Learning by doing: HTML and CSS

In class, I was sure that humanities students should become familiar with coding, but I’m not sure I’m still fully convinced. It seems unreasonable to claim that all humanities majors should learn to code, or even that the skill is applicable in all humanities contexts. However, I also see that the ability to connect the two realms, or at least to communicate about both, opens doors to collaborating on interdisciplinary projects that bridge the gap between ancient and modern. 

My prior coding experience mostly involves Python, which I used for data processing and visualization, and Java, which I only used in Data Structures here at Carleton. On a very basic level, I can use Unix to navigate downloads and run programs. I believe this gave me a leg up in learning about HTML and CSS and how they interact with the computer. But don’t be fooled! HTML gave me a run for my money at first. Why is the ‘Make rich text’/ ‘Make plain text’ toggle in the format drop down menu? And why did that take me 45 minutes to figure out?? I can confidently tell you that I know all about plain and rich text now. Here’s some of what I have to show for it:

	this is my <I>second </I>webpage. <br>
	my first page did not work! <b>Terrible.</b>

	<p> this is a new paragraph!</p>

	<h2>I love using subheadings to separate my sections.</h2>
	
	<p>Here is a list of things I like:<p>
	<ul>
		<li>cats</li>
		<li>cars</li>
		<li>the ocean</li>
	</ul>
	<p><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzu5ogA0H8vxs6o6Gyh4JTZ3ngtHaDrqSGDg&s">This</a> is my friend on her first day of classes!</p>

this is my second webpage. 

my first page did not work! Terrible.
this is a new paragraph!
I love using subheadings to separate my sections.
Here is a list of things I like:

cats
	
cars
	
the ocean
This is my friend on her first day of classes!

My experience in the early stages of learning about HTML speaks to my thinking that perhaps not every humanities student needs coding in their course load. I stand by my opinion that any humanities student would benefit from it, but I wonder if the trouble is always worth the reward. Donahue points out in his essay about why humanities students should not code that humanities and computer sciences “are often working on exactly the same projects,” (2010) and that the two do not necessarily need to work in conjunction with each other. In fact, he declares that separation and distinction may be chief to some digital humanities realm that tries to combine the two. I’ve wondered if this is always true, but I can certainly see how it is true in some instances. Like, how it is way better to go to the museum than it is to look at the painting online. Or, how ‘that meeting could have been an email.’ To me, it doesn’t have to be black and white, but rather the gray should be carefully considered.