Course code: IM-UH 1511-001 [formerly IM-UH 1111X and AHC AD 139]
Instructor: David Joseph Wrisley  @DJWrisley
Time, Location TuTh 0900-1015, C3 153
Number of credits: 4
Pre-requisites or co-requisites: none
Office hours: TuTh 1030-1130, or by appt  (A6 1151)

 

This course counts as an IM elective. 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

What happens when the arts and humanities are represented in digital form? What kind of new insights can we have when by looking at the data of the humanities? This course will look at intersections between computers and the humanities, a form of inquiry known as “digital humanities.”  The course is structured around a broad examination of concepts important in today’s society (computational thinking, digital identity, text as data, dataset, pattern, algorithm, network, location). Students will discuss these concepts critically, explore real-life examples and put them into practice in hands-on activities. Examples of such hands on work might include, but are not limited to, creating accessible web design, analyzing text digitally, building and visualizing a dataset, curating an open bibliography, thinking about art as data, building a Twitter bot, teaching a computer to recognize human handwriting, visualizing social networks or making digital maps. The course assumes no prior technical skills, but a willingness to explore new technologies is essential for success.

There is no final paper in this course, nor is there an exam.  Instead, students will build a digital course portfolio, consisting of a research blog, a mini digital project and a plan for a research project relevant to their own intellectual interests.

NB: This course was offered in the Fall 2016, Spring 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters.  It is not slated for the 2019-20 university year.  In the 2020-21 university year, I hope to incorporate additional work with R as well as elements of sound, in particular, a module on sonification of data. 

 

TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODOLOGIES:

  • This course will take place in a classroom, with both discussion of pre-assigned readings and hands on practicums.
  • Since students will be building their research blog and digital objects in NYU web hosting some of the hands on work can take place asynchronously and from their own computers.
  • Students will design, create and evaluate individual project concepts. They will present their practical work to the group incorporating feedback.
  • All writing is public and open in research blog format. Students may opt for anonymity in these blogs and may also erase the content at the end of the semester if they so desire. They will also have the option of archiving their work in a digital repository.
  • Creating accessible web content will be a persistent point of inquiry in the course.

This syllabus is provided as an open educational resource with a CC BY-SA-NC 4.0 International license. If you reuse it, in part or in whole, please cite it. 

Suggested Citation: 

NYU Abu Dhabi. (2019). IM 1511-UH: Introduction to Digital Humanities course syllabus. Abu Dhabi, UAE: David Joseph Wrisley.