This class will involve active participation from students and the professor both inside and outside of class.  We will be learning together in a collaborative environment:  reading, discussing, writing, researching, creating.  Together.

Copies of student work may be retained to assess how the learning objectives of the course are being met.

 

Preparing for Class

To succeed in the class, prepare for each session.

  • Read the assignments (books, articles, websites, etc.) and/or view the videos carefully and attentively
  • Take notes by annotating your readings and writing down important points, your reactions, your questions as you read
  • Bring questions and comments about the material to class each day
  • Bring assigned readings each day
  • Post to the class blog (see below)
  • Complete the Digital Tutorial Assignments on time (as described on the Schedule) and be ready to review and discuss them
  • Bring your laptop to class each day

 

Course Blog

This course will have a blog that will feed into our discussions in class.  We will typically discuss questions or issues arising from one or more of the posts in class each day, although not always all of them.

The class will be divided into two groups (A & B); some days one group will write posts whie the other comments, and on some days everyone will post and/or comment.  The days for blog assignments are marked on the Course Schedule.

Students may post with their real names or pseudonyms.

Posts will be minimum 250 words in length and will substantively address the readings. They are due by 9 pm the night before the class sessions for which they are due. They also:

  • Should demonstrate that the student has read/viewed and reflected upon the material for the day.  (Please be specific.)
  • Can comment on aspects of the assignment that are most compelling and exciting to you (and say why).
  • Can ask questions and raise issues you would like to discuss further in class.
  • Should include an image, media clip, or other online essay that illustrates—rather than trivializes—its point. The source of the image/media/essay must be clearly given.
  • Put the date of the reading/relevant class discussion in the post title (e.g., “Bogost’s Cathedral (Sept 3)” would be a good title.
  • Please do not quote from your source in too many block quotes.  Quote only what you need and link back, such as Mark 1:1 at bible.oremus.org.  (Watch this video on how to create links in WordPress blog posts if you don’t know how.)

Use <blockquote> tags if you want to set off a quote in a block quotation like this

Comments should substantively engage with the post as well as materials from the class.

All of the blog posts and comments will be evaluated on the following scale:

3:  Exceptional.  Fulfills all the requirements of the assignment and shows creativity, insight, or complexity.

2:  Satisfactory.  Fulfills the primary requirements of the assignment.

1:  Unsatisfactory.  Post has been made but does not fulfill the requirements of the assignment.

0:  No post or late post.

Receiving mostly threes will result in an A for this semester’s cumulative blogging assignment grade.  3s and 2s will result in a B.  Mostly 2s will result in a C.  Mostly 1s will result in a D.  Baseline grades will be calculated based on blog posts earning 1-3 points, then the baseline grade will drop one letter for every zero.

You may skip one post with no penalty.

You may skip one day of comments with no penalty.

Posts are worth 80% of the Course Blog grade; comments 20%.

[Some of the language in this assignment has been adapted word for word from Dr. Mark Sample‘s Blogging Guidelines for his DIG 101 class.  Thanks to Mark for permission to reuse and remix his assignment.
Creative Commons License  The work above is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  Please attribute Dr. Mark Sample as well as this site if you reuse.]

Attendance and Participation

This course is collaborative and project based. Students will discuss and create together. We will sometimes discuss readings, websites, and technologies in an open and respectful seminar format. At other times we will be learning and experimenting with different Digital Humanities tools and technologies in class. Active participation and questioning, as well as listening and making, will be expected in each class session.

Students should bring laptops to class every day and be prepared to hack around.

All members of the class are expected to reflect critically on they ways in which they can contribute to constructive rather than destructive class dynamics.

Participation  involves:

  • Bringing class readings and/or notes to class to enable discussion.
  • Possible in-class presentations, graded activities, or providing discussion questions for class.
  • Taking notes.
  • Listening attentively to the professor and the other students.
  • Daily attendance
  • Informed, thoughtful, and respectful engagement in discussions, activities, and in-class writing assignments on a regular basis.
  • Respectful behavior in class.  (Disruptive or disrespectful behavior—including arriving late and leaving early—will lower grades.)

I often call upon students and may not wait for students to volunteer themselves.

Click here for the grading rubric, which includes class participation.

Absence policy

The work we do in class is an essential part of your learning experience, and your contributions to class contribute to the learning of your peers.  Absences mean a student is missing part of the learning experience and is not contributing to our community’s learning.  Absences therefore will lower a student’s participation grade.

  • After 1.5 week’s worth of absences (4 for MWF classes, 3 for T/Th classes), each additional absence will deduct 10% points from the Participation grade. Athletes, students with an emergency (e.g., death of a parent), and ill students should contact the professor immediately about making up missed participation. Other absences cannot be made up; all makeups are at the discretion of the professor.
  • Lying to avoid a penalty is a violation of the Honor Code
  • Make friends: Students who miss class should check the website, read their email messages, and get notes from a peer before coming to talk to the professor about missed material.

This particular class is workshop-based and hands on.  Dr. S cannot provide makeup Digital Tutorials for absent students.  Come to class whether you have done the reading or not, whether you have done the homework or not.  Missing class will severely affect the other parts of your class grade.

Digital Tutorials

We will have tutorial assignments for many of the tools and technologies we will use in the class. The assignments and dates will be on the syllabus.

Typically, I will introduce a tool or technology in class, you will work on it as homework, and we will review and discuss in the next class session.

Each part of a Digital Tutorial will be assigned points.  Students will earn full credit for completing the requirements of the DT assignment.

 

Final Project

Students will also have a final collaborative project using the tools, methods, and critical theories from this semester on a digital humanities research question.

This project will have phases, such as brainstorming, project proposal, beta/draft phase, final version, documentation.  Each phase will have its own deadline and grade.