Week 1
8/24 — Welcome to the Course
Introductions, course overview, and what to expect this semester.
Create your Canvas intro
Assignment
Introduction
Due: Before First Class
8/26 — Introduction to Digital Humanities Projects & the Course
Practicum 0 and 1 — Due: In-Class Project
Please come in prepared to discuss some of the projects in the Toolbox.
(Navigating the) Digital (as a No-Code, Low-Code, Minimal-Computing) Humanist
Readings
- Navigating the Global Digital Humanities: Insights from Black Feminism,
- Micro DH: Digital Humanities at the Small Scale,
- Introduction: The Questions of Minimal Computing,
- The User, the Learner and the Machines We Make,
- Minimal Definitions,
To Do
- Look up the terms “no-code,” “low-code,” and “minimal computing.”
- Complete the WashU AI literacy module now so that you have access to it in the next few weeks.
Practicum 2
Assignment
Exploration of Low Code in Projects
Due: Prior to our next class
Week 2: introduction to african dh, black dh, & postcolonial dh
8/31 — No Class
Labor Day — university holiday, no class meeting.
9/2 — Making a Case for: Black DH, African DH, Decolonial DH
Readings
- Making a Case for the Black Digital Humanities,
- Decolonizing the Digital Humanities in Theory and Practice,
- Introduction to The Digital Black Atlantic,
- Toward a Diversity Stack: Digital Humanities and Diversity as Technical Problem,
- Review 3 of the following sites from the University of Kansas African DH project resource page (skip the GPP). Be prepared to offer an in-depth walk-through with the class: africandh.ku.edu/resources
Week 3: humanities data & metadata
9/7 — Humanities Data and Metadata, Part 1
Practicum 2 — Due
Readings
- Understanding Metadata: What Is Metadata, and What Is It For?
- Going Meta on Metadata,
- Digital Humanities Projects and Standards: Let’s Get This Conversation Started!
- Data Before the Fact,
- Mukurtu CMS: An Indigenous Archive and Publishing Tool
Explore These Examples
- plateauportal.libraries.wsu.edu/digital-heritage/root-gathering-bag-3
- plateauportal.libraries.wsu.edu
- baltimoreuprising2015.org
Practicum 2
Due
Exploration of Low Code in Projects
Due today — 9/7
9/9 — Humanities Data and Metadata, Part 2
Lab 1 — Due: In-Class Project
Readings
- Big? Smart? Clean? Messy? Data in the Humanities,
- Data Cleaning: Categories, Techniques, and Platforms
- OpenRefine Guide,
Before Class
- Download OpenRefine — please do this before class.
- Create a Claude account.
Review These Links
Lab 1
Due
In-Class Project
Due today — 9/9
Week 4: data visualization
9/14 — Network Analysis, Part 1 (Lily)
Readings
- Cheat Sheet: Social Network Analysis for Humanists,
- Postcolonial Network Analysis of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,
- Introduction to Network Analysis and Representation, — click the tabs for “centrality,” “clustering coefficient,” etc. for brief interactive tutorials.
- Network Theory, Plot Analysis,
9/16 — Digital Visualization: Maps, Charts, and Graphs (Natasha)
Readings
- Finding the Right Tools for Mapping,
- Visualizing Sovereignty,
- Dividing Lines: Mapping Platforms Like Google Earth Have the Legacies of Colonialism Programmed Into Them,
- A Review of “Two Plantations”,
Explore These Visualization Projects
Week 5
9/21 — Digital Archives (Pilar)
Practicum 4 — Due
Readings
- Introduction: Beyond Digital Hype and Digital Anxiety — focus especially on the “Sixteen Guiding Digital Preservation Axioms” (pp. 4–9).
- On Collections as Data Imperative,
- Generative Tensions: Building a Digital Project on Early African American Race Film,
- Colonial Violence and the Postcolonial Digital Archive
- Markup Bodies: Black [Life] Studies and Slavery [Death] Studies at the Digital Crossroads,
- As accompaniment to Johnson’s essay, explore Slave Voyages (including the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database).
Explore These Examples
- Early Caribbean Digital Archive
- The Colored Conventions Project — read/watch the Introduction, Principles, and the three “CCP in Three Videos” clips; explore the Digital Records; download and explore the CCP Corpus; explore Exhibits (pick at least one to explore in depth or skim).
Practicum 4
Due
Digital Archives
Due today — 9/21
9/23 — Digital Storytelling and Digital / Social Media (Natasha)
Readings
- Hulu: Your Attention Please,
- Media and Cultural Hybridity in the Digital Humanities,
- Digital Queer Witnessing: Testimony, Contested Virtual Heritage, and the Apartheid Archive in Soweto, Johannesburg
- SHGIS Social Justice History Platform (Preview),
- Signifying Shade as We #RaceTogether Drinking Our #NewStarbucksDrink ‘White Privilege Americana Extra Whip’
- From Google Doodles to Facebook: Nostalgia and Visual Reconstructions of the Past in Nigeria,
Week 6: text analysis
9/28 — Text Analysis, Part 1 (Lily)
Practicum 5 — In-Class Lab
Readings
- Coding for the Many, Transforming Knowledge for All: Annotating Digital Documents,
- Text Analysis for Thought in the Black Atlantic
- Austin Clarke’s Digital Crossings
Explore These Examples
Practicum 5
In Class
In-Class Lab
Completed in class — 9/28
9/30 — Text Analysis, Part 2
In-Class Lab
Week 7- fall break
10/5 & 10/7 — No Class
Fall Break — no class meeting.
Week 8
10/12 — One-on-One Meetings with Dr. Adwetewa-Badu
Meet in Prof. Adwetewa-Badu’s office to discuss your potential project. We’ll work on fleshing out the idea, managing the scope, and discussing next steps.
10/14 — Digital Prose in the Digital Humanities: Alternative Ways of Thinking and Writing
Week 9-15: co-working sessions
Week 14: 11/25- no class: thanksgiving break
Week 16: final presentations