Critical Theory and Digital Transformation
7.5 credits (LNU 4DH405) / LnU
Autumn semester. Pace: half time (50%) online, English
The critical tradition of the humanities and social sciences serves to contextualize and problematize the implementation of digital technologies and associated digital practices. This course explores these digital transformations in academia, cultural heritage institutions, and society at large by applying the critical standpoints on matters such as gender, race, ethics, power, or any intersection thereof. Special attention is given to the application of these standpoints on methods and practices within the digital humanities. During the course, students will analyze a digital humanities project through critical lenses alongside their peers and collaboratively contribute to the course Wiki. Students will also create a proposal for a digital humanities project of their own, applying the concepts explored in the course.
After completing the course the student should, with a high degree of independence, be able to:
- explain the critical tradition within the humanities and social sciences
- draw upon critical theories to identify the consequences of society’s uptake of digital objects, cultures, and practices, i.e., digital transformation
- reflect on the impacts and implications of digitization in the cultural heritage sector and, by extension, the ramifications for digital humanities research
- apply a critical perspective to the planning, conduct, tools, methods, and output in the digital humanities scholarship
- incorporate theory and practice into a project proposal representative of critical digital humanities.