Week 3: Why do definitions of DH matter so much?

Earlier today, I contacted each of you to confirm and/or gently redirect your selected topic for our first assignment, so now it’s time to immerse yourself in your site. I’ve added a few guidelines to the assignment description that should help you consider what types of questions you might want to ask about your site, but if you need help narrowing your focus, feel free to drop by during my office hours next week. We won’t spend much time in class working on this project, but Week 3 is when the bulk of your analysis should take place, so don’t procrastinate!

Here are a few quick reminders about our plans for Week 3:

• On Monday, we’ll continue our conversation about definitions of “digital humanities,” with Jennifer and Katie serving as our first discussion superheroes. Before you come to class, please read all of the articles in Part I (“Defining the Digital Humanities,” pages 1–71) in Debates in the Digital Humanities and William Pannapacker’s “Stop Calling It ‘Digital Humanities’.” In addition, familiarize yourself with John Unsworth’s helpful timeline of DH milestones.
• On Wednesday we’ll hold a workshop that will help you establish a workflow for doing digital scholarship. Before you come to class, spend some time reviewing Miriam Posner’s excellent guide to managing research assets and William J. Turkel’s collection of posts on digital research tools. (You don’t need to install every piece of software recommended by Posner and Turkel, but I hope you’ll test out a few of them that look interesting to you.)

Last but not least, remember that everyone is invited to our first “Digital Discussions” event on Friday at 1:30 p.m. It’s a roundtable conversation on graduate education in the digital humanities, and we would love to have REAL LIVE GRADUATE STUDENTS in attendance. You can even download a PDF flyer and pass it along to anyone who might be interested. I hope to see you there!