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In many ways, the humanities are already digital: whether you’re working on The Odyssey or Only Revolutions, most of us do our research, writing, and sometimes reading at a computer. In these situations, the computer replaces the index, the pen, and the printed book. In a sense, then, the computer has simply sped up processes with which humanists were already familiar. But what might we gain if we begin to use the computer to do something that only it can do? How would it change our understanding of a novel if we laid it out in geographical space? What would it mean to look at every...

This course introduces students to the concepts and tools needed to conduct digital research in English. During the semester, we’ll discuss how the broader field of the Digital humanities (DH) is defined, why humanists are using digital tools to do their research, how the new methods compare with older methods of humanities scholarship, and what are their strengths and weaknesses. This course gives you a chance to explore these new methods. We begin with a focus on the basic theoretical and technological issues involved in creating and analyzing digital texts, before moving on to a...

In this class you will learn about the ways that digital technologies are changing the making and study of literature. The main goal, however, is to become a producer of creative digital materials. You will develop multiple projects with the aim of generating new knowledge about literary texts and of producing your own digital creative works. You will also develop your skills in collaboration, managing online content delivery, and computational/multimedia composing. And you will explore your own imagination, taking risks and experimenting with what it means to develop and...

This graduate seminar provides an introduction to the various theories and methods used by digital humanists to study culture. We’ll examine and critique recent computational approaches alongside the interpretative (hermeneutical) approaches found within cultural and literary studies. Throughout the term, we will give particular attention to subfields or areas of the digital humanities including critical code studies, game studies, machine learning, and text mining. Two short essays will enable you to interrogate oppositional positions within the field of digital cultural studies. Final...