Artificial intelligence, big data, and the internet of things are rapidly changing every aspect of our lives. The methods and questions of the humanities are critical to understanding these shifts of the digital age. In this course we will consider some of the ways humanists and artists are collaborating with scientists and engineers to solve the big problems facing our planet and our species. We’ll study how data science is changing museums and special collections. We’ll learn how scholars of race and gender are combating algorithmic bias in search engines and how digital archivists are helping climate scientists save their data from politics. Students will gain hands-on experience with a range of approaches and methods of digital humanities research. They will acquire basic facility with key digital tools like GitHub, relational databases, XML/HTML and TEI, basic text analysis and visualization tools, and online publishing platforms. Our collective aim will be to establish a critical, historical framework for understanding the impact of digital technologies on our lives. Absolutely no prior coding experience is required. Unless the campus reopens, we plan to conduct this course remotely, using both synchronous with asynchronous Zoom sessions, frequent breakout rooms and small-group meetings, one-on-one conferences, and shared folders and files on Canvas and Google. Work for the course will include regular in-class exercises, short research findings and response papers, and a mid-sized digital project.
INSTRUCTORS: JAMES ENGLISH, STEWART VARNER