The Winter Institute in Digital Humanities 2024
January 16-18, 2024
In-person, NYU Abu Dhabi
We are delighted to announce that the Winter Institute in Digital Humanities (WIDH) is returning to an in-person format hosted on the NYU Abu Dhabi campus from January 16-18, 2024.
Scroll down for instructions on how to register
View the WIDH 2024 schedule.
List of courses offered in 2024:
→ Digital History
→ Web Archiving for Digital Fieldwork
→ Introduction to R for the Arts and Humanities
→ Computing Culture: An Introduction to Applied Methods in Data and Cultural Heritage
→ Arabic Digital Humanities
→ Implementing Learner-Created Podcasts
→ Image Analysis
→ Digital Cultural Heritage
→ Sonic Methods for Research and Pedagogy
→ Exploring Technologies of Text
Digital History
Instructors: Nick Wolf (NYUNY) | Suphan Kirmizialtin (NYUAD)
Room: C2, L03 (NYUAD Library), room 315
Digital History is a three-day workshop focused on the ways in which digital methods can help us ask new questions about historical events and sources as well as present findings through rich digital platforms. Using a combination of discussion and hands-on activities, the course begins with an introduction to the concept of turning historical sources (text and numerical) into data, learning through hands-on exercises designed to provide practical experience with this technology. The second day of the workshop is dedicated to exploring the possibilities and challenges of using digital methods to resolve historical questions, particularly inquiries only answerable with computer assistance because of their scale. Participants will learn about methods for analyzing large datasets to uncover patterns and insights not accessible through traditional research approaches. On the final day, participants will focus on digital storytelling, using maps and images to enrich historical narratives.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Web Archiving for Digital Fieldwork
Instructor: Jean-Christophe Peyssard (Maison Méditerranéenne des sciences de l’Homme, France)
LOOK FOR THIS COURSE AT A FUTURE WIDH.
Preservation of web content is crucial for Social Sciences and Humanities focused on the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region. As field data is now as much digital as analog, new archives arise with their very own issues and challenges. This course will present the state of web archiving and how students, researchers and teachers could use it for research purposes. It will include the following three modules: (1) Introduction to Web Archiving in the SWANA context, (2) Methods and Tools for Web Archiving and (3) Building a Web Archive Corpus for Research with Webrecorder tools.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Introduction to R for the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Amar Ahmad (NYUAD)
Room: C2, L03 (NYUAD Library), room 307
Begin your journey into the intriguing intersection of Art, Humanities, and Data Science with our Introduction-to-R course. Using the R programming language, we immerse ourselves in complex text and image data and explore cultural, and artistic contexts. This course promotes active learning and hands-on experience with programming principles, inviting students to engage directly with the material. While previous programming knowledge could be helpful, it’s not required. Immerse yourself in this unique fusion of disciplines, discover new concepts, and enrich your understanding. It is more than a course, it is an opportunity to explore and engage in a fascinating academic landscape.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Computing Culture: An Introduction to Applied Methods in Data and Cultural Heritage
Instructor: Lauren Tilton (University of Richmond)
Room: C2, L03 (NYUAD Library), room 329
THIS COURSE IS FULL
This course is an introduction to creating, organizing, and analyzing data to pose, develop, and answer questions guided by humanistic inquiry. In this workshop, you will get a sense of how to leverage computational methods to explore cultural heritage. You will learn how to approach data and integrate data-driven methods into cultural heritage research. You will also develop time-saving strategies for creating and organizing data, while exploring new methods of analysis. The workshop builds a solid foundation for future research by introducing a range of useful tools, methods, and concepts for managing, organizing, cleaning, and processing data in digital humanities projects. Sessions will cover information organization, data modeling, data quality and cleaning, and workflows. Participants will be introduced to cultural heritage data from a selection of real-world projects, and these datasets will serve as case studies for tools introduced in the course. The course may be of interest to humanities researchers, librarians, archivists, cultural heritage specialists, information professionals, and advanced graduate students.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: No prior knowledge is needed, though students will be expected to come with their own laptop (no tablets) and a willingness to learn!
Instructor: Mai Zaki (American University of Sharjah)
Room: C2, L03 (NYUAD Library), room 328
In this session we will introduce the field of Digital Humanities, and what it means to be “doing” digital humanities, including looking into the main elements of a DH project, potential challenges, as well as issues related to data (collection, management, etc). We will be presenting various examples of DH projects related to Arabic language and culture along the way. Then we will engage in hands-on work using Arabic data to learn the basics of doing (a) textual analysis using tools such as Voyant and Antconc; and (b) spatial analysis using tools such as Recogito and Google Mymaps. This course is meant for beginners who want to know more about how to do digital humanities with Arabic, so no prior experience with any tools required (and no coding!). Just come prepared to see the possibilities and then embark on your own journey with Arabic DH.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None; you will need to download and install the appropriate version of Antconc on your personal laptop from. You will need a Google account to be able to use Google Mymaps. All other tools are web-based but require free registration.
Implementing Learner-Created Podcasts
Instructor: Kim Fox (American University in Cairo)
Room: C2, L03 (NYUAD Library), room 313 + breakout rooms
Students are more aware of podcasts and are likely interested in producing their own audio content. Podcasts are ideal to be implemented as a collaborative tool to engage students in the classroom or a remote learning environment. This workshop will focus on implementing learner-created podcasts in the classroom using an Active and Authentic Learning approach. The workshop will also highlight empowering students through self and peer assessments and how rubrics can be used to assess creative content. No audio or podcasting experience is necessary.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: Listen to some podcasts (come prepared to share some of what you’re listening to). Here are some student-produced podcasts: The Outlet | JRMC Award Winning Audio | Undercover | BEA Student Audio Winners
Image Analysis
Instructor: Lauren Tilton (University of Richmond)
LOOK FOR THIS COURSE AT A FUTURE WIDH.
How can we use digital methods to analyze images such as films, manuscripts, paintings, and photographs? This workshop will explore how computers view images and methods for analysis including color, image similarity, and feature detection such as faces and objects. The workshop will use out-of-the-box toolkits and programming in R; it is designed for participants with no programming experience.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Digital Cultural Heritage
Instructor: Kimon Keramidas (Rubin Museum of Art, New York)
LOOK FOR THIS COURSE AT A FUTURE WIDH.
The translation of the power of computing to the study of humanities materials logically began with text and numbers, which were easily translatable into computer-readable forms. However, as the digital humanities have made inroads in the study of visual and material culture, scholars have had to reconcile questions of scale, three-dimensionality, and multi-sensory engagement when bringing objects online. This workshop will give participants the opportunity to both work with different platforms for dealing with visual and material culture as well as interrogating the questions of ontology, presence, and simulation that must be considered when translating three-dimensional culture through the digital medium. Participants will look at projects from the field of cultural heritage (and public humanities more broadly) to consider some good rules of thumb and develop critiques of how to work with digital objects when engaging with different types of audiences. Along with readings and discussion, this workshop will address best practices and methodologies when dealing with metadata collection and organization, image management, digital exhibitions, and photogrammetry.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Sonic Methods for Research and Pedagogy
Instructor: Diana Chester (University of Sydney)
Room: C2, L03 (NYUAD Library), room 339
This course will introduce you to sound as method, tool, and technique for teaching and research. Through presentations, hands on activities, software lessons, and discussion we will explore ways that sound as method can be used by you and your students. Sound-walks, audio essays, and deep listening practices will be our focus, alongside discussions on how to integrate these approaches into your research as well as activities and assignments to enhance student learning and engagement. The class will demystify basic audio editing software tools, audio recording devices, and techniques for listening and sound. Examples will be shared of exercises and activities that have been used across a wide range of subjects from literature to art history and environmental science to anthropology, as well as research projects that rely on sound-based techniques and methods. Participants will walk away from this course with a new set of tools for integrating sonic pedagogies into their teaching, and sound-based techniques into their own research.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Exploring Technologies of Text
Instructor: Kristen Highland (American University of Sharjah)
LOOK FOR THIS COURSE AT A FUTURE WIDH.
This workshop offers an introduction to the history and futures of technological innovation in reading and writing. In exploring the intersections of digital humanities and book history studies, participants will examine how textual technologies, broadly conceived, from cuneiform to the printing press to the digital algorithm, shape the composition and reception of written communication. We will combine discussion of historical and theoretical readings with hands-on activities in diverse text technologies, including AI text generators, interactive digital narratives, and movable type. No expertise is required. This workshop is aimed to give participants from diverse fields concrete ideas for enriching their own humanities teaching.
Skill level: Beginner
Prerequisites/requirements: None
Registration instructions:
Fees:
500USD (+VAT) (until 1 January 2024)
Anyone wishing to join the Winter Institute in Digital Humanities should fill out this form with your top three choices of courses. We will get back to you to confirm if the courses have availability and with a link to the payment gateway, at which point you will have a week to complete your registration by paying the fees. The closing date for registration is 1 January 2024.
The Winter Institute in Digital Humanities will have a poster session for the presentation of community research. If you are interested in presenting your work, let us know via this form. You may submit your description for the poster at any time, but only registered participants will be accepted to the poster session. The closing date for poster submissions is 15 December 2023.
Members of the NYU community (AD, NY, SH) without access to research funds can apply for a fee waiver within the registration form. There are a limited number of fee waivers available per course. Upon registration, you will provide us with your top three course choices. We will allocate fee waivers on a first come first serve basis. If the course you choose has no remaining fee waivers, you will be asked to pay the registration fees.
Contact us with your questions at nyuad.widh@nyu.edu.
