New Dialogues in Spanish and Portuguese Studies: Pedagogical and Theoretical Perspectives from the Digital Humanities

The Digital Humanities (DH) has been for many years, even decades, in constant development and self-definition and has been able to gather a diverse and international community that goes beyond the traditional framework of academia. Modern Languages (ML) also finds itself in the process of establishing the terms in which it intersects with the Digital Humanities. This intersection of DH and ML does not consist of the adoption of a digital literacy as a mere instrument, but as an indispensable critical and culturally sensitive component for understanding digital culture and digital methods. The twelve articles included in this special issue accomplish the initial goal as specified in the call for papers; in unique ways, each article details the intersections between DH and Spanish and Portuguese studies. This special issue also includes various theoretical pieces that offer original ways to envision connections between ML, methodology, and DH. This special issue shifts the common scholarly perspective concerning DH as related to ML; the articles are not simply examples of "doing DH" in Spanish or Portuguese, but instead the issue approaches DH from the perspective of "lenguas extranjeras" in the United States, both in a pedagogical and theoretical sense. Ultimately, there is a strong thread across the special issue focused on matters of justice concerning the academic outreach to migrant communities, the scope of digital libraries and resources, and the diversity and equity in DH.