There are two faces to DH, are you in or are you out?

I've come to the conclusion that DH has two main faces: one is that assumption that many of us made all along, an application of computational and technological methods to humanities research. The other is a social movement that embraces technology and the digital as a medium for change, something that embraces diversity and is humanitarian in nature. It is not always easy to discern which face of DH a project or person is presenting (though sometimes it is) and projects can easily overlap into both.

I was not aware of that second face when I came into this program, but it has captured me. The problem I'm having now is wondering if academia, or even alt-academia, is a place where that version of DH is most effective. I believe that academia and the humanities are capable of generating change, that the education of individuals is a way of promoting change. I also believe that the 'DH wave' is cresting and that if one wants to effect real change while this movement/methodology is at its peak then traditional academic avenues may not be fast-acting enough because, as transformative and powerful a force academia and education can be, it is slow to move (I still think Tolkien had academia in mind when he made the Ents).

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I think that many of us have a desire to change the world at a young age. As time goes on we bring that desire down to a more manageable aim of doing some good in the time that we have. The second face of DH has fanned my flames to the point where I'm back (at least for the moment) to harbouring that somewhat childish desire. The only problem is that I'm not sure DH and academia are a place where I'll be able to implement that desire most effectively due to its slow nature.

Maybe academia wouldn't benefit from another white, male voice as much as it might from say, a female, Hispanic one (though I feel like I might have one or two valuable things to contribute)?

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Or maybe an even greater selfishness would be for a person to demand to be a part of a movement in which he or she saw immediate results, or even results in one's own lifetime? Perhaps academia and education, despite its plodding course, is exactly where a person who wants to create change should be if he or she are willing to stomach the fact that the change might not materialize within their lifetime.

Julian H. Lewis, first African American professor at the University of Chicago, 1923. This person published a book in 1942 that (as I understand it) debunked eugenics entirely.

I'm not entirely sure which is the best course of action. I know that I'm committed to the second face of DH at this point. I want to use technology to improve the world, whether that means integrating tech into an academic setting or something as simple as using it to tell stories that embrace diversity (like this, some of these, and this).

In short, I'm in.