Week 8: How can the humanities help us study computer code?
March 07, 2014I’m glad we took some time during Week 7 to take stock of where we are as class and where we want to go for the rest of the semester. Please drop me a line if you have any additional thoughts about topics you want to address or changes I can make to the syllabus to help you get the most of out of this class.
You should take full advantage of spring break and get plenty of R&R. I have pushed back the due date for your second assignment by a week, which I hope will make your break a little less stressful. When we get back, we’ll have an abbreviated week, but I hope it will be a productive one. Here’s how we’ll proceed:
- On Monday, we will explore the field of software studies as it relates to the digital humanities, with Katie and Andrew W. serving as our discussion superheroes. Please read Frabetti (pp. 161–71) and Manovich (pp. 249–78) in Understanding Digital Humanities, and another short article by Manovich, “The Algorithms of Our Lives.” As time permits, you might also want to check out Computational Culture, a new “journal of software studies.” Last but not least, you should have a draft of your tool exploration essay completed by Monday. (Don’t click “publish” on your essay yet, but be ready to share what you’ve written with your classmates.)
- I will be traveling to CCCC in Indianapolis from Tuesday through Saturday, so we won’t meet on Wednesday. My trip will also prevent me from holding regular office hours during Week 8, but I will be checking email regularly, so please let me know if you run into any unforeseen problems as you complete and post your essay on Medium.
I’ll be on campus most of spring break (insert sad-face icon here), so if you happen to be in Blacksburg and want to meet, feel free to email me. Otherwise, enjoy your time off!