Engl 428—Digital Humanities
Instructor: Dr. Crystal Alberts Office: Merrifield 1D
Office Hours: M 1:00-3:00; WF 1:00-2:00 Phone: 7-2393/7-3321
E-mail: crystal.alberts@und.nodak.edu
Required Texts:
A Companion to Digital Humanities (available online at http://www.digitalhumanities.org/companion/)
Required Equipment:
Set of headphones/earplugs
Jump drive with at least a 2GB capacity
Software:
oXygen XML Editor:
This class will use oXygen XML Editor, which will be available in the lab we will use, as well as the Working Group in Digital and New Media Lab located in O’Kelly 203.
It is also available for download at http://www.oxygenxml.com/download.html. UND has a site license for this software and if you would like to install it on your own computer, I will email you the license key.
Express Scribe
Free download available at http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/index.html.
Grading:
Attendance/Participation 5%
Metadata assignment 10%
Transcription Assignment 1 15%
Transcription Assignment 2 20%
Encoding Assignment 1 25%
Encoding Assignment 2 25%
Objective of the Course:
Regardless of career goals, it is highly likely that you will be asked to have some knowledge of computers and be expected to use them to disseminate information (whether in the form of emails, documentation, web pages, or something else). Digital Humanities collections are one way that information is being delivered to people throughout the world. But what exactly are "Digital Humanities?" It is the umbrella term used to describe multi-media content (including text, images, audio, and video) from the disciplines in the humanities that has been made electronically available (usually via the Internet). However, digital humanities collections involve much more than just creating web pages. These projects ask that you analyze the intellectual content of the texts being digitized and consider the best way to present the materials so that they can be used by the intended audience (whether it is comprised of scholars, teachers, students, entrepreneurs or some combination thereof). They also require collaboration and documentation (not only about how the collection was created, but also explaining how to use it).
Because these skills are perhaps best learned in a hands-on situation, this course is designed to give “real world” experience in the classroom by requiring you to work on a project. In this course, students will learn how to communicate in a professional environment, design a digital project, encode multi-media (text, image, and/or sound) materials involved in XML, document the creative process, and complete a final internet-ready product by the end of the semester.
Course Requirements:
Completion of Work: PLEASE NOTE, ALL ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS COURSE MUST BE COMPLETED AND SUBMITTED ON TIME TO RECEIVE CREDIT.
Attendance, Participation, and Punctuality: Your attendance and participation in class discussion is essential for the success of the class. Please note that 3 or more unexcused absences will negatively affect your grade and that more than 5 unexcused absences constitute grounds for failure of the course. Note that three unexcused tardies is equivalent to an unexcused absence. Also, I will consider a tardiness of more than 20 minutes an absence. If you do miss a class, please see me during my office hours to find out what you missed, including important handouts, changes in the syllabus, etc.
S-U Option (aka Pass/Fail): If you wish to take the course under the S-U option, please consult the registrar’s office for UND’s policies available at: http://www.und.edu/dept/registrar/catalogs/catalog/ugdept/more.htm.
Scholastic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism, or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, is a serious offense and will be subject to official university policy and punitive action as found in the “Code of Student Life” available at http://sos.und.edu/csl/index.php?main=1&pg=s3&subpg=3-3 and reproduced here:
3-3 SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. Cases of dishonesty may be handled as a scholastic matter or as a disciplinary matter at the discretion of the instructor. Instructors choosing to treat the case as a scholastic matter have the authority to decide how the incident of dishonesty will affect the student’s grade in the course. If the instructor has treated the case as a scholastic matter involving the grade in a course and the student has a grievance related to this action, that grievance would be processed as outlined in Section 3-2. Instructors choosing to treat the case as a disciplinary matter will refer the case to the Associate Dean of Student Life for possible resolution; if final resolution does not occur the Associate Dean of Student Life may refer the case to the Student Relations Committee which will handle the matter under Section 2.
A. Cheating on a test includes, but is not restricted to:
1. Copying from another student’s test.
2. Possessing or using material during a test not authorized by the person giving the test.
3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test without permission from the instructor.
4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or in part the contents of an unadministered test.
5. Substituting for another student or permitting another student to substitute for oneself to take a test.
6. Bribing another person to obtain an unadministered test or information about an unadministered test.
B. Plagiarism means the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another person’s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one’s own work.
C. Collusion means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing any academic work offered for credit.
Please remember that you must cite all quotations, summaries, paraphrases and ideas of others, or you will be subject to disciplinary action, such as failure for the course or worse. If you have even the slightest doubt about whether or not you should cite a source, err on the side of caution and cite it.
Class Schedule
(the large print giveth, the small print taketh away…schedule subject to change)
8/30 Introduction/Syllabus
9/6 NO CLASS-Labor Day
9/13 History of Humanities Computing
“Literary Studies," Thomas Rommel; “Computing and the Historical Imagination," by William G. Thomas, II; “Computing for Archaeologists," by Harrison Eiteljorg, II; “Multimedia," Geoffrey Rockwell and Andrew Mactavish
9/20 “How the Computer Works," Andrea Laue; “Databases," Stephen Ramsay; “Marking Texts of Many Dimensions," Jerome McGann; “Text Encoding," Allen H. Renear
9/27 “Designing Sustainable Projects and Publications," Daniel V. Pitti; “Conversion of Primary Sources," Marilyn Deegan and Simon Tanner; “The Past, Present, and Future of Digital Libraries," Howard Besser; Preservation," Abby Smith
TRANSCRIPTION 1 DUE
10/4 TRANSCRIPTION WORKSHOP
10/11 TRANSCRIPTION WORKSHOP
10/18 TRANSCRIPTION WORKSHOP
10/25 METADATA WORKSHOP
TRANSCRIPTION 2 DUE
11/1 METADATA ASSIGNMENT DUE
ENCODING WORKSHOP
11/8 ENCODING WORKSHOP
11/15 ENCODING WORKSHOP
11/22 ENCODING WORKSHOP
11/29 ENCODING WORKSHOP
12/6 LAST DAY OF CLASS
ENCODING WORKSHOP
ENCODING PROJECTS 1 & 2 DUE
