HIST*4170 Exploring Digital Humanities 5 January 2015

Today’s Agenda Introductions Who are we? What’s this course about?

Me Contact information: My office: Mackinnon 2014 Office Hours: Wednesdays 10:00-12:00, and any other time x Research focus: North American business and sport Postdoctoral fellow in the Historical Data Research UnitHistorical Data Research Unit Census project “Big Data” Learning about: Methods Audience Products

Course Description I This course is designed to introduce students to new and inter-disciplinary digital humanities approaches, methodologies, and tools, and to explore applications to text, image, map, and other media sources. It will appeal to students in literature, history, fine arts, and music who want an introduction to state-of-the-art digital humanities research. There will be flexibility to accommodate the specific disciplines and interests of the students.

Course Description II The class will be held once or twice a week and will feature instructor and expert presentations, demonstrations, and discussion. Students will complete weekly readings and assignments, and a major project that that applies digital humanities tools. Participation will be evaluated through reflective blog posting, in-class discussion, and peer review.

Learning outcomes Increase digital literacy skills, and be able to comprehend and use appropriate language of digital humanities research in their own and related humanities disciplines Understand and be able to analyze the advantages of different methodologies of digital humanities inquiry Learn to collect, manage, and manipulate digital data from various sources Be able to formulate, direct, and complete a digital humanities project, and explain its significance to academic and lay audiences

Evaluation Participation, Blog and Assignments (60%) In-class and outside class (blog) preparation and participation Research, reading Questions, contributions Reflection, commentary Peer helping/collaboration Weekly assignments (5) Project (40%) Capstone project: “intensive, active learning project, requiring significant effort in the planning and implementation, as well as preparation of a substantial final work product” A Project Plan (1500 words) due February 26 th A proposal presentation and a final presentation, dates TBD Final projects and reports are due April 16.

Your (We)blog Your blog will serve as: A thinking and writing stimulator A participation product showing preparation for class, and processing of class information Assignment delivery, and repository Project log Peer review and peer help mechanism Set up your blog: Any free site is fine: Blogger, or WordPress… (Don’t pay!) It must be a 4170-exclusive blog Your real name must appear in an obvious place, and maybe a picture (not required) Feel free to add blogs pertaining to your research interests Send me the link

The Keys to Doing Well Focus is on active learning Find ideas, learn them, apply them (use blog as a record) Requires: 1.Engagement 2.Self-directed learning 3.Collaboration 4.Pushing yourself into unfamiliar territory 5.Time commitment Each class: Prepare, Participate, Process Don’t let me hold you back…

Course Resources The hist4170 course site is at: Functions as a noticeboard, the central repository for weekly readings, updates and links to assignments and other student blogs. Make it your first stop! See example of student blog: anjehist4170.blogspot.caanjehist4170.blogspot.ca Your blogs Set one up, and send me the link to be included on main blog Blogger, WordPress, et al. Courselink For marks, and maybe other things we want to keep in-house The WWW in all its glory…. Schedule TBD – dates for special guests are in flux

You… Are undergraduates with several years of research and thinking about humanities topics Are you ready to explore them in the digital world? Time to interview each other for 10 minutes… Questions to discuss: What technology have you most often used to learn, produce, and share knowledge? Which have the university introduced you to? What is your technological skill level? Which topics in your field excite you the most? Are there any related DH projects? (What are your career goals and how might this course serve them?)

A poll How many actively use: Twitter? Facebook? Tumblr? Reddit? MySpace? The Deep Web? The Deep Web Experience with: Blogging? Software coding? Image editing? Wiki editing?

For Next Time Engage these resources: Read A Companion to Digital Humanities, ed. Susan Schreibman, Ray Siemens, John Unsworth. Oxford: Blackwell, A Companion to Digital Humanities Read Chapter 1 (Hockey), plus another Part 1 chapter on a specific discipline (e.g. chapter 5) Explore tools with Bill Turkel’s “Going Digital”Bill Turkel’s “Going Digital” oriented to history, but can be applied to other disciplines

Introduction to Digital Humanities 7 January 2015

Agenda Brief introduction to Digital Humanities Discussion of readings Project Parameters Blog Assignment #1

Introduction to DH (What are the humanities?) Definitions? “Digital humanities is a diverse and still-emerging field that encompasses the practice of humanities research in and through information technology, and the exploration of how the humanities may evolve through their engagement with technology, media, and computational methods.” (Digital Humanities Quarterly) Humanities Computing A literary bias?

But first… Are we OK with Mondays only (and occasional Wednesdays)?

Purpose of DH Spiro (2011) To provide access to cultural information Enable manipulation of that information Manage, mashup, mine, map, model… Transform scholarly communication Enhance learning and teaching Make a public impact

Components of DH Svensson’s components (Svensson 2009)Svensson 2009 Tools Databases, data visualization (GIS) As Object of Study Social media, behavioural changes A Mode of Production Digital publishing, multimedia Collaboration is central Collective approach to research, and tool creation An ethics of open-ness Data, products

Hockey chapter What kind of projects comprised Humanities computing? Orlando Project Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)

Other chapters Thomas (ch5) Do digital methods, software, numbers, “work” well for history? “Hypertext history” Is “computing technology… the handmaiden of postmodernism,… a witless accomplice in the collapse of narrative, [or] the silent killer of history's obligation to truth and objectivity”? Are we seeing a “digital turn”? “born digital” “Dynamic essays” (The Differences Slavery Made)The Differences Slavery Made HGIS

Turkel’s “Going Digital” “cost” differences So much to read… Did you learn any new search strategies? Zotero

The Project Start thinking about it, and consider: What have you done at Guelph, and what would you like to re- format or explore further? What skills might you want to develop? What product do you want to create? Career relevance and fun Think about projects that combine Svensson’s components Six weeks to gather ideas… Also: Group projects are possible, with clearly delineated individual tasks And there is also default project oriented around The Scottish Chapbooks project (more on that at a later date)The Scottish Chapbooks project

Assignment #1 Please blog on the question: “How have my studies at Guelph been affected by digital tools and approaches, and what future possibilities do I see for my career and research?” Feel free to refer to readings and also explore DH projects on the WWW ca words, due before class on January 12 th Send me the link to your blog if you have not yet done so…

Blog Evaluation Unless otherwise specified, your overarching blog theme should be: “What did I learn? What insights can I share?” You must have at least one blog post a week Including reading week, and the week after the last project presentations (c. Apr 9) Contributions will be evaluated every week on Monday morning. Even if there is no specific blog assignment for the week, you should blog. Possible topics: Your ideas for your own project, and later, project log updates What other students are doing (blogging or presenting in class) The guest presentations Online discoveries: E.g. Experiments with DH tools; ideas about DH theory and applications Improvements (widgets etc.) made to your blog …?

Questions?