Titaÿna Kauffmann
Doctoral researcher at the C²DH
Titaÿna works on the project ‘CODE AS A SOURCE‘ under the supervision of Valérie Schafer
This PhD project aims to examine the significance of source code as a direct historical source, shedding light on its invisible yet omnipresent role in contemporary society.
A broad spectrum of human activities, including transportation, social interactions, and academic research, are increasingly being facilitated through the use of digital artifacts. As a result, an increasing array of human activities are mediated by digital artefacts who are themselves supported by their source code.
The importance of this matter is highlighted by the creation of algorithms, known as artificial intelligence, and the growing impact of software on diverse facets of social life. Whether it’s software supporting the justice system or facilitating smart cities, access to and comprehension of source code is progressively becoming a substantial political and social issue. Source code is set to play an increasingly pivotal role in contemporary history.
Despite these transformative changes, the role of source code as a primary historical source remains unexplored. Consequently, this PhD project has for ambition to fully embraces source code as a primary source for history and to explore how opening the black box of source code can inform history as well as how history can inform code.
As source code would be a relatively new material for history, this project should yield fruitful methodological ideas and developments within the field of various digital history topics. Furthermore, we’ll delve into the creation of a source code archive and examine the functioning of key stakeholders in the field, such as Software Heritage, GitHub Archive, and Internet Archive.