Admission requirements
Description
In a world where everyone seems connected to, and certainly affected by a device, how can Digital Methods help us understand our region of interest (Middle East or Asia)? This course helps you use digital tools to acquire, analyze, and present humanities data and findings. It also explores questions about the implications of living in a digital age on scholarship in the humanities.
This course has a focus on research methods that you can use to futher develop in your BA or MA thesis, and a focus on digital skills such as basics of programming that you can build on academically and later in your practical career.
Student can customise their learning topics according to their individual interests: what social media can tell us about how institutions and individuals approach an issue of interest; what a large body of literary texts can tell us about the authors or their societies, what can visualizing interactions between political actors tell us about their roles in national or international politics, or other questions relevant to the study of a given language and region.
The course follows an individualized learning approach. Each student completes a number of general theoretical modules and a set of pre-selected modules to fit his/her region and language of interst, digital skills, and disciplinary preference.
This seminar is in hybrid format. The online tutorials cover readings, video presentations, and online tasks on research methods in digital humanities. The practicum sessions are held in-person in the computer room. We will cover in them the technical skills needed for the research project.
Course objectives
Students will be able to develop necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to complete a Digital Humanities project relevant to their field of studies. They will:
identify the range of research questions that can be addressed using digital methods.
build basic programming skills in Python, a popular programming language used in Digital Humanities. No previous programming experience is required. Students with programming experience will further develop it.
collect humanities data as appropriate for their specialization, e.g. via web scraping or social media APIs.
analyze humanities data as appropriate for their specialization, e.g.using keyword analysis, sentiment analysis, topic modelling, or network analysis.
present the findings of the analysis using appropriate visualizations.
address practical and ethical issues involved in the development, analysis and dissemination of Digital Humanities projects.
Timetable
The timetables are avalable through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Hybrid seminar. Students complete weekly pre-assigned, self-paced interactive lectures and tutorials on Brightspace. The practicum sessions are held in-person in the computer room, and will be used for discussions and to practice the technical skills needed to complete the research project.
Assessment method
Assessment
The final grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the following:
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Research Design | 20% |
| Research Report | 70% |
| Research Presentation | 10% |
In order to pass the course, students need a passing mark (“voldoende”, i.e. “5.50” or higher) for the course as a whole AND for each of the Research Design and Research Report].
Resit
If the End Grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), or the Research Report is lower than 5.5, there is a possibility of retaking the 70% of the Research Report. No resit for the Research Design or the presentation is possible. Please note that if the Resit Report grade is lower than 5.5, you will not pass the course, regardless of the Research Design grade.
Students who score an overall insufficient grade for the course, are allowed resubmit a reworked version of the Research Report. The deadline for resubmission is 10 working days after receiving the grade for the report and subsequent feedback. In case of resubmission of the report, the final grade for the report will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who score an overall insufficient grade for the course, are allowed resubmit a reworked version of the Research Report. The deadline for resubmission is 10 working days after receiving the grade for the report and subsequent feedback. In case of resubmission of the report, the final grade for the report will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who fail to hand in their Research Report on or before the original deadline, but still within 5 working days of that deadline, will receive a grade and feedback on their report. This will be considered a first submission of the report, however, the grade will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who fail to hand in their Research Report on or before the original deadline, and also fail to hand in their report within 5 working days of that deadline, get 10 working days, counting from the original deadline, to hand in the first version of their report. However, this first version counts as a resubmitted report with consequential lowering of the grade, and there will be no option of handing in a reworked version based on feedback from the lecturer.
NOTE: students who passed the course before may retake the course subject to instructor approval, if they choose a different research project and learning path.
Reading list
Course materials are available on Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory. General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: De Vrieshof.
Remarks
Please note that the additional course information is an integral part of this course description.