Almost all the artifacts that we value as a society were made by or at the order of men. But behind every one is an invisible infrastructure of labor—primarily caregiving, in its various aspects—that is mostly performed by women.
Chachra, D. (2015, January 23). Why I Am Not a Maker. The Atlantic. Retrieved January 12, 2024, from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/why-i-am-not-a-maker/384767/.
This quote, from Debbie Chachra’s article in The Atlantic “Why I Am Not a Maker,” resonated with me due to its similarity to some of my personal experiences. As someone who has worked in various caregiving jobs, I know what it is like to have that work be undervalued and often go without recognition. I remember telling friends and family that I was working as a camp counselor, as a babysitter, and as a daycare worker and being asked about when I would get a real job. While working these jobs, I was underpaid and overworked. I hope that in the future, the work done by caregivers is met with more recognition and compensation, both in the workplace and in homes.
I read this reading before the other readings for Tuesday, and it was interesting to see the emphasis that Burdick et al. put on making in their book Digital_Humanities. I think that Chachra’s article helped me to read the book through a more critical lens.
This term, I am hoping to learn more about interactive maps, GIS, and other mapping techniques. I’m really interested in how physical spaces intersect with larger trends, either ecologically or socially. I am hoping to work and study as an ecologist after college. Many jobs and graduate school programs require an understanding of GIS or similar technologies, so I will need to gain some experience with them before I graduate.
I am also excited to build on my current data analysis and visualization skills. I took STAT 120 (Introduction to Statistics) in Spring term 2023. I loved the class and especially enjoyed working using R and RStudio. Since that class, I have used R and RStudio both in my summer research job and this past term while studying abroad. I don’t have experience with much data analysis and visualization beyond ecology applications, so I am excited to see how what I have learned can be applied to data from other disciplines. I am also hoping to learn new techniques for analysis and visualization that I can then bring back to my ecology work.
1 thought on “Defining DH Reflection – Week 2 Blog”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I have had similar experiences working in childcare. My first summer as a camp counselor I was left alone in charge of 15 kids, even though when I was hired I was told I would be the assistant counselor to a head counselor. When I brought this up to my boss I was told that my wage could not be increased because I was a first year counselor, even though I was doing the job of the head counselor. I felt this was unfair as I was not being compensated for the job I did not feel prepared for.