Category: Assignment Description

Opportunities to earn extra credit will be offered throughout the semester. These may include additional tutorials, workshop attendance, attending a digital humanities related lecture, etc. Opportunities will be made visible in the #Town Square channel of Mattermost and the Events page of the DH@MSU website (digitalhumanities.msu.edu/calendar/events). A few opportunities will be listed here.

In order to earn extra credit, you must attend one of these events (or another one that you get approval for in advance) and write up 4-5 sentences elaborating on something you learned during the event. Direct message your write up to the instructors in Mattermost.

Each extra credit activity you do will add 0.5% to your overall grade for the semester. You may earn up to 3% total in extra credit.

Ideas for extra credit opportunities for Fall 2020

• Create your own Walking Harlem tour
• Do a DH Tutorial
  • Select a tutorial from Miriam Posner’s website (http://miriamposner.com/blog/tutorials-ive-written/) and do it. When you have finished, DM the instructors in Mattermost with 2 screenshots from your progress during the lesson, and share your experience of what you learned (and/or struggled with) in at least 4 sentences.
• Programming Historian Lesson
  • Explore the lessons available at Programming Historian (https://programminghistorian.org/en/lessons/) and go through one of them, following along with the lesson. When you have finished, DM the instructors in Mattermost with 2 screenshots from your progress during the lesson, and share your experience of what you learned (and/or struggled with) in at least 4 sentences.
  • Note: Some of these lessons are relatively advanced and might involve coding.
• Attend DH-related virtual events
  • MSU and non-MSU
• Co-Work & Extra Help Time for Final Projects
• Meeting with MSU (or your Home University) Libraries Reference Services
  • Go to the reference desk at the Main Library (it’s around the corner from the Circulation Desk) and get help from a librarian in conducting research for your final project. They will be adept at helping you to find scholarly sources which are key for background and context on your topics.
  • Note, you can also setup an appointment with a librarian who has a specialty in the area of research you are exploring instead of just going to the Reference Desk and speaking to whoever happens to be there at the moment.
  • After you meet with the librarian, DM the instructors on Mattermost, explaining what sources you found with the librarian and in ~4 sentences (or more) what new research strategies you learned.
• Meeting with Andy or Megan (or the equivalent at your institution if preferred) [with permission]

(2% of overall grade)

Introduction and goals

Digital Humanities projects come in many forms, rely on a wide array of data types, and involve any manner of technologies. In this assignment, you will nominate a digital humanities project for the class to evaluate in Project Critique 3. Becoming accustomed to searching for and identifying DH projects is a crucial skill for this class.

Description

Come to class with a digital humanities project that lends itself to analysis with the Project Evaluation Template. This project cannot be one that you presented on in your Disciplinary Presentation, nor can it be one that we have discussed in class. By the start of class, share the link to the project and its name in the #assignmentdeposit channel of Mattermost.

[If you miss class for any reason, you will need to post to the channel a brief description of how this is a project that would be good to evaluate and why you nominate it.]

During class, we will break into 3-5 groups. Each student will share the project that they found to their group and explain how it is a digital humanities project that can be evaluated using the template. Each group will then nominate 1 project among them as the best representation of a DH project. Each group will then share that project out with the rest of the class.

The projects nominated by the groups in class will be examined in Project Critique 3.

Rubric

• Nominated a project by the time of class – 50%
• Shared a rationale for the project’s nomination – 50%

(6% of overall grade)

Introduction and goals

Digital Humanities projects come in many forms, rely on a wide array of data types, and involve any manner of technologies. In this assignment, you will critically examine the goals, methods, and materials behind a DH project. Becoming accustomed to navigating a project site and exploring how each project approached its data, process, and presentation is a crucial skill for this class.

Description

For this third project critique, you will evaluate one of the projects nominated by the class as good examples of a DH project in the Find a Digital Humanities Project assignment. That list is as follows:

• Shakespeare & Company Project
• Women Writers Project
• Closer to Van Eyck
• The Ancient Graffiti Project
• Endangered Languages Project
• American Prison Writing Archive

Make a copy of the Project Evaluation Template, rename it to include your last name, and fill it out, being sure to respond to each section. Don’t forget to insert your name, the title of the project, and the project’s URL at the top of the document. Turn in the Project Critique in Mattermost.

The Project Evaluation Template includes descriptions for each of the sections and question prompts. Be as thorough in your responses as you can. See the Project Evaluation Template Example for guidance.

Rubric

• Project Background and Goals (20%)
• Presentation (30%)
• Material and data (50%)

(6% of overall grade)

Introduction and goals

Digital Humanities projects come in many forms, rely on a wide array of data types, and involve any manner of technologies. In this assignment, you will critically examine the goals, methods, and materials behind a DH project. Becoming accustomed to navigating a project site and exploring how each project approached its data, process, and presentation is a crucial skill for this class.

Description

For the second project critique, choose one project to evaluate from the list of projects below:

• American Religious Sounds Project – http://religioussounds.osu.edu
• The Suffrage Postcard Project – https://thesuffragepostcardproject.omeka.net
• Visualizing Emancipation – https://dsl.richmond.edu/emancipation
• Richard Pryor’s Peoria – http://www.becomingrichardpryor.com/pryors-peoria
• Mapping Ararat – http://www.mappingararat.com
• Colonial Frontier Massacres in Central and Eastern Australia, 1788-1930 – https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres
• Derrida’s Margins – https://derridas-margins.princeton.edu
• A Street Near You – https://astreetnearyou.org
• Monroe Work Today, http://www.monroeworktoday.org

Make a copy of the Project Evaluation Template, rename it to include your last name, and fill it out, being sure to respond to each section. Don’t forget to insert your name, the title of the project, and the project’s URL at the top of the document. Turn in the Project Critique in Mattermost.

The Project Evaluation Template includes descriptions for each of the sections and question prompts. Be as thorough in your responses as you can. See the Project Evaluation Template Example for guidance.

Rubric

• Project Background and Goals (20%)
• Presentation (30%)
• Material and data (50%)

(5% of overall grade)

Introduction and goals

Digital Humanities projects come in many forms, rely on a wide array of data types, and involve any manner of technologies. In this assignment, you will critically examine the goals, methods, and materials behind a DH project. Becoming accustomed to navigating a project site and exploring how each project approached its data, process, and presentation is a crucial skill for this class.

Description

For this first project critique, everyone will evaluate the same project: The Green Book Project (https://aahc.nc.gov/green-book-project).

Make a copy of the Project Evaluation Template, rename it to include your last name, and fill it out, being sure to respond to each section. Don’t forget to insert your name, the title of the project, and the project’s URL at the top of the document. Turn in the Project Critique in Mattermost.

The Project Evaluation Template includes descriptions for each of the sections and question prompts. Be as thorough in your responses as you can. See the Project Evaluation Template Example for guidance.

Rubric

• Project Background and Goals (20%)
• Presentation (30%)
• Material and data (50%)

For the full description of the final project, see the Final Project page.

Turn in:

• Deliverable(s) from your final project (website URL, essay, etc)
• Self-Reflection

If you worked as a group on the project, one member of the group will turn in the deliverable to the instructors, and each member of the group will submit individual self-reflection essays.

Methodology

(35% of final project grade)

Your final project must convey your methodology: the process, work, and decisions that went into the final product.

There is no specific length or format associated with this component. You will be graded based on how thoroughly the following topics are covered in your final project. They do not need to be covered in a standalone section but instead can be integrated into the project in many places, depending on the goals and audience of your project.

Share what choices you made and why in:

• Refining the research question
  • Did you adjust it based on the availability of data, or to scope it appropriately?
• Selecting and finding material/data
  • If you are using a particular dataset because it was already created and available, cite the source and explain why you chose it.
  • If you curated material that was already available, for example, in a digitized library, explain where it came from and why you chose it.
  • If you collected your own data, how did you collect it? Where did it come from?
  • Describe any limitations of your data. Is there information missing?
• Preparing your data for analysis and presentation
  • Did you transform the data in any way?
• Selecting your presentation method (map/network/etc? what tool(s) did you use? why?)
  • If you selected a particular tool because it could handle geocoding data for you (for example), say so. If you chose to do a network graph, explain why you chose that visualization and analysis format.
• If you have chosen to share your data, on your project website or through Github, include your reasoning behind doing so.

Argumentation and Analysis

(25% of final project grade)

Your final project will be graded using the Project Evaluation Template. You are also expected to convey the findings of your research and conclusions that can be drawn from those findings in your final project deliverable.

Self-Reflection

(10% of final project grade)

In 1-2 pages, single spaced, reflect on the experience of this project. What did you learn from the experience of creating a research project from scratch? Was this type of assignment new to you? How did you feel about needing to make your own choices about finding data and selecting tools?

If you worked in a group, how did the group work together? Was it a smooth experience, or a rocky one, or both?

10% of Final Project Grade

For the full description of the final project, see the Final Project page.

Final presentations will take place on Friday, December 18, 10:00am-12:00pm (ET).

You will have 6 minutes to share your final project, excluding time for questions. Begin by sharing the research question and motivation behind the project. Then, show your final product briefly and share conclusions and findings that can be drawn from the project. Finally, discuss the methodology and process that led you to the final product.

Address the following elements of your final project:

• Research question
  • What is your research question?
  • What led you to pursue that question? Why does it interest you?
  • How did it develop over the course of the semester?
• Methodology
  • What decisions did you make and why?
• Argument and Findings
  • What does your project demonstrate or argue? How does it make that argument?
  • What evidence did you use?
  • What should users/viewers/readers learn from your project?
• Final product(s)
  • This may include a demo of a visualization, an excerpt from a video, or a short tour of your website.
  • As in previous presentations, make sure that you take screenshots or otherwise embed this portion into your slides so that you do not lose time because of connectivity or login issues.

Fitting all of this into 6 minutes is a challenge. Practicing your presentation at least once before the presentation day is strongly advised.

You should use slides to organize your presentation. Use the Successful Slides tips document (attached) as an aid in developing your slides. You will not be graded separately on your slides, but they are key to ensuring a successful presentation.

For the full description of the final project, see the Final Project page.

In a 6 minute presentation, share your final project with the class as if you were giving the final presentation, with the project as complete as possible at this time. The presentation should share the final deliverable, what it is meant to accomplish, and discuss challenges or problem areas where the group or individual could benefit from the collective assistance of the class. For more information on what you should cover, see the Final Project Presentation Description. You should have a draft of your slides for this presentation. This presentation is to allow for feedback and advice from the rest of the class and the instructors.

10% of Final Project Grade

For the full description of the final project, see the Final Project page.

Write a 2 page (single spaced) description of:

• the research question posed by your project, including how you selected it
  • How you came to explore this topic (if you chose this topic because it is a hobby that you are passionate about, say so, for example)
  • Were you influenced by other DH projects or methods we explored in class?
  • How your research question has evolved over time
  • What your goals are for the project
• ideas for where data to analyze will come from
• proposed methods for analysis
• proposed final deliverable (website or essay; if website, what type [digital archive, interactive map, etc)

At least 3 credible sources (scholarly, or at the approval of an instructor) must be cited to show that background research has been done to frame the project. Each source must include 1-2 sentences explaining how it relates to the project.