ICT for Research in Humanities

ICT / Digital Technologies for Research in Humanities

Highlights of the talk:

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) or Digital Technology.

From using ICT tools for Research to researching literature generated by digital technologies.

From using ICT as tool to researching Digital Technology as an object of study.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been a vital tool for researchers in the Humanities for a long time. It has been used to research literature, review previous research, formulate hypothesis, collect data, and analyze information. ICT tools like Inflibnet, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR, and virtual libraries such as Gutenberg, Google Books, and online book stores have been used extensively.

However, with the advent of digital technologies, the possibilities of research in the Humanities have increased significantly. The digital technology is acquiring the ability to think and create like humans. Its artificial intelligence is getting smarter, and its ability to process natural language is getting closer to that of humans.

Digital Technology for research in Humanities has several advantages. For example, tools like the CLiC web app, nGram Google Books, and tools for corpus linguistics provide new ways to analyze literary texts. ELAN is another tool that provides multiple ways to view annotations and supports the creation of multiple tiers. However, the use of digital technology for research in Humanities has its own challenges. For example, the question of morality arises when using AI and its potential for unconscious bias. The generative literature, being produced by computers, requires a new way of understanding and reading.

In conclusion, while ICT remains an important tool for research in Humanities, the increased capabilities of digital technologies open up new possibilities and offer new ways to analyze information. Researchers in the Humanities must be familiar with digital technology and take advantage of its benefits while addressing its challenges.

Video Recording of the session:

 

Memorabilia 2020

Memorabilia 2020

From the desk of the Head of the Department

A Meme is an interesting ‘sign’ of communication. The word meme is a neologism coined by Richard Dawkins. It originated from Dawkins's 1976 book The Selfish Gene. 

Richard Dawkins likened the process by which memes survive and change through the evolution of culture to the natural selection of genes in biological evolution. Dawkins defined the meme as a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation and replication, but later definitions would vary. 

Merriam-Webster dictionary defined - A meme is an idea, behaviour, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture—often with the aim of conveying a particular phenomenon, theme, or meaning represented by the meme. 

Gordon Graham states in ‘Genes: A Philosophical Inquiry’ that “A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures. 

Well, the purpose of this explanation of ‘meme’ is to understand how funny-looking photograph of Mr. Bean with a dialogue between interviewer and ‘me’ (whoever reads this) is so significant meme in the times of leadership crisis. 

When observed from the distant hill-top position with a hind sight, every passing-out batch makes me think something vividly and yet in very general terms i.e. not specific about individual students, but about entire ‘class’ / ‘group’. The batch passing out in 2020 makes me re-think about the qualities and characteristics of leadership. This meme acts as a unit for carrying leadership ideas, symbols and practices, that can be transmitted form one mind to another through behavioural patterns imitated by others, supported and self-replicated and responded in similar fashion. The contemporary phenomenon represented by this meme is exactly what was experienced in last year. The meme speaks about leadership crisis in real-life situations. Social media platforms like WhatsApp is just a means for communication. Communication is a very significant strategic tool for good leadership. However, it shall be carried out in real-life situation, lest it should remain only at communication level which does not materialize in real life situation. 

When it comes to developing leadership qualities among students, we follow the model of ‘Emergent Leadership’. The success story of Google is all about ‘emergent leadership. We have also achieved significant positive results in past with the similar model of leadership wherein there is little interference by teachers and students are free to display leadership qualities. 

I would like to borrow views of Stuart R. Levine published as The Skills Required for Emergent Leadership on cutimes.com. He defined Emergent Leadership as ‘It is a type of leadership in which a group member is not appointed or elected to the leadership role; rather, leadership develops over time as a result of the group’s interaction. He concluded that it is not grades that matters but ‘predictive of success were adeptness with the “soft skills” of leadership, humility, collaboration and loving to learn, unlearn and re-learn… surprisingly, even the expertise was not a useful predictor. For every job at Google, general cognitive ability as the primary attribute of success and expertise as one of the least important. Google discovered that emergent leadership skills – including a desire to learn and the ability to process and integrate disparate bits of information for solutions and insights – were more important than content knowledge. 

Somehow, I don’t know why, but I get such vibes that the passing out batch was lacking the characteristics of emergent leadership. I have never felt an urge to write in Memorabilia about ‘the lack’. I prefer to write about what positive attributes were ‘present’ among the class of students passing out. Somehow, again I don’t know why, I feel – let me take this last opportunity to teach something so significant as life skills – emergent leadership! 

Many students are very talented in their respective areas of interest. . . . . But because they lacked the attribute of emergent leadership, they failed to lead the group to achieve something significant as a class. 

Many of the students were having very unique skills, attributes, characteristics, creative power and passion for life. Mentioning some of their uniqueness, not as per the attributes but alphabetically, I would like to mention that Alisha - a passion for acting in theatre & TV; Ashish - informed about his passion for badminton; Bhavnesh - shown good capacity to critically think and articulate in equally good elocution; Dhaval - good drafting style in Gujarati language, passion for photo-videography, media and also an insight for aesthetic designs; Dipti - displayed hunger for deep learning; Divya - capacity to do hard work; Hetal - a passion for sports; Hina was good learner; Jeel displayed attitude for research based learning; Kailas - a knack for adventure sports; Krishna displayed a capacity to lead; Lalji was one of the most sincere in learning and showed ability to unlearn & relearn; Minkal - displayed capacity to learn and articulate learning for exam purpose; Mitalba was slow in traditional classroom learning but was better in digital learning, especially in lab sessions; Nasim - developed an insight to read real life through the lenses of literature; Nikita – displayed tremendous improvement in last semester; Prakruti - good command over language and was able to articulate understanding in classroom discussions; Prinjal - been very good in working hard; Ruchita - shown initial spark of passion for learning and leading; Urvashi - good ability for sports; Vidhya was good in celebration and cultural events; and Vishva had good language commands, ability to be creative and a leader. Avni, Jetal, Jyotiba, mansi, Monika, Nirali, Rajdip, Richa, and Sejal were doing their bit as good students and even helping others in various activities. 

All these students had talents to make it larger than life; make something historical; make an indelible mark. Somehow, that did not happen as I imagined or expected from them. And so, when I reflect back on their endeavours, attempts, talents, attributes and ability to perform, I feel they lacked something known as ‘Emergent Leadership’ - a desire to learn and the ability to process and integrate disparate bits of information for solutions and insights – were more important than content knowledge. 

The lack of emergent leadership leads to the corrosion of an ability to communicate effectively also. If the students of literature (humanities) lack the ability to communicate, to share, to speak, to opine, to contribute, or to disseminate their learning, reading, research and interpretations, what happens is very tragic for entire discipline of humanities. We should always remember what Richard Altick and John Fenstermaker said about the dire condition of Humanities in the era of STEM: “If the humanities, including the study of literature, are in perennial crisis – more so at the present moment, perhaps, than ever before – and the outlook for their survival grim, blame must lie as heavily on us, their appointed agents, for our lack of enterprise, as on the supposed unreceptiveness of the prospective consumers. (Thus), it is our responsibility to seize every opportunity to communicate with the lay audience, as in book reviews or in articles and essays in the popular press (read social media) on history, biography, and culture (and to make such opportunities where they do not exist). Our contribution as scholars in this regard is only a slight modification of our essentially two-fold task in the classroom: to educate students at all levels to read, write, and think, developing in them the intellectually curious habit of mind that casts a disinterested eye over all important issues, appreciating their complexities; and to lead students by extensive reading and critical analysis of recognized writers and thinkers, ancient and contemporary, inside and outside the mainstream, to seek, in Matthew Arnold’s words, “the best that is known and thought in the world” for the purpose of creating in their own lives a “current of new and fresh ideas” appropriate in this, our time.” 

We, at Department of English, strive hard to cultivate the habits of observing the process rather than the product; to nurture the habit of reflection, ponder upon everything we do; to habituate mind to question, to examine and to test before believing into anything – and above all, write about it, make it visible to the people in the world. We, the agents of literature / humanities, have to snatch every opportunity we get and display emergent leadership qualities; and be visible to the world by sharing our learning, reading, research & interpretations. 

If these points are pondered upon, I hope, the passing out students will be able to shine out wherever and in whatsoever position they are. 

This ‘Memorabilia 2020’ is an evidence of their incredible talent. Thanks to Committee Leaders for their reports. The Documentation Committee deserves an applaud for all the editing work. The design work is done by Dhaval. 

Best wishes to all the passing out students for the future of their dreams and desire! 

- Dilip Barad

'Memorabilia 2020' released by Vice Chancellor Dr. Mahipatsinh Chavda

Memorabilia 2020 from Dilip Barad

Books on Education System

Books on Changing Face of Education

1. Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

~ Martha C. Nussbaum

In this short and powerful book, celebrated philosopher Martha Nussbaum makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. Historically, the humanities have been central to education because they have rightly been seen as essential for creating competent democratic citizens. But recently, Nussbaum argues, thinking about the aims of education has gone disturbingly awry both in the United States and abroad. Anxiously focused on national economic growth, we increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically and become knowledgeable and empathetic citizens. This shortsighted focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems. And the loss of these basic capacities jeopardizes the health of democracies and the hope of a decent world. In response to this dire situation, Nussbaum argues that we must resist efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product. Rather, we must work to reconnect education to the humanities in order to give students the capacity to be true democratic citizens of their countries and the world. Drawing on the stories of troubling--and hopeful--educational developments from around the world, Nussbaum offers a manifesto that should be a rallying cry for anyone who cares about the deepest purposes of education. Read Chapter 1 Read review of this book 2.  The Fall of the Faculty:The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It Matters ~ Benjamin Ginsberg Powerful and stinging critique of one of the most powerful trends in academia: the shift in power to non-academic administrators Exceptionally well written polemic that will stir controversy at universities across the country The author is well known throughout academia, and has coauthored one of the bestselling textbooks on American government in recent history Dissatisfaction with the academy runs deep in America. Despite-or perhaps because of-the fact that a far greater percentage of Americans have attended college than at any time in the past, distrust of the higher education system seems higher than ever. The most common complaints concern rapidly escalating tuition prices, affirmative action policies, and-not least-the allegedly left-wing professoriate that runs American universities. Indeed, much of the criticism of academia focuses on professors: they are too liberal, they care little about teaching, and they are too hyperspecialized. Benjamin Ginsberg argues that this common critique puts the cart before the horse and ignores a much bigger issue. In fact, faculty are not the primary problem with contemporary academia. Rather, the problem lies in the explosive growth in administration in US universities and the concomitant decline in faculty power in influence. Put simply, <"deanlets>"-administrators without doctorates or serious academic training-rule the roost, and professors do not have nearly as much institutional power as theyused to. Their decline dovetails with another trend: the growing regimentation and corporatization of the university. The fallout, Ginsberg contends, is negative: a de-emphasis on intellectual rigor and the traditional liberal arts. A stinging critique of how universities are run today, this book charts how this happened and explains how we can revamp the system so that actual educators have more say in curriculum policy. 3. The University in Ruins~ Bill Readings

It is no longer clear what role the University plays in society. The structure of the contemporary University is changing rapidly, and we have yet to understand what precisely these changes will mean. Is a new age dawning for the University, the renaissance of higher education under way? Or is the University in the twilight of its social function, the demise of higher education fast approaching?

We can answer such questions only if we look carefully at the different roles the University has played historically and then imagine how it might be possible to live, and to think, amid the ruins of the University. Tracing the roots of the modern American University in German philosophy and in the work of British thinkers such as Newman and Arnold, Bill Readings argues that historically the integrity of the modern University has been linked to the nation-state, which it has served by promoting and protecting the idea of a national culture. But now the nation-state is in decline, and national culture no longer needs to be either promoted or protected. Increasingly, universities are turning into transnational corporations, and the idea of culture is being replaced by the discourse of “excellence.” On the surface, this does not seem particularly pernicious.

The author cautions, however, that we should not embrace this techno-bureaucratic appeal too quickly. The new University of Excellence is a corporation driven by market forces, and, as such, is more interested in profit margins than in thought. Readings urges us to imagine how to think, without concession to corporate excellence or recourse to romantic nostalgia within an institution in ruins. The result is a passionate appeal for a new community of thinkers.

Read Reviews of the book

4. SLOW PROFESSOR: CHALLENGING THE CULTURE OF SPEED IN THE ACADEMY

~

Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber

University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division © 2016

Read an article about this book

It is no longer clear what role the University plays in society. The structure of the contemporary University is changing rapidly, and we have yet to understand what precisely these changes will mean. Is a new age dawning for the University, the renaissance of higher education under way? Or is the University in the twilight of its social function, the demise of higher education fast approaching?

We can answer such questions only if we look carefully at the different roles the University has played historically and then imagine how it might be possible to live, and to think, amid the ruins of the University. Tracing the roots of the modern American University in German philosophy and in the work of British thinkers such as Newman and Arnold, Bill Readings argues that historically the integrity of the modern University has been linked to the nation-state, which it has served by promoting and protecting the idea of a national culture. But now the nation-state is in decline, and national culture no longer needs to be either promoted or protected. Increasingly, universities are turning into transnational corporations, and the idea of culture is being replaced by the discourse of “excellence.” On the surface, this does not seem particularly pernicious.

The author cautions, however, that we should not embrace this techno-bureaucratic appeal too quickly. The new University of Excellence is a corporation driven by market forces, and, as such, is more interested in profit margins than in thought. Readings urges us to imagine how to think, without concession to corporate excellence or recourse to romantic nostalgia within an institution in ruins. The result is a passionate appeal for a new community of thinkers.

If there is one sector of society that should be cultivating deep thought in itself and others, it is academia. Yet the corporatisation of the contemporary university has sped up the clock, demanding increased speed and efficiency from faculty regardless of the consequences for education and scholarship.

In The Slow Professor, Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber discuss how adopting the principles of the Slow movement in academic life can counter this erosion of humanistic education. Focusing on the individual faculty member and his or her own professional practice, Berg and Seeber present both an analysis of the culture of speed in the academy and ways of alleviating stress while improving teaching, research, and collegiality. The Slow Professor will be a must-read for anyone in academia concerned about the frantic pace of contemporary university life.

Presentations on Research Methodology: Introduction to Research Methodology, Literature Review and Plagiarism

Presentations on Research Methodology:
Introduction to Research Methodology, Literature Review and Plagiarism

Research Methodology in Humanities, especially, in English literary studies is important to the aspirants of M.Phil, Ph.D. or to the research scholars/teachers who wish to apply for minor or major research projects to UGC or similar funding agencies.

Some important points to be kept in mind while preparing research proposal for Ph.D. / M.Phil in language and literature are:

• Method and Methodology: Guba, E.G. (1990) in 'The Paradigm Dialogue' has argued that there are three fundamental research questions that structure any research project:
  
  1. What is there that can be known – what is knowable?
  2. What is the relation of the knower to the known?
  3. How do we find things out? 
   Ann Gray in 'Research Practice for Cultural Studies' (2003 - Sage Publication) elaborates these questions:
  
• • What is there that can be known - what is knowable?
  This is an ontological question, it refers to the aspect of social reality to be studied, but it also deals with assumptions we are willing to make about the nature of reality. It requires you to take a position in relation to your project and to define your ‘knowable space’. How you construct your knowable space and how you go about exploring and investigating that knowable space will depend upon your theoretical approach to the social world and the actors
  or texts involved.
• What is the relation of the knower to the known?                                                      This is an epistemological question and, put simply, asks how we know what we know. The assumptions that are made about this depend on how we perceive of the reality, and, although Guba does not suggest this, how we are located as subjects within our research. What we bring to our work, how our own knowledge and experience is brought to bear on the research itself will certainly shape it. This is not a question of being ‘subjective’, nor to suggest that we can only view aspects of the world from our own perspective. Rather,  it is to acknowledge what we ourselves bring to our research in terms of our lived experience, certainly, but also our politics and our intellectual frameworks. It is important to make these explicit. The point about who we are and how we relate to the project itself is a key issue for researchers and, again, has informed many debates about research practice and the politics of knowledge generation.
• How do we find things out?
  This is methodological questions. What kind of methods must I employ in order to know, or to put me in a position of being able to interpret and analyse this aspect of the social world? This, then, is where you can begin to think about the kinds of data you need and how to gather it in order to begin to explore your research questions

• Theoretical framework: A researcher stands on the shoulders of previous researchers. The scholars who have worked and given general theories in the area of research should be taken as frame within which new work is explored. The aim of this new work should be to support, refute or go for new theories. This should be clearly defined in the research proposal.
• Review of related literature: This makes for the foundation - the stepping stones - for new research. One should have birds-eye-view of the work done in the area of research which is to be explored. After understanding the work done, the research scholar should think of taking a step further in new direction in the research under consideration. The roadmap of this new direction should be chalked out in research proposal. (While doing an online open course (MOOC) on Coursera - offered by University of London, i came across these articles on Literature Review. All three of them are worth reading: 

• Andrew Booth, Diana Papaioannou, and Anthea Sutton, 'The literature review: its role within research' from Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review (SAGE, 2012), pp.1-16.
• Chris Hart, 'The literature review in research' from Doing a Literature Review (SAGE, 1998), pp.1-25.
• Robin Kiteley and Chris Stogdon, 'What is a literature review?' from Literature Reviews in Social Work (SAGE, 2014), pp.5-22.
•  
• Hypothesis: This makes for the research questions > the problem which is to be solved. If there is no problem, there is no need to solve it and hence no need to do research. So, first of all identify problem. Ask questions, doubt and apply deconstructionist approach to raise questions. The hypothesis will emerge from this exercise. Write hypothesis in clear statements.
• Objectivity Most of us tend to select topic of research not because there is a problem which requires urgent solution but because we are personally, emotionally attached to it. The very first and foremost thing to keep in mind is 'depersonalization'. It is advised to read T.S. Eliot's Tradition and Individual Talent - Part II on poetic process > "It is not an expression of emotion and feelings but an escape from it."One should practice 'detachment' to be a good researcher. Like an umpire in the cricket match, totally engrossed and right at the centre of the match, yet aloof, detached - completely away from the emotions and feelings that drive players and audience.So, the researcher is engrossed, submerged in the research, yet can detach him/herself to critical evaluate his/her own position. It is observed that most of the research scholars fail to achieve this position and so are not able to raise proper questions > they remain emotionally attached and are, thus, blinded to empirical evidences necessary to make statements in thesis/dissertaion.
• Plan of research (Chapterization): Normally, there are five chapters in thesis/dissertation:
• Chapter 1: Introduction: It should include, theoretical framework, concept clarification, aims, objectives, hypotheses, research questions and introduction to writers, key terms etc.
• Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature: All that can be reviewed i.e. theories to be applied, conceptual notes, similar research theses/dissertations, journal articles, books etc should be mentioned with annotated bibliographic record in this chapter. Remember, this is the foundation / stepping stones on which you have to stand or walk your path towards the climax in your thesis/dissertation. The more sound work is done here, you will find the it easy to write chapter 3 and 4.
• Chapter 3 and 4: These are core chapters in thesis/dissertation. The research questions, hypothesis, analysis of literary texts, analysis of elt experiments etc are thoroughly discussed in these two chapters.
• Chapter 5: Conclusion: In the entire thesis/dissertation, if there is any space where research scholar is free to write his/her views, it is this chapter. Do not cite any thing. Do not use in-text citation. This space is all yours. You are free to give your interpretations and make the most of it. What ever you have reviewed in chapter 2, whatever you have analyses in chapter 3 and 4, now its time to connect dots - join the arguments - and bring your story to a beautiful end.   

In this video, you will find basics of literature review and about 'ontological' and 'epistemological' approaches to research question:

This presentation gives an outline of model syllabus for such courses. It also presents some views of Richard Altick and John Fenstermaker from 'The Art of Literary Research'.

Research Methodology: Syllabus Design and Introduction from Dilip Barad

Literature Review or Review of Related Literature is one of the most vital stages in any research. This presentation attempts to throw some light on the process and important aspects of literature review.

Literature Review (Review of Related Literature - Research Methodology) from Dilip Barad

Plagiarism: How to Know and Avoid it? from Dilip Barad