Department of English

Designing and implementing a digital humanities project is not like researching and writing a paper. It requires a different workflow and skillset. In this course, we will learn how to put digital and material archives into productive conversation. We will do so by working collaboratively on existing and in-progress digital collections, maps, and exhibits. These may include two gigantic, fifteenth-century genealogical rolls, one in Penn’s collection, and one at the Free Library of Philadelphia, with an opportunity to work on platforms like Digital Mappa; or newspapers written, edited, and printed at Eastern State Penitentiary by incarcerated individuals, with opportunities to learn the principles of minimal computing and the ethics of datafication. Through hands-on experience digitizing and researching these materials, we will learn how to formulate a digital (or public) humanities research question, devise a research plan, curate digital assets, present a digitally-based research project to a variety of audiences, and develop the infrastructures (both technological and social) necessary to sustain a web-based digital collection or archive. Along the way, we will study and discuss exemplary DH projects. This class will not follow the typical 3-hour graduate seminar format and will require both independent and collaborative work at various sites around Philadelphia. There will be opportunities for students with existing DH projects, at all stages, to pursue that work as part of the class.

Advanced undergraduates and submat M.A. students interested in this course should request permission from the instructors and submit a permit request via Path@Penn.