Engl 256B Introduction to Digital Humanities
Syllabus and Course Policies (Fall 2018-2019)
Section 1: M 3:00-5:30 pm & Section 2: W 3:00-5:30 pm Fisk 204A (Lab)
Dr. Najla Jarkas nj31@aub.edu.lb ext. 4104 Fisk 302D
Office hours M/W 10:30-12:00
______________________________________________________________________________
Course Description:
This course offers undergraduate students a basic introduction to the concepts, tools, and techniques of Digital Humanities (DH), an interdisciplinary field that dates back to the 1940s. Students will engage in a broader critical engagement with the intersections between new emergent technologies and the humanities; they will learn to identify, use, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different DH methodologies and tools; they will develop sound research questions that can be answered with DH methodologies and tools; they will create DH projects using the tools taught in the courses; and will work individually and collaboratively to create DH projects that relate to specific interests.
Some of the steering questions in this course are: What are the new paradigms set by Digital Humanities? How is literature and the reading of it being affected by computers? What are the features, including limitations, of close reading vs distant reading? How can quantitative data support, expand, and/or alter our critical engagement with literature?
We will engage in our topics through discussion of articles as well as through our own experimentation with digital tools and interfaces. All hands-on sessions require no previous training on the digital tools introduced in this course.
The course has no exams or final paper. Students will produce a reflective blogs almost every three weeks (lengths may vary–starting from 400-500 words–depending on topic) and respond to their colleagues’ posts. The course is organized around a collaborative research project that students will begin in Week 3, when research groups would have been formed and started to explore DH technologies and issues pertaining to their research projects. Research projects, reflective blogs and presentations will be shared publicly as well as with the class on WordPress.
Course Objectives:
The goals of this course are to:
- explore various theoretical and applied perspectives on the digital humanities
- develop familiarity with a wide range of digital humanities projects, methods, and tools
- build skills in planning, developing, and evaluating digital humanities projects
Course Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Engage thoughtfully in the intersections between quantitative and qualitative analysis in the humanities
- Express an informed understanding of literary, critical and cultural texts of different schools of thought and historical periods
- Reflect critically on machine-centered forms of analysis, and on contemporary emphasis on technology
- Apply critical and theoretical approaches in the interpretation of texts
- Analyze primary texts of literature and culture using close and distant reading, balancing traditional humanities perspectives with new methodologies
- Produce critical arguments writing in a digital format
- Collaborate with their peers through not only the use of new technologies but also an agreed-upon and democratic workflow
- Apply and adhere to ethical and scholarly practices in the production of knowledge in the field of DH by respecting intellectual property and avoiding plagiarism
- Speak, think, and write critically about the epistemological biases and affordances of DH methods and tools taught in this course
Each session will be divided into two parts: first half will be spent on theoretical readings and the second part will be a practicum. Periodically, experts in the field of DH will be visiting our classes and giving talks/workshops. We will have the support of two IT experts: Ms. Rayane Fayed and Ms. Rana El Gazzi who will join us during most sessions and who will offer hands-on sessions on the DH technologies.
Students are encouraged to join the DH Café community and attend monthly gatherings and workshops to be announced in the first week of October.
Weekly Schedule:
| Week | Topics, Readings, & Assignments | Notes and Due dates |
| Week 1
|
General introduction to the course, syllabus and assignments
In-class writing: “My Digital Narrative”
· Demystifying DH – Values of DH:
· John Seely Brown “Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u-MczVpkUA
|
|
| Week 2
|
What is Digital Humanities? What do Digital Humanists do? Where? How?
· What is Digital Humanities? http://whatisdigitalhumanities.com/ (Refresh the page to get a new definition) · Schnapp, J. & Presner, P. (2009) “Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0” · Matthew Kirschenbaum “What is Digital Humanities and What’s it Doing in English Departments?” · Gerald R. Lucas “Defining Digital Humanities”
Further Reading (Optional) · David Berry (2011). “The Computational Turn: Thinking About the Digital Humanities.” Culture Machine. · Susan Hockey: A History of Humanities Computing
What is a Digital Humanities Project? · http://miriamposner.com/blog/how-did-they-make-that/
What is Twitter? How to create a Twitter Account, hashtag, and tweet? Getting Started with Twitter How do I post a tweet? How do I delete a tweet? How to control your Twitter experience. Follow Twitter Community Assignment (Hands-on Support Najla) WordPress Practicum (1) (Hands-on support Rayane & Rana) |
Blog (1) in-class |
| Week 3
|
Distant VS Close Reading
· Jockers, M. On Distant Reading and Macroanalysis
● Jonathan Freedman, After Close Reading ● Schulz, K. What is Distant Reading? (2011) ● Mark Sample “What’s Wrong With Writing Essays” Debates (404-405) WordPress Practicum (2) Peer review blog 1 (Hands-on support Rayane & Rana) |
Check Writing of John Burrows’s study of Jane Austen’s oeuvre, Julia Flanders points out how Burrows’s computational study brings the most common words such as “the” and “of” into our field of view. |
| Week 4
|
Guest presentation (1)
University Libraries Digital Initiatives: Elie Kahale
|
To Be Confirmed |
| Week 5
|
Guest presentation (2)
OMEKA Alberto Haddad
|
Blog (2) on guest presentation (1) |
| Week 6
|
Digital Timelines (1):
TimelineJS: Samples: https://timeline.knightlab.com/ Engl 209: Crime and Punishment in American Literature: Find a topic that has evolved in time. Prepare a selection of different types of digital objects relevant to the events you wish to include in your timeline. Adhere to scholarly and ethical practices
|
|
| Week 7
|
Digital Timelines (2):
Revisit the assignments present and peer review timelines done by groups Produce arguments in different digital formats
|
Blog (3) on Digital Timelines |
| Week 8
|
Mapping Literary Spaces (1)
http://www.literaturatlas.eu/en
Barbara Piatti, Hans Rudolf Bär, Anne-Kathrin Reuschel, Lorenz Hurni, and William Cartwright Mapping Literature: Towards a Geography of Fiction
Barbara Piatti, Anne-Kathrin Reuschel, Lorenz Hurni: Dreams, Longings, Memories – Visualising the Dimension of Projected Spaces in Fiction
Reading list: http://vmp.djwrisley.com/2015/04/10/deep-thick-playful-mapping-a-spatialgeohumanities-reading-list-for-beginners/ Article by David Wrisley: https://visualizingmedievalplaces.wordpress.com/
Getting Started with Palladio maps: |
Project Gutenberg for e texts |
| Week 9
|
Mapping Literary Spaces (2)
Revisit the assignments present and peer review maps done by groups Reflective session on your DH project (1). Revise what we have done till now and brainstorm on your potential research question. What type of data will you need? Where can you find it? What software(s) will you be using to answer your research question. Form groups depending on topic interest
|
Blog (4) on Mapping
|
| Week 10
|
Character Network Visualizations: Palladio (1)
· Moretti, F. Network Theory, Plot Analysis
Character Networks and Centrality check an interesting Ph.D. Marten Düring From Hermeneutics to Data to Networks Data Extraction and Network Visualization of Historical Sources Anthony Bonato et al Mining and Modeling character Networks
|
Prepare data for the next session: Choose a play/novel, create a spreadsheet to visualize character networks in each act/chapter
then combine all acts/chapters together
|
| Week 11
|
Guest Presentation (3)
Jean-Christophe (from IFPO)
Character Network Visualizations : Palladio (2)
Create your own network present and peer review networks/graphs done by groups Reflective session on your DH project (2). Revise what we have done till now and brainstorm on your potential research question. What type of data will you need? Where can you find it? What software(s) will you be using to answer your research question. Form groups depending on topic interest
|
Develop your character network visualizations |
| Week 12
|
Guest Presentation (4)
Corpus Linguistics
Textual Analysis: Voyant Tools (1) Text mining literary works
|
Blog (5) on Palladio |
| Week 13
|
Textual Analysis: Voyant Tools (2)
Prepare a brief analysis of one of your colleague’s VT visualizations present and peer review VT visualizations done by groups
● Vinopal, J. Biases and error in our tools: how do you cope? Reflections of a newcomer to textual analysis
|
|
| Week 14
|
Guest Presentation (5)
From OIB
Critiquing Digital Humanities Projects Critically reflect on and analyze your results Computation for Critical Engagement with Literature What is failure/success in a DH project? “DH projects come in many forms, rely on a wide array of data types, and involve any manner of technologies. Becoming accustomed to navigating a project site and exploring how each project approached its data, process, and presentation is a crucial skill for this class. Select any DH project [by a group in class]. Explore the project goals, what type of data it used, how that data was found and/or transformed, what technologies were used, and why. Include your own analysis of how successful you think the project was in achieving its aims, and why or why not.” My addition |
Blog 6 on VT
|
| Week 15
Reading period |
Research presentations |
Course Website:
All students enrolled in this course, will have access to the course blog on WordPress. Instructions on how to create your own WordPress blog and link it to the course will be given in week 2 (check the above weekly schedule).
Required Texts:
Gold/Klein, Debates in the Digital Humanities 2012 edition 2016 edition
Burdick et al., Digital_Humanities (https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262018470_Open_Access_Edition.pdf)
In addition to the above open access books, a number of hyperlinked readings can be found in the weekly schedule.
Weight of Grades: Attendance & In-Class Participation: 20%; Blogs: 30%; Assessment of DH project: 10%; Collaborative DH Miniature Project: 40%.
Attendance & In-Class Participation (including presentations) (20%)
Attendance is mandatory for this course. You are allowed 2 sessions (2.5 x 2=5hrs) of absences. Further absence will result in your automatic forfeiture of the course. Lateness disrupts the entire class, especially during presentations and hand-on practicums, so be as very punctual in your attendance.
You are required to prepare all assigned readings and materials for scheduled class discussions and practicums. You are also expected to actively participate in all class discussions, ask intelligent questions, and offer substantive and informed comments on any of your colleagues’ in-class presentations. You will be graded on your performance during the hands-on sessions and practicums.
Blogs (30%)
You are expected to write short writing assignments every three weeks (6 total, 5% per post). The format for this will be a blog, a key form of 21st-century public writing. They will be either reflective pieces on a conceptual issue that has arisen in class or a report or review about a project or experiment carried out. You will also be required to comment on your colleagues’ blog posts after posting your own. You are mostly encouraged to reply to what one or two of your colleagues commented on your own blog posting. The main issue here is to learn to communicate ideas in an open forum and to develop a voice for researching blogging. Students will maintain their own blog in their web hosting and link them to the course blog.
Assessment of DH Projects (10%)
How did they do it?
Digital Humanities projects come in many forms, rely on a wide array of data types, and involve any manner of technologies. Becoming accustomed to navigating a project site and exploring how each project approached its data, process, and presentation is a crucial skill for this class.
Select a DH project created by one of the groups on class during the semester and explore its goals, what type of data was used, how that data was found and/or transformed, what technologies were used, and why. Include your own analysis of how successful you think the project is in achieving its aims, and why or why not. Write a short report on your findings.
Collaborative Mini DH Project (40%):
Students will work in groups (size determined by topics and interests) to examine a research question using digital humanities methods. Each group will be tasked with dividing duties according to each group member’s strengths, selecting appropriate data and tools to conduct the research, and determining the deliverable type (e.g. multimedia website, map, network, etc).
During the semester, the following assignments will be due before the submission of the project on the final day of class.
- Project Proposal – Single page description of the research question being posed, ideas for where data to analyze will come from, proposed methods for analysis, and proposed final deliverable
- Project Update and Timeframe – 1 to 1 ½ page revised proposal and plan for completion of the project; specify the role of each group member will fulfill
- Project Presentation – presentation of the final project, including methodology, during the final class day
Deadline for final phase of the project to be announced.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy:
Students are expected to abide by AUB’s Code of Academic Integrity. In all writing, ideas, words, and visualizations taken from any source should be documented. Failure to credit ideas or material taken from secondary sources constitutes plagiarism, a violation of the University’s academic regulations, and is subject to disciplinary action. Therefore, all writing you do for this course must be your own and must be exclusively for this course, unless the instructor stipulates differently.
Please pay special attention to the quotes, paraphrases, and documentation practices you use in your blogs and reflections (note: if you are referring to work previously submitted for this course, then you must cite yourself). If you have any questions about plagiarism, please ask your instructor.
Plagiarism: Students should be aware that engaging in any of the following activities constitutes plagiarism:
- Submitting an assignment written by another student
- Requesting or paying someone to complete an assignment for you
- Deliberately taking material from secondary sources without proper documentation
- Copying, word for word, someone else’s writing without putting that passage in quotation marks and identifying the source
- Taking someone else’s writing, changing some of the words, and not identifying the source
- Taking someone else’s ideas or organization of ideas, putting them into his/her words, and not identifying the source
- Having someone else change your writing – a tutor, friend, or relative, for instance – and creating the impression that this writing is your own work.
- Purchasing or downloading papers or passages from the Web.
- Using facts, data, graphs, charts, visualizations or other information without acknowledging the source with a footnote or reference. Borrowed facts or information obtained in one’s research or reading must be acknowledged unless they are “common knowledge.” Students should check with their teachers regarding what can be viewed as “common knowledge” within a specific field or assignment, but often the student will have to make the final judgment. When in doubt, footnotes or references should be used.
Disciplinary Action: When confronting plagiarism, all instructors abide by the guidelines stipulated in AUB’s Student Code of Conduct, which states:
It is the responsibility of the faculty to uphold university policies. Thus, the immediate responsibility for dealing with instances of cheating, plagiarism, and other academic violations rests with the faculty member. If a faculty member has good reason to believe that a student has violated academic standards, it is his or her responsibility to discipline the student expeditiously. A faculty member who has good reason to believe that a student has violated academic standards must give a grade of zero on the exam or assignment where the violation occurred. When the instructor has taken the initial disciplinary action, he or she should send a letter to the office of the Dean of the Faculty or School, in which the incident occurred, informing him/her of the incident and the initial action he/she has taken. A copy of the letter will be placed in the student’s file, and another copy forwarded to the student’s advisor for follow-up. (10)
Resources for Students:
Course Technologies:
You will need to have access to certain digital technologies linked to our course docs on Google Drive in order to complete your work. In some instances, these technologies may be new to you. You are responsible for making time to ramp up, troubleshoot, and learn. These activities will require your patience, can-do attitude, and sense of adventure. We will have the support of two IT experts: Ms. Rayane Fayed and Ms. Rana El Gazzi who will join us during most sessions and who will offer hands-on sessions on the DH technologies. Course technologies/interfaces include Twitter, WordPress, TimelineJS, Carto, Palladio, Voyant Tools, and Zotero.
Writing Center: The Writing Center offers free, one-hour consultations for AUB writers at Ada Dodge Hall, 2nd floor balcony; West Hall 336; or Jafet Library, second floor reading room. Check the Writing Center webpage on the AUB website. Make an appointment by walking in or by logging on to https://aub.mywconline.com/
Library Information Services: Reference librarians and information specialists in the AUB libraries can support you individually with finding academic sources for your research. Jafet information librarians can be contacted in person in their office in the Jafet Library lobby, by email at libinfo@aub.edu.lb, or by phone, Ext. # 2629.
Designated Librarian:
In addition to the normal support the library offers to all AUB students, there will be a designated librarian, Mr Albert Haddad, specifically for this course. He will be of great support as you work on your final projects. Feel free to ask him questions on the softwares and the DH library resources in Jafet via email and during Library DH office hours TBA.
Counseling Center, Student Affairs:
The center offers counsel and help to students with a range of academic and non-academic problems. If anything happening in your life is causing you distress and influencing your academic performance, and you feel you could benefit from professional help, contact Dr. Antoine Khabbaz (Ext.# 3178. ak28@aub.edu.lb), Ms. Nay Khatcherian (Ext.# 3152, nk63@aub.edu.lb), Ms Ola Ataya. (Ext.# 3158, oa03@aub.edu.lb) or visit West Hall, room 210.
Recommended Accessibility Statement to Acknowledge the Unique Learning Needs of Students with Disabilities:
AUB strives to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers due to a disability (including mental health, chronic or temporary medical conditions), please inform me immediately so that we can privately discuss options. In order to help establish reasonable accommodations and facilitate a smooth accommodations process, you are encouraged to contact the Accessible Education Office: accessibility@aub.edu.lb; +961-1-350000, x3246; West Hall, 314.
Non-Discrimination
AUB is committed to facilitating a campus free of all forms of discrimination including sex/gender-based harassment prohibited by Title IX. The University’s non-discrimination policy applies to, and protects, all students, faculty, and staff. If you think you have experienced discrimination or harassment, including sexual misconduct, we encourage you to tell someone promptly. If you speak to a faculty or staff member about an issue such as harassment, sexual violence, or discrimination, the information will be kept as private as possible, however, faculty and designated staff are required to bring it to the attention of the University’s Title IX Coordinator. Faculty can refer you to fully confidential resources, and you can find information and contacts at http://www.aub.edu.lb/titleix https://www.aub.edu.lb/titleix . To report an incident, contact the University’s Title IX Coordinator Trudi Hodges at 01-350000 ext. 2514, or titleix@aub.edu.lb <mailto:titleix@aub.edu.lb> . An anonymous report may be submitted online via EthicsPoint at http://www.aub.ethicspoint.com https://www.aub.ethicspoint.com/ .
Withdrawal:
Please observe the withdrawal deadline set by the Registrar’s Office.
Laptops, Mobile Phones, and Technology in the Classroom:
You are strongly advised to bring your own laptop to class, however; make sure that it is not a distraction to yourself or others. Do not take phone calls, update your status, or text during class unless you have made arrangements with me ahead of time (due to some sort of emergency or care issue). Avoid using technology as a barrier to actively engaging during class. Instead, let it either augment our discussions or turn it off.
Acknowledgements and Credit:
This syllabus has been made possible through consultation with colleagues and a number of open access educators’ DH course syllabi listed below:
- AHC-AD 139 Introduction to Digital Humanities (Fall 2016), New York University Abu Dhabi, (David Joseph Wrisley)
- AL285: Introduction to Digital Humanities Fall 2015 | T/TH 10:20-11:40am | Linton 120 Syllabus available on Trello: https://trello.com/b/juUdkmGK/al285-syllabus (Kristen Mapes)
- Humanities 150: Tools, Techniques, and Culture of the Digital Humanities, University of Victoria, Winter 2011 (CRN: 12330) (Jentery Sayers).
- LIS–657–01: Digital Humanities, Spring 2014 (Chris Alen Sula).
- LIT 306: Digital Humanities, http://courses.jessestommel.com/digitalhumanities/schedule.html, (Jesse Stommel)
- English 90127: Digital Humanities, English 90172: Digital Humanities II, https://mattwilkens.com/teaching/digital-humanities-graduate-seminar-spring-2014/ (Matthew Wilkens)
Archives
The Perseus Archive. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
The Republic of Letters. http://shc.stanford.edu/collaborations/supported-projects/mapping -republic-letters.
The Rossetti Archive. http://www.rossettiarchive.org.
The Walt Whitman Archive. http://www.whitmanarchive.org/.
The Willam Blake Archive. http://www.blakearchive.org/.
The Women Writers Project. http://www.wwp.brown.edu.
Roy Saad 