This is a write-up of a talk I gave at CESTA on January 29, 2026, with an epilogue covering the last few weeks. The talk wasn’t recorded, and since I wrote this up later, it’s less off-the-cuff and probably a bit better than the original.
As we confront this moment of great institutional and societal change, the forces of destruction are the most visible. Budget crises and political forces are colliding, turning important academic programs, centers, and communities into wreckage. But we are not entirely powerless to shape what emerges next. One strength of digital humanities as a community is that — more than many other areas of the humanities — we have a track record of talking openly about our values, and these can serve as beacons to guide our actions.