NewtFire logo: a mosaic rendering of a firebelly newt
newtFire {dh}
Maintained by: Elisa E. Beshero-Bondar (eeb4 at psu.edu) Creative Commons License Last modified: Thursday, 12-Sep-2024 16:58:24 UTC. Powered by firebellies.

Fall 2024: Classes meet M W F 1:25 - 2:15pm in Burke 14

Read the Course Description

This contains a detailed explanation of course policies and the basis for grades.

Jump Down to the Schedule

This link jumps to the closest day to today's date. Review the schedule as we get started to get a sense of how this course will work on a daily basis.

Quick links to digital resources

Week 1Class topicsDo before class

M 08-26

W 08-28

 Read The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0 and check out who wrote it

F 08-30
  • Digging in to the DH manifesto: contexts/commentary
  • Introduce Slow Computing and Dear Data
 Set up Hypothes.is account and complete first annotation assignment. Re-read up close (text and image) and annotate with Hypothes.is (Detailed guidance posted on Canvas): The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0 Context/Metadata: ~2009.
Week 2Class topicsDo before class

M 09-02

 Labor Day Holiday: No classes. ...

W 09-04
  • How to do slow computing at university?
  • Introduce videos and images of the Dear Data Project
  • Introduce Dear Data collection and visualization assignment.
 Read and annotate with Hypothes.is:

F 09-06

 Discussion / hands-on exercise on Dear Data. Launch the longer-range assignment on personal data collection and visualization
  • View videos and images of the Dear Data Project
  • Discussion Exercise (Canvas) Before class, take three screen captures of three hand-crafted/humanized data visualizations from anywhere on the Dear Data site (including video content) that particularly struck you. In your discussion post post the images and comment on what is being shown and why does it seem memorable?
Week 3Class topicsDo before class

M 09-09
  • Data collection and visualization for Dear Data: paper and digital approaches
  • Discussion of Warsame reading/annotations, time, space, data

W 09-11
  • Install oXygen XML Editor, prepare for markup and code orientation
  • Work on "Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization" assignment

F 09-13

 Learning the code syntax of eXtensible Markup Language: elements and attributes. XML and HTML XML Markup Exercise 1
Week 4Class topicsDo before class

M 09-16
  • Discussion: data non-neutrality / data ethics / data justice / data visceralization. Library of Missing Datasets
  • XML: Markup of data and metadata structures

W 09-18
  • XML vs HTML: Similar syntax, different purpose! Semantic vs. layout code. Structure of an HTML file.
  • Code an HTML file and view it a browser.
  • HTML elements and attributes tutorial

F 09-20
  • HTML elements and attributes tutorial, continued
  • How HTML points to files: absolute and relative file references:
    • links
    • images
  • Where will you work on your website? Your computer, campus labs, maintaining the same folders multiple places.
  • Organizing file directories for website development
  • HTML elements and attributes tutorial, continued
  • HTML Exercise 1
  • Work on "Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization" assignment
Week 5Class topicsDo before class

M 09-23
  • Tech for publishing a website: content management systems, servers, GitHub
  • Introduction to the Command Line: Exploring your computer and connecting to the cloud
  • Organizing files for a website in a git repository
  • HTML Exercise 2: a file directory of at least two HTML files with at least one image and two links, using relative file associations.
  • GitHub Exercise 1

W 09-25

 Git at command line: getting git in your fingers: Terms and concepts: local vs. remote
  • Where to use the git commands
  • git status
  • When you have to git pull
  • Staging new local stuff with git add
  • git commit -m "You describe what's in here"
  • git push
 GitHub Exercise 2: launch the website and GitHub Pages on your repo!

F 09-27
  • HTML Exercise 3: HTML and CSS
  • Finish "Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization" project (due Friday by 11:59pm)
Week 6Class topicsDo before class

M 09-30

 HTML / CSS, mindful file management, and publishing a website
  • Start series of Command Line and Web Lore Quizzes on Canvas
  • HTML / CSS / GitHub Exercise 4

W 10-02

 Website Development Lab: Spotlight on CSS
  • Where to write your CSS: separation of concerns for styling and content
  • Look at the CSS Zen Garden: same HTML content styled several different ways with different CSS
  • Controlling image size display
  • Controlling page layouts: HTML container elements with CSS flex containers
 Website development for Comparative Web Development Assignment

F 10-04

 Class meets at the VARIA Lab: Orientation to Scaniverse
  • Web Development milestone. Option: Include Dear Data Visualization on your website?
Week 7Class topicsDo before class

M 10-07

 DIGIT program welcomes Special guest: Service Design workshop Dr. B is attending the TEI Conference in Buenos Aires this week ...

W 10-09

 TBD: [VARIA activity, User Experience Workshop Part 2] UX workshop assignment

F 10-11

 Web production work day: git/GitHub, HTML CSS GitHub Pages Comparative Web Development Assignment Milestone due
Week 8Class topicsDo before class

M 10-14
  • Resolving GitHub Pages issues
  • Orientation to PSU Wordpress and Penn State web hosting services. How to transfer and edit content on the Wordpress site
 Website development for Comparative Web Development Assignment

W 10-16

 Website debugging lab Comparative Web Development Assignment Milestone: Wordpress site: set up styling and pages, image content from your GitHub Pages site

F 10-18

 Website Accessibility Readings and Workshop Review the following readings: Apply two things you learn from them to your design of one of your websites (and comment in Canvas on what you are doing or want to do to apply them to your site):
Week 9Class topicsDo before class

M 10-21

 Introduce the Text Analysis unit. Natural Language Processing (NLP): central to the AI (Large Language Models) technology of our time

W 10-23

 Comparative Web Development Assignment checklist / review. Voyant Tools exercise
  • Voyant Tools exercise: orientation to distant reading with texts posted in introDH-Hub.
  • Cleaning the text data: preparing plain text files to remove material not meant for analysis.
  • Exploring Keyword in Context (KWIC) with Voyant. Finding patterns and exploring them. What kinds of observations and comparisons can we make?
 Comparative Web Development Assignment due: Check:
  • Prepare the same website content on GitHub Pages and Wordpress
  • The same reflective essay should be posted on each site
  • The reflective essay on GitHub Pages links to the reflective essay on Wordpress (and vice versa).

F 10-25
  • Introduce text corpus and corpora, and the Corpus Analysis Project
  • Introduce n-gram analysis with Antconc.
  • Explore corpus concordances with Voyant and AntConc.
 Corpus analysis exercise
Week 10Class topicsDo before class

M 10-28

 No class meeting. Work on identifying text corpora for the Corpus Analysis Project
Dr. B is guest-lecturing at U. Tennessee Knoxville		 ...

W 10-30

 Comparative analysis with natural language processing (NLP) tools: Exploring bases for comparison

F 11-01

 Ethics in Natural Language Processing and AI: (Read and annotate with Hypothes.is):
Week 11Class topicsDo before class

M 11-04

 In Class Comparison Exercise with Large Language Models (LLMs) ...

W 11-06
  • Blocking and layout of Corpus Analysis assignment on your website
  • Review / consultation workshop of Corpus Analysis Project drafts/findings

F 11-08

 Review / consultation workshop of Corpus Analysis Project drafts/findings Rough draft installment of Corpus Analysis Project. Screenshots: images with figure and figcaption
Week 12Class topicsDo before class

M 11-11

 Introducing Time/Space Mapping unit: View and discuss Europe Time Machine project

W 11-13

 Orientation to TimeMapper or Arc StoryMaps. GIS and web technologies Corpus Analysis Project due

F 11-15

 Workshopping Time/Space mapping projects. Starter exercise for time/space mapping
Week 13Class topicsDo before class

M 11-18

 Mapping and telling history: Discussion / Workshop with Land-Grab Universities maps and data.

W 11-20

 Workshopping Time/Space mapping projects. Including Time/Space map on your website Milestone: partial draft of Time/Space Mapping project

F 11-22

 Complete TimeMapper project post to your website (by the end of the day)
Week 14Class topicsDo before class

Sun 11-24 to Sat 11-30

 Thanksgiving Holiday Have a peaceful and productive week!
Week 15Class topicsDo before class

M 12-02
  • Discussion of Leaf by Niggle. Tolkien, Secondary Worlds, digital media, and game culture.
  • Introduce network analysis: Networking the story with Kumu.io: Google sheets templates, Kumu import.

W 12-04

 Network analysis: Kumu Networks and organization / visualization options. Game Analysis.
  • Starter Kumu network analysis exercise with Leaf by Niggle

F 12-06
  • Organizing network visualizations: Spotlight on network statistics and styles
  • Including your network visualization on your website
 Game Analysis Project Milestone:
  • Complete phase 1 (note-taking stage) on your game, and post a copy of your notes on Canvas. Take descriptive notes on game setting, characters, themes
  • Collect, file, and organize screen captures from your game.
Week 16Class topicsDo before class

M 12-09
  • Improving legibility of Kumu network graphs with network statistics, styling
  • Reviewing a game for user experience
 Game Analysis Project Milestone: Network visualization exercise

W 12-11
  • Remixing, Copyright, and Creative Commons.
 Readings / Canvas discussion or annotation:

F 12-13

 Last day! DIGIT Works event ...

T 12-17

 Final assignment: Game Analysis Project due by 11:59pm