Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities - by Jim Ridolfo (Paperback)

About the Book

Within the digital humanities, rhetoric has emerged as a nexus of incredible innovation, and "Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities" provides extensive and much-needed guidance on how the theories and methodologies of rhetorical studies can be marshaled in highly successful ways to enhance all work in digital humanities. In addition to an insightful introduction from the editors, the book offers essays from leading scholars in a variety of disciplines, organized into three tightly focused sections. The first consists of seven chapters that define field connections between rhetoric and the digital humanities. The second section offers six chapters focused on research methodology. And the third presents ten chapters offering forward-looking recommendations on pathways for exploring interdisciplinary trajectories between rhetorical studies and the digital humanities. This timely edited collection will do much to promote and strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations in the digital humanities.

Book Synopsis

The digital humanities is a rapidly growing field that is transforming humanities research through digital tools and resources. Researchers can now quickly trace every one of Issac Newton's annotations, use social media to engage academic and public audiences in the interpretation of cultural texts, and visualize travel via ox cart in third-century Rome or camel caravan in ancient Egypt. Rhetorical scholars are leading the revolution by fully utilizing the digital toolbox, finding themselves at the nexus of digital innovation.

Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities is a timely, multidisciplinary collection that is the first to bridge scholarship in rhetorical studies and the digital humanities. It offers much-needed guidance on how the theories and methodologies of rhetorical studies can enhance all work in digital humanities, and vice versa. Twenty-three essays over three sections delve into connections, research methodology, and future directions in this field. Jim Ridolfo and William Hart-Davidson have assembled a broad group of more than thirty accomplished scholars. Read together, these essays represent the cutting edge of research, offering guidance that will energize and inspire future collaborations.

Review Quotes

"Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities is a landmark collection for scholars in rhetoric and writing studies. Its attention to procedurality, coding, scholarly communication, archives, and computer-aided methodologies, among other things, maps many of the important changes in disciplinary terrain prompted by the emergence of the digital humanities. It's also a compelling demonstration of the role that rhetoric and writing studies can and should play in discussions about digital humanities. This book will provide colleagues across the disciplines with a strong sense of the ways that rhetorical studies might intersect with their own work."--Collin Brooke, Syracuse University

"Ridolfo and Hart-Davidson have produced a volume that interrogates the most important questions facing both rhetoric scholars and teachers who are interested in the digital humanities and digital humanists who are interested in the rhetorical dimensions of multimodal texts. Avoiding the negative aspects of territorialism and disciplinary politics, the contributors remix theories, practices, and methods in new and exciting ways, mapping productive relationships between rhetorical studies and the digital humanities and illuminating how these areas intersect and interanimate one another. This volume should be required reading for anyone who cares about the future of writing and reading."--Stuart A. Selber, author of Multiliteracies for a Digital Age

"An important and timely exploration of the many ties that bind the digital humanities and composition/rhetoric. Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities is a much-needed book that will stir conversations in both fields."--Matthew K. Gold, Debates in the Digital Humanities

"A good introduction for those coming from a rhetoric background, and is of interest not only to those in English studies generally, but also to digital humanists in informatics programs."--Alan Bilansky "Digital Humanities Quarterly"

"A much needed volume in the fields of rhetoric studies and digital humanities."--Ken S. McAllister "Digital Scholarship in the Humanities"

"Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities is an important collection. The affinities between the digital humanities and rhetoric and writing studies are numerous, varied, and brimming with potential for mutual collaboration."--Kevin G. Smith "Digital Humanities Quarterly"

About the Author

Jim Ridolfo is assistant professor of writing, rhetoric, and digital studies at the University of Kentucky and associate researcher at Matrix, the Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences at Michigan State University. William Hart-Davidson is associate dean of graduate studies in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University and senior researcher at Matrix.