Learn to program whenever it is convenient, but start thinking about the computer sciences as relevant areas of concern right now.
Donahue, ‘A “Hello World” Apart (Why Humanities Students Should NOT Learn to Program) | HASTAC’.
I think that humanities students should not be forced to learn to code. I agree with Donahue on the claim that coding is not a skill that is essential for every discipline and the chosen quote is succinct and summative of the argument. It can be a frustrating and tedious process that takes away from humanities students’ own creative and critical thinking. As Donahue argues in his article, coding is not a universal language, but a specific tool that serves specific purposes. It is not the only way or specifically necessary for one person to be adequate in to be engaged with the digital humanities.
I have nothing against coding or programmers, I have a handful of friends who are and I respect their work and I appreciate the amazing things they can create with code. I agree with Kirschenbaum that coding can open up new possibilities for humanities students to explore their interests, communicate their ideas, and engage with their audiences. Even so, I don’t think that coding is something that everyone should learn, and in this case, not humanities students who have different problem-solving techniques and methods. Programming languages are not designed to be read or understood by the general public either, they are designed to be executed by machines, not a way of expressing ideas or arguments. Essentially a tool for making things work.
My prior coding experience has been abysmal. The only time I have ever touched code was for CSS editing colors and fonts for a certain look for a website. And because it was backend fiddling, it was a bit frustrating to imagine and visualize without the front end or UI for such edits. Just as there are many tools for the digital humanities, there are tools for website creation too as well as people that could collaborate with you if you find interests align. Sure it can be extremely restrictive and paywall blocked, but it does exist.
As for the experience, like most skills and hobbies: it takes a lot of time, patience, and attention to detail. Looking at Javascript also requires a lot of logic, math, and problem-solving skills, which are also not my areas of interest or expertise. Most importantly, the most generalized it is vs specified goals can impose on how to express me creatively or critically in the way that I want to. Coding is not my language, it didn’t spark ideas on how to help me communicate my ideas or arguments effectively or persuasively. But where I lack open opportunities to collaborate with others or contribute to the digital humanities in other meaningful ways. Out there are many other people that humanities students can work with, such as programmers, designers, analysts, etc., who can complement their strengths and weaknesses. There are also many other tools and skills that humanities students can use and learn, such as how we’ve talked or had examples of web design, data visualization, digital storytelling, text analysis, etc. All of which I could imagine one can do without the use of coding. Humanities students should have the freedom and the flexibility to choose the tools and skills that suit their needs and goals best.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My First Web Page</title>
<style>
body {
background-color: lightblue;
}
h1 {
color: white;
text-align: center;
}
p {
font-family: verdana;
font-size: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Why Humanities Students Should Not Learn to Code</h1>
<p>This is my first web page.</p>
</body>
</html>
1 thought on “Week 3 // Why struggle when you can find feedback instead?”
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Thank you for your article Janet! It was very thought-provoking. I really appreciate your point on how much time and effort it takes to learn how to code, especially if it doesn’t come naturally to you. Oftentimes this can be inhibitory instead of helping sharpen problem-solving and logic skills, as you point out. I think you put it really well. While reading through your thoughts about programming languages being tools and not means of expressing arguments, I was also thinking about what we would lose in terms of ways of knowing if humanities students started devoting their time and energy to learn a foreign skill instead of studying the methodologies they chose to devote their time to.