring produced
in each generation.
Source: Zarella (2011)

23. Lon•gev•i•ty |lônˈjevətē|
Refers to the lifespan of an individual.
Source: Zarella (2011)

24. Fecundity
Retweets
Longevity
Religion
Source: Zarella (2011)

25. Fecundity
Retweets Humanities
Longevity
Religion
Source: Zarella (2011)

26. New media pose challenges that the
Humanities have yet to fully consider.
5

27. “
The humanities...have the power to
shape human community. Offering a
vision of that which is common to
mankind, the humanities at their best
capture the shared elements of human
”
experience.
Howard Bloch

28. The Internet as we know it is only in its
adolescence!

29. Privacy Credibility
Identity Security
Authority Originality

30. The challenge is that new media have the
potential to change us (and possibly, the
Humanities, too).
6

31. “
What we’re experiencing is, in a
metaphorical sense, a reversal of the
early trajectory of civilization: We are
evolving from cultivators of personal
knowledge into hunters and gatherers
in the electronic data forest.

32. “
In the process, we seem fated to
sacrifice much of what makes our
”
minds so interesting.
Nicholas Carr

33. A liberal education helps us understand
how to put new media to good use.
7

34. When in doubt about confronting new
technologies, remember the words of
Alan Simpson:

35. “
If there is some ambiguity about the
knowledge an educated man should
have, there is none at all about the
skills. The first is simply the training of
the mind in the capacity to think
clearly...

36. “
The other basic skill is simply the art of
self-expression in speech and on paper.
A man is uneducated who has not
mastered the elements of clean and
forcible prose and picked up some
relish for style.

37. “
The standards which mark an educated
man can be expressed in terms of three
tests.

38. “
The first is a matter of sophistication...
An educated man can be judged by the
quality of his prejudices.

39. “
The second test is a matter of moral
values...we do not really believe that a
college is doing its job when it is simply
multiplying the number of educated
scoundrels, hucksters, and triflers.

40. “
Finally, there is the test imposed by the
unique challenge of our own times. We
are not unique in suffering from moral
confusion – these crises are a familiar
story – but we are unique in the
tremendous acceleration of the rate of
social change...

41. “
An indispensable mark of the modern
educated man is the kind of versatile,
flexible mind that can deal with new and
”
explosive conditions.
Alan Simpson

42. </presentation>