Disciplines
Overview of Communication studies and Digital huminites
Bateman notes that literacy involves “media practices… for social purposes” and that modern communication uses multiple expressive forms of text, image, sound, and gesture.
COMM Studies
Communication Studies is a social science discipline that examines how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, and channels. It is the study of how we exchange information and the impact those exchanges have on human relationships and societal structures.
Researchers in this field study communication by observing the creation, delivery, and reception of both verbal and non-verbal signals. This involves analyzing everything from spoken language and written text to body language, facial expressions, and vocal tone. By evaluating these interactions, COMM studies seeks to understand how meaning is negotiated and how symbols, whether words or gestures, shape our shared reality.
Digital Humanities
Digital Humanities is an interdisciplinary field that sits at the intersection of computing and the traditional humanities (such as history, philosophy, and literature). It involves the application of digital tools and computational methods to humanistic inquiry, allowing researchers to analyze cultural data at a scale previously impossible.
Scholars in DH use techniques like data visualization, text mining, and digital archiving to uncover patterns in human culture and history. Instead of reading a single book, a DH researcher might use an algorithm to “distantly read” thousands of texts at once to track how specific ideas or linguistic trends have evolved over centuries.
How these Disciplines Relate to Culture
Both fields explore how people make meaning in a digital world
Communication Studies focuses on how human meaning-making, multimodality, and media practices.
Digital Humanities focuses on how digital platforms reshape reading, literacy, and cultural behavior
Together, they help explain how digital media influence:
- Cultural literacy
- Reading practices
- Social interaction
- Digital communication norms
Both disciplines show that culture is constantly reshaped by new technologies and new forms of communication