Frank Fischer is Professor of Digital Humanities at Freie Universität Berlin. He holds a Master's Degree in Computer Science and German Studies from Leipzig University and received his PhD from the University of Jena with a study on revenge drama in the Enlightenment. From 2017 to 2021 he was director of DARIAH-EU, the pan-European digital research infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities. He is founder and editor-in-chief of DraCor (https://dracor.org/), a multilingual platform dedicated to digital research on European drama.
Building on an unusual interdisciplinary background that combined computer science and literature in equal measure, Frank Fischer found his place in the digital humanities. In this video, he explains how his background has enabled him to understand 'both sides' of a digital humanities project - i.e. the humanities and the technical. He discusses the distinction between formal and informal education, arguing that the more 'alternative' teaching methods used in the digital humanities (workshops, summer schools etc) are crucial in developing new skills. Finally, he discusses how research infrastructures are vital in providing this kind of hands-on training, since they synthesise the 'social' and the 'technical'.
DARIAH Director Toma Tasovac spoke to fellow DARIAHns and colleagues from prospective DARIAH countries about the role of training and education in digital research infrastructures.
