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DH@UVA, U.Va.
Your Portal to the Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia

Python for Humanists Workshop

We are thrilled to offer another Python for Humanists workshop which will take place May 24-28, 2021. You can RSVP through this form

This DH Workshop will provide an introduction to the Python programming language (with emphasis on tools for text analysis) and the opportunity to learn how to use the computing resources provided by UVA Research Computing. Topics will begin with the computational pre-processing task of “reading in” text files in multiple formats, creating visualizations of word frequencies, and performing simple text manipulations to prepare texts for further analysis. More advanced topics will include introductions to sentiment analysis and topic modeling. The goals of the workshop are--

·         to expose the learners to the capabilities of programming

·         to provide them with a specific set of text-analysis tools that they may use within their disciplines

·         to prepare them for working on the University’s high performance computing cluster

  

​The following is a general overview of topics to be covered during the 5-day workshop:

1. Intro to Python 

In this session, we will discuss basic concepts of programming and create our first programs.

2.  Beginning Text Analytics 

In this session, we will look at how to perform analysis on plain text documents

3. Text Visualizations 

In this session, we will learn about simple visualizations that can help us to understand our texts.

4.  Intro to Topic Modeling 

In this session, we will see how Topic Modeling functions can be used to discover word groupings that appear repeatedly within our texts.

5.  Intro to Sentiment Analysis 

      In this session, we will analyze the sentiment (e.g., positive or negative implications) of sentences, paragraphs, or entire texts.

6.  Project Management 

In this session, we will discuss the basics of collecting and managing data and notebooks for a project. 

 

Jackie Huband of UVA’s Research Computing division will serve as chief instructor. On each day, learners will participate in two Zoom meetings -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon for roughly two hours per meeting. Participants may supply their own text corpus in advance, or they may use ones provided. 

Participants will be encouraged to propose and scope out a text analytics research project pertaining to their own research or teaching. Throughout summer 2021, follow-up office hours with the instructor will occur weekly in support of these individual projects and questions that arise as participants tackle Python independently. Help with gaining access to high-performance computing facilities at UVA will also be ongoing. Participants will also have the option of forming a working group to provide camaraderie and support. 

We hope you'll join us for this opportunity to learn Python in a friendly and supportive environment and gain access to UVA's high performance computing cluster, Rivanna. This workshop is co-sponsored by DH@UVA, the Office of the Vice Provost of Academic Technology and Research Computing.

May 24, 2021 to May 28, 2021 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Zoom live

Event type: Workshop