Workshop: Media Systems -- Connecting Computer Science and the Digital Humanities

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

Computer science is enabling new businesses, new educational approaches, and new forms of cultural expression through enabling new forms of media. But computer science itself, as a discipline, has not traditionally focused on media. In order to continue and expand the remarkable progress of the last two decades of computational media development, computer science must build interdisciplinary bridges with other areas that have greater media expertise, from which new research methods, guiding theories, and evaluation approaches can emerge. The potential impacts of such connections are great. Combining computer science's model of technical innovation with media knowledge could offer cultural and economic benefits far beyond those that can be attained by the simple borrowing of surface elements more common today. It could enable interactive educational software that builds on structural insights gained from thousands of years of drama. Presentation and discovery software for understanding everything from scientific data to family history could embody composition lessons from the work of great artists and designers. Meaningful new forms of interactive storytelling could build on the experience gained from interpreting literature and cinema. In short, the scientific process of breaking new ground in media technology could have powerful new methods for evaluating research directions and progress that are grounded in our shared cultural heritage. For enabling such a future, one important interdisciplinary connection is that with arts and design communities, who have developed knowledge in these areas and communities of practitioners already collaborating with computer scientists. Another important connection, which is unfortunately less well established, is that with the humanities. Despite the fact that the humanities have some of the best-developed approaches for understanding media, and despite the emerging digital humanities community with expertise in work with computational systems, the connection between media-focused computer science and the humanities has not yet fully catalyzed. This workshop will be an important step toward building a robust connection, defining the first research questions and collaboration models to be pursued. The potential long-term impacts of these new connections are high, especially in areas where the U.S. has a leadership position and important investments in research and development.