Last week, MITH Director Neil Fraistat traveled to the 2012 Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention to work with literary scholars interested in exploring digital humanities and alternative academic careers, while our own Associate Director Matt Kirschenbaum was being quoted in the New York Times by the critic Stanley Fish.

Speaking at MLA on “#alt-ac: The Future of “Alternative Academic” Careers,” Fraistat explored with other leading digital humanists the trend towards hybrid and non-tenure-track academic positions in libraries, university presses, cultural heritage organizations, and digital humanities organizations. He launched his efforts by participating in a day-long pre-conference workshop, as part of his position as co-chair of centerNet, to work with language and literature scholars who sought to learn about or join the digital humanities community. Capped by an exciting and well-attended launch of DHCommons, a new registry designed to match such scholars with existing digital initiatives and established digital-humanities scholars, Neil’s activities in Seattle were an impressive example of the growth of digital approaches within literary studies.

Kirschenbaum addressed this “alternative academic” trend and its effects in Fish’s latest op-ed, “The Digital Humanities and the Transcending of Mortality” (January 9, 2012). Matt highlights the effects of the digital humanities on current academic conditions. “Amid an increasingly monstrous institutional terrain defined by declining public support for higher education, rising tuitions, shrinking endowments,” Kirschenbaum is quoted, “

[and] the proliferation of distance education and the for-profit university,” the digital humanities, through organizations like DHCommons and centerNet, seeks to create a support network of universities and researchers that offer solutions to the decline of traditional structures like tenure and promotion, in order to offer new approaches to humanities scholarship.

MITH is thrilled to see such extensive engagement from these reputable organizations! We invite MLA and others to join us at this Spring’s Digital Dialogues.