Introduction to Digital Humanities

Catalog description

This course offers an introduction to methods of engaging in humanistic inquiry—which includes the study of the cultural forms, communities, and identities that shape our experiences of the world and our understanding of how to make change within it—provided by the vast and exciting field of digital humanities. Often working in tandem with traditional humanities methods, such as close reading and contextual analysis, digital humanities methods include employing computational analysis on digitized archival materials; visualizing patterns and absences in the archival record; and engaging academics, students, and the public in contemplating history and its making. Students will learn about key debates in digital humanities while gaining hands-on experience in digital humanities methods. Course readings, site visits, workshops, and assignments will emphasize the ways in which the digital humanities can help scholars, students, and the public engage gain perspective on the past and engage with the pressing questions about identity, community, publics, forms of expression, and means of enacting social and political change in the present. Each student will complete an original final project that makes use of digital archives and employs traditional and digital humanities methods.