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ENG 713 Syllabus

ENG 713: Digital Humanities

Summer Session I

Summer 2016

Professor Roopika Risam

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

This course introduces students to the theories and practices of using digital tools and methodologies for humanities research. The course will cover a range of topics within the digital humanities, such as the role of technology in digital humanities, ongoing intellectual debates in the field, and applications of critical theory to new media technologies. Students will also gain hands-on experience working on digital scholarship.

FACULTY COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this fully-online course, we will experiment with digital humanities tools and methods of analysis to introduce you to the possibilities of digital humanities. This cutting-edge area of interdisciplinary scholarship uses computational and digital tools to analyze and interpret literature, culture, and history. We will explore digital humanities in relationship to the work of W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the foremost black intellectuals, whose work spanned the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. The goal of our exploration is to consider the relationship between close reading, the bread and butter of literary analysis, and the discoveries that engaging with digital methods can inspire. For each of the first five weeks of class, you will read about digital humanities, play around with digital humanities tools, and reflect on and discuss your insights. During the last week of the class, you will design and begin implementing a (very) small-scale digital humanities project using digital humanities methods to engage with texts of your choosing. 

CONTACT DR. RISAM

Email: rrisam@salemstate.edu.

Cell Phone: 240-472-2322

Office Hours: By appointment

E-mail is generally the best way to reach me. If you want to make an appointment to see me, I suggest you do so in class or over e-mail. I am always very happy to hear from you and encourage you to contact me with any questions or concerns that you might have about the course.

COURSE GOALS

In this course, students will:

  1. Explore the methods of digital humanities, including textual analysis, textual editing, digital cultural mapping, and data visualization. 
  2. Understand the relationship between the more traditional methods of literary and cultural analysis and digital methods.
  3. Apply digital methods to their own scholarly interests.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By completing this course, students will be able to:

  1. Define "digital humanities" for themselves and their own scholarly practice.
  2. Use methods of textual analysis, textual editing, digital cultural mapping, and data visualization.
  3. Create appropriately scaled digital humanities projects and reflect on the affordances and limits of digital methods and tools.

REQUIRED TEXTS

All texts for this course will be posted in the week's module on Canvas. To access the modules, please click on "Modules" in the lefthand column.

NOTE ON THE ONLINE COURSE

This course is fully online and requires regular engagement with course discussions. We are using Canvas (https://elearning.salemstate.edu) as our course platform, and the course home page contains important information to help you successfully complete the course. The course is not self-paced; you will need to complete the course assignments week-by-week. Each week, you will need to visit the course module for a checklist of your assignments for the week. Please do not rely solely on the “To Do List” function in Canvas, or you may miss important information or assignments.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT

Each student is responsible for completing all course requirements and for keeping up with the course.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Salem State University is committed to providing equal access to the educational experience for all students in compliance with Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act and The Americans with Disabilities Act and to providing all reasonable academic accommodations, aids, and adjustments. Any student who has a documented disability requiring an accommodation, aid, or adjustment should speak with the instructor immediately. Students with disabilities who have not already done so should provide documentation to and schedule an appointment with the Office for Students with Disabilities and obtain appropriate services.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

All students are expected to be familiar with the academic regulations, including those regarding academic integrity, for Salem State University as published in the course catalog: http://catalog.salemstate.edu/content.php?catoid=19&navoid=2098#Academic_Integrity

All work you submit for this course must be your own. While I hope you will learn from your discussions with your classmates, you must ensure that every piece of writing you submit to me is written in your own words. Plagiarism will result in a grade of “0” for the assignment and could lead to additional consequences, including failing the course. If you have any questions about plagiarism, please contact me right away.

ASSIGNMENTS

Reading: Each week, you will be assigned reading, which will facilitate your participation on our online discussion boards. The reading is a blend of scholarship on digital humanities and writing by W.E.B. Du Bois, who will be the subject of our experiments with digital tools and methods. 

Experimentation: Each week, you will be given a digital tool with which you will engage, along with an activity prompt. As happens with technology, there will be a bit of a learning curve and we might need to troubleshoot. Please use the week's "Troubleshooting" board to discuss challenges you having with technology and to ask questions. I also want to encourage a culture of exploration and play, so I have included links to tool documentation (instructions for use) and encourage you to take a look at the documentation to help yourself troubleshoot. Your experiments will also be the subject of your participation on the week's discussion board.

Discussion Board Posts; Because our course is online, participation in discussion is a centerpiece of your course engagement. After you have completed the reading or experimentation assignment for the week, you will participate on the discussion board. I will provide 4 questions, as well as an open response where you can raise questions or topics of discussion of your own interest and concern. By Thursday at 11:59pm EST of each week, you must post a 250-word response to each question (or to a classmate's response to the questions). By Sunday at 11:59pm EST of each week. you must post at least two substantive follow-up comments to each question. These comments should engage in conversations developing on the discussion threads. Posts and responses will be assessed according to the rubric I provide. Posts submitted after Sunday will not receive credit. 

Digital Project and Reflection: During the last week of class, you will conceptualize and begin implementing a (very) small-scale digital humanities project using a digital tool or method we have considered to explore a topic of your own choosing. After completing your project, you will write a 5-6 page, double-spaced reflection paper based on the prompt I provide. This assignment will be due two weeks after the end of class.

LATE WORK POLICY

To receive credit for discussions, you must participate by Sunday at 11:59pm. All grades on late assignments will be reduced by 1/3rd of a letter grade for each day late for example: 1 day late brings an A down to an A-, 2 days late brings an A down to a B+, and so on). 

GRADING BREAKDOWN

Your grades will be available to you on Canvas. They are calculated using the following method:

Discussions: 75%

Digital Project and Reflection: 25%

EMERGENCY STATEMENT

In the event of a university-declared critical emergency, Salem State University reserves the right to alter this course plan. Students should refer to salemstate.edu for further information and updates.

As this is an online course, you should plan to continue completing the course requirements in case of emergency, unless instructed otherwise.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT

Profound literacy is the hallmark of a liberal education. To that end, English department courses involve instruction and study in literature and writing, the emphasis varying according to course content. Through intensive reading and analysis, students develop a critical appreciation of literature written in disparate times and places. Through expository writing, students learn techniques for conducting research and for drafting and revising analytic and persuasive essays based on critical reading. In creative writing, students develop an aesthetic through practicing the craft of various genres. The English department prepares students for professional and academic leadership including careers in teaching and writing.

READING AND ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

Please see the modules on Canvas. To access them, click on "Modules" in the lefthand column.