Gessner, Ingrid; Herrmann, Sebastian M.; Horn, Katrin; Mischke, Dennis; Schober, Regina; Flanders, Julia; Dunst, Alexander; Kartheus, Wiebke; Schuller, Dorothea; Stompor, Tomasz; Pooley, Jefferson; Fitzpatrick, Kathleen (2023):
"Forum: Digitization, Digital Humanities, and American Studies." Amerikastudien/American Studies 68.1: 5-26.
Journal Article
Abstract

Digitization and the digital humanities (DH) continue to shape the field of American studies. This forum brings together ten international scholars who assess where we as (German) Americanists stand on digital scholarship, (inter)disciplinarity, data, and publishing. Some of the statements collected here were originally presented during a digital town hall meeting of the German Association of American Studies (GAAS) on April 1, 2022; others were written specifically for this forum. Together, they discuss how digitization impacts our work environments, the role DH methods play in American studies, and the production, use, and sustainability of research data in the humanities. Contributors define DH and its connection to literary and cultural studies and trace its history in German American studies and beyond. Several contributions shed light on the (in)accessibility of digital publishing and practices of data tracking. They critically flag neoliberal logics of exploitative research designs but also point to collaborative endeavors and open-access formats as useful tools to resist them. The statements reflect and resume the conversation initiated in April 2022 to chart a possible direction for American studies.