Requirements and Grading
The course will be centered on the creation of a digital project that will take the form of an online exhibition on a topic of the student’s choosing. This semester-long project is an opportunity to experiment with new technologies and can take many shapes. The specifics of it will greatly depend on the students’ own research interests. Various project possibilities will be discussed in detail during one of the early meetings. The project itself may be a component of a larger piece of work such as a paper or thesis.
Work towards this final goal will be realized throughout the semester as a series of four core assignments, each contributing elements to the main research project. All of these will take the form of multimedia Omeka exhibitions. The final output, the online exhibition, will bring together these elements and present the results.
Project Proposal (10% of grade)
Each student is expected to produce a 2-3-page proposal that outlines the aims and scope of their project. The proposal should include a general overview of the project, including research goals, prospective dataset, suggested methodology, and proposed stages.
Essay 1: Background (15% of grade)
This essay should provide historical and disciplinary context for the project. It should explain how it intersects with existing scholarship on the subject and provide bibliographic background.
Essay 2: Dataset (15% of grade)
This is a more technical essay describing the nature of the dataset being used for the project. It should describe the types of data being used and how they are structured for the project. It should also mention what kind of sources for the data, available or generated metadata, and any specific issues inherent to the dataset.
Essay 3: Methodology (15% of grade)
This essay should outline the methodology for the project and then describe the specific stages of the project and the tools used in each. The latter will rely on a process book that students should keep throughout the term documenting the different stages of their projects.
Final Project (25% of grade)
This will consist of a multimedia essay that presents the analysis of the data and its results and brings together the other components of the project into a coherent whole.
During the last week of the term, students will present their project to the class. These presentations are not intended to showcase the final results of the project, but rather to give everyone an opportunity to bring up their ideas and unresolved problems, and get help and feedback from peers before the final submission.
Class Participation (20% of grade)
The class experience is based on seminar discussion and hands-on practice, so class participation is an essential requirement of this course. In order to contribute to class conversations, it is important to carefully read the assigned texts prior to each meeting, as these will inform our approach to the more practical aspects of the course. The presentations during the final week of the term will also form a component of the class participation grade.