Annotated Bibliography

Admin. “Open Cure: When Digital Humanities Meet Medical Humanities.” Antonio A. Casilli, 10 Sept. 2015, www.casilli.fr/2012/10/02/open-cure/.

In this article, Casilli discusses Salvatore Iaconesi’s innovative approach to treating his brain cancer by using digital tools and open-source principles. Iaconesi made his medical records publicly accessible online, inviting feedback from medical professionals and the public. The article explores the implications of this “open cure” for privacy, patient empowerment, and the intersection of medical humanities and digital humanities. Casilli highlights how Iaconesi’s project challenges traditional patient-doctor dynamics and advocates for a more humane, inclusive approach to healthcare. Casilli’s article is a valuable resource for understanding the potential of digital humanities in addressing medical issues. It analyzes how digital tools can make medical information more accessible and encourage collaborative problem-solving. The article also discusses privacy and openness in medical data, which is important for evaluating digital healthcare projects. This article is useful for projects combining digital humanities and medical humanities, showing how digital methods can address real medical issues and highlighting their benefits and limitations.

American Cancer Society. "Cancer Statistics Center." Cancer Statistics Center, American Cancer Society, https://cancerstatisticscenter.cancer.org/#!/. Accessed 15 June 2024.

The American Cancer Society's Cancer Statistics Center offers comprehensive statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, survival, and risk factors in the United States. The interactive platform provides data visualization tools to explore and analyze cancer trends across different demographics and time periods. This source is indispensable for acquiring up-to-date and detailed cancer statistics. The platform’s extensive database allows for in-depth analysis of cancer patterns, which is critical for our research on health disparities. The data provided is reliable and widely recognized in the medical community, ensuring the accuracy and credibility of our study. The Cancer Statistics Center will be instrumental in providing the empirical data needed to support our analysis of cancer disparities. The interactive tools facilitate a deeper understanding of the statistical trends, aiding in the visualization of complex data. This resource will help us identify significant patterns and correlations, guiding our interpretation of how social determinants influence cancer outcomes.

Bakkila, Baylee F., et al. “Evaluation of racial disparities in quality of care for patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer treated with surgery.” JAMA Network Open, vol. 5, no. 4, 4 Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.5664.

In this paper, Baylee analyzed the treatment outcomes of over 500,000 patients with gastrointestinal cancer. They found that Black patients are less likely to receive standard of care treatments such as negative resection margins, adequate lymphadenectomies, and adjuvant therapy. All these contributed to Black patients having overall lower survival outcomes. Because of these results, the authors called for reforms on both the system and physician level.

The findings in this paper help us in providing reasoning for the trends we see in our dataset. Rather than coming to the conclusion that differences in survival are solely due to genetic or immutable factors, we can say that there are differences in the quality of care that lead to racial disparities in survival and treatment outcomes.

Cowles, David L. "Reader Response Criticism." Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, 2001.

This paper explains reader response criticism, focusing on the role of readers in text interpretation. He discusses how personal interpretations based on personal experiences have changed and stresses the importance of engaging the audience. The theory is linked to the digital humanistic environment by designing the project interface to make it interactive and user responsive. It encourages users to interpret visual data based on their own context and experience, making user interaction an integral part of narrative and analysis. This resource is useful for designing a project's website and visualizations to engage users, while allowing us to think about who our project's audience is and what kind of digital humanities information we need for our research station. Cowles' work is solid and provides a foundation for understanding how to create interactive and meaningful content. This approach tells us how to build engagement on a website. It ensures that our content is not only informative, but also resonating and can provoke individual reflection and response, which is essential for educational and advocacy purposes. The theory will guide the narrative structure of the website, ensuring that it engages users in a meaningful way. It will help create interactive elements, allow users to explore data based on their interests and background, and provide channels to connect with creators to enhance the overall impact of the project and help the project improve its content. This way of communicating with our users has provided us with great inspiration, and we also want to complement the message of our digital humanities website more comprehensively by creating areas of interaction with our readers.

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. NYU Press, 2017.

This paper explores Critical race theory (CRT), which explores how race and racism intersect with social structures. This article emphasizes the social construction of race, the importance of minority voices and narratives, and the systemic nature of racism. This source is critical to understanding the systemic inequalities that drive cancer disparities. We used CRT to analyze quantitative data on cancer incidence in different ethnic groups. Stereotypes and biases are always present and inevitable, so comparing the differences between different races in different types of cancer can help us show the different situations that different races face when it comes to health pathology. This analysis helps us understand how systemic racism and social determinants influence health disparities. It guides our interpretation, ensuring that we place the data within the broader social and historical structure of race and inequality. This reading will provide a theoretical framework for analyzing how race and racism affect cancer disparities. This framework helped us find a very interesting research question and hypothesis that supports both the humanities and data links, guiding us to investigate not only the "what" and "how" of cancer differences, but also the underlying "why." It may be that different ethnic groups have different incomes, social status, and depending on their medical conditions and healthy living environments, all of which may affect the incidence of cancer.

Javed, Zulqarnain, et al. “Race, racism, and Cardiovascular Health: Applying a social determinants of health framework to racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease.” Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, vol. 15, no. 1, 18 Jan. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1161/circoutcomes.121.007917.

The article addresses racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD), using the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework to analyze how structural racism influences CVD outcomes among historically underserved populations in the United States. It highlights the persistent inequities experienced by people of color—including Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian groups—who face increased risks of CVD due to socioeconomic disadvantages, substandard living conditions, and barriers to healthcare. The study examines five SDOH domains: economic stability, neighborhood and physical environment, education, community and social context, and healthcare system, demonstrating how these factors, compounded by structural racism, contribute to higher CVD incidence and mortality among minority groups. The authors conclude with research and policy recommendations aimed at addressing systemic racism to reduce racial disparities and promote health equity. This article is highly useful for understanding the relationship between structural racism and CVD disparities. Its comprehensive analysis across multiple SDOH domains provides a robust framework for examining how social, economic, and environmental factors contribute to health inequities. The information from this article helped shape the focus of our digital archive on cancer disparities. It guided the development of questions and hypotheses to explore the role of structural racism in health outcomes, particularly in relation to cancer. The SDOH framework presented in the article helped narrow our project's scope to investigate specific factors like economic stability and access to healthcare, providing a clearer direction for data collection and analysis.

Manovich, Lev. "What is Visualization?" 2011.

This paper introduces Manovich's definition of information visualization, and discusses the historical background, principle and application of information visualization. He emphasized the importance of visualization in understanding complex data and highlighted the images, colors, spatial structures, etc. required for different types of visual representations. This source is critical to understanding how to effectively present cancer identification data. This will help our website visually and effectively show the impact of different social and historical environmental factors on different types of cancer, explore the indirect impact of humans on human health, and effectively present it with appropriate graphics. Manovich's work is valuable in the field of digital humanities and has provided valuable insights into the creation of influential visual DH projects. Visualization is essential to show geographic and demographic patterns of cancer incidence, to concretize abstract data, and to provide interpretability to a wider audience. This reading helps to help us achieve better website visualizations, helps to decide which type of visualizations (e.g., bar charts, heat maps) are best for different types of data, ensures that the information is accessible, and engages the audience. This approach not only makes the information easy to understand, but also interactive, allowing users to engage with the data in a meaningful way.

“Short Guide to Evaluation of Digital Work.” Journal of Digital Humanities, journalofdigitalhumanities.org/1-4/short-guide-to-evaluation-of-digital-work-by-geoffrey-rockwell/. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Rockwell’s guide provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating digital scholarly work, particularly useful for those new to this type of assessment. The guide includes a set of questions to ask about a project’s accessibility, funding, expert consultations, peer reviews, presentations, and more. It also outlines best practices in digital work, covering aspects such as content selection, digitization standards, and usability. This guide is an essential resource for anyone involved in the evaluation of digital humanities projects. It provides detailed criteria and practical advice for evaluating digital work thoroughly and accurately. Rockwell emphasizes long-term accessibility and scholarly standards, which is crucial for the sustainability and impact of digital projects. This guide is invaluable for evaluating digital humanities projects, offering a structured approach to assess their quality and significance. Moreover, ensuring evaluations are comprehensive and meet educational standards.

“The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.” Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) vol. 1, no. 4, 1999, pp. 379-80.

This article provides an overview of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, highlighting its mission, activities, and impact on breast cancer research and awareness. The foundation is dedicated to eradicating breast cancer through research, education, advocacy, and support programs. This source is useful for understanding the role of non-profit organizations in advancing breast cancer research and support, particularly through a critical race analysis lens. The foundation’s efforts to address disparities in breast cancer incidence and outcomes among different racial and ethnic groups are crucial. The article helps us explore how systemic inequalities and social determinants of health contribute to these disparities. The article will aid our research by demonstrating the significance of advocacy and support networks in addressing racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes. By applying a critical race analysis, we can better understand how the foundation's initiatives aim to reduce inequalities in breast cancer care and support for marginalized communities. This perspective is essential for a comprehensive understanding of how non-profit organizations contribute to health equity and the fight against systemic racism in healthcare.

Williams, David R., et al. “Race, socioeconomic status, and health: Complexities, ongoing challenges, and research opportunities.” National Library of Medicine, vol. 1186, no. 1, Feb. 2010, pp. 69–101, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05339.x.

This article reviews racial variations in health and emphasizes that disparities in socioeconomic status (SES) are significant contributors to racial health disparities. It highlights the need to consider race as a multifaceted social construct that reflects various dimensions of social inequality. Furthermore, the article evaluates the roles of medical care and genetics in contributing to racial and SES differences in health. This article thoroughly analyzes how SES, race, and social factors interact to influence health outcomes. It extends beyond traditional SES indicators to include migration and status, offering a holistic view of the determinants of health disparities. This article's emphasis on the interplay between SES, race, and social environments helped us create focused questions and hypotheses to guide our research. We used the insights to narrow our project's focus to investigate how these factors collectively impact cancer outcomes among different racial and ethnic groups. The article's framework influenced our decision to incorporate migration status and historical and social contexts into our archive, allowing us to capture a more comprehensive picture of cancer disparities and target the areas where interventions may be most effective.

“Yale University Library Research Guides: Resources for Digital Humanities: Accessibility.” Home - Yale University Library Research Guides at Yale University, guides.library.yale.edu/dh/accessibility. Accessed 21 June 2024.

This guide from Yale University Library provides resources and tips for making digital humanities projects accessible. It covers important topics like color contrast, alt text for images, captions and transcripts for multimedia, and easy navigation and readability. The guide offers practical tools and recommendations for creating inclusive projects. The guide is a key resource for digital humanities scholars focused on accessibility. It gives clear, useful advice to make digital content accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. The practical tools and techniques make it a valuable reference. This guide is especially helpful for projects aiming for inclusivity, ensuring accessibility is built into the design and execution of digital humanities work, improving usability and reach.