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Spring 2026: Classes meet M W F 11:15am – 12:05pm in Lilley Library 006

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Quick links to digital resources

Week 1 Class topics Do before class

M 01-12

 ...

W 01-14

 Read The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0 and check out who wrote it.

F 01-16

 Set up Hypothes.is account and complete first annotation assignment. Re-read up close (text and image) and annotate with Hypothes.is (Detailed guidance posted on Canvas): The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0 Context/Metadata: ~2009.
Week 2 Class topics Do before class

M 01-19

 Martin Luther King Jr. Day: No classes. ...

W 01-21

 Space Time Mapping:
  • Troubleshooting / debugging date formats and geolocation
  • Incorporating image media and media credits.
 TimeMapper starter exercise

F 01-23
  • Discussion of Warsame and this essay’s importance for Digital Humanities: Lived experience and historic significance.
  • Introduce hand-drawn data visualization project
 Read and annotate with tags: Khalid Warsame, “This Vast Conspiracy of Memory” Published in Spring 2019 Meanjin Quarterly
Week 3 Class topics Do before class

M 01-26
  • TimeMapper review
  • Art / data: data visceralization: Explore Mimi Onuoha’s The Library of Missing Datasets
  • Introduce hand-drawn data collection / visualization assignment
 Complete Timemapper assignment (end of day)

W 01-28
  • In-class exercise on Dear Data. Launch the longer-range assignment on personal data collection and visualization
 Discussion Exercise (Canvas) Before class, take three screen captures of three hand-crafted/humanized data visualizations from anywhere on the Dear Data site (including video content) that particularly struck you. In your discussion post post the images and comment on what is being shown and why does it seem memorable?

F 01-30
  • Approval/Launch of class Dear Data Visualizations
  • Explore Data by Design interactive site.
Week 4 Class topics Do before class

M 02-02
  • Launching Dear Data: Approval / revision of proposals.
  • Markup and data structures: the Electronic Verse Engineer
  • Introduce the oXygen XML Editor: Look at markup data under the hood of a digital humanities project
 If necessary, revise Dear Data proposal.

W 02-04

 Get started working with the oXygen XML Editor: Coding and markup of historic documents.
  • Start recording/drawing: Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization
  • Install oXygen XML Editor, prepare for markup and code orientation.

F 02-06

 Learning the code syntax of eXtensible Markup Language: elements and attributes. XML and HTML XML Markup Exercise 1
Week 5 Class topics Do before class

M 02-09

 XML: Markup of data and metadata structures
  • XML Markup Exercise 2: emphasis on nesting elements and adding attributes

W 02-11

 Tracking changes! Orientation to git, GitHub, and version control
  • Complete Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization
  • Annotate readings: Intro to Git and Version Control Systems

F 02-13
  • Orientation to Command Line and Git
  • Cloning a repo.
  • Demonstration: Pushing and pulling files.
 Git/GitHub assignments:
  • Expose file extensions setting on your computer
  • GitHub account setup, join class GitHub repo/organization
Week 6 Class topics Do before class

M 02-16
  • Mindful file management and upkeep with git/GitHub.
  • Git at command line: getting git in your fingers: Terms and concepts: local vs. remote
    • Where to use the git commands
    • git status
    • When you have to git pull
    • Staging new local stuff with git add
    • git commit -m "You describe what's in here"
    • git push

W 02-18
  • Tech for publishing a website: content management systems, servers, GitHub
  • Look at a website under the hood: HTML, CSS, image files in a folder
  • XML vs HTML: Similar syntax, different purpose! Semantic vs. layout code. Structure of an HTML file.
  • GitHub Pages with the docs/ directory and index.html: Organizing files for a website in a git repository
  • Introduce the Comparative Web Development Assignment and content for portfolio sites.

F 02-20
  • Code an HTML file and view it a browser.
  • HTML elements and attributes: how they function in web browser software
  • HTML Exercise 1 (orientation to HTML)
  • HTML Exercise 1.5 (Setting up GitHub Pages)
Week 7 Class topics Do before class

M 02-23
  • How HTML points to files: absolute and relative file references:
    • links
    • images
  • Where will you work on your website? Your computer, campus labs, maintaining the same folders multiple places.
  • Organizing file directories for website development
 HTML Exercise 2: a file directory of at least two HTML files with at least one image and two links, using relative file associations

W 02-25

 Perspective/Issues: Berners-Lee, markup technologies, and the worldwide web. Reading / annotation with Hypothes.is: article on Tim Berners-Lee and the invention of the internet (PDF | Interenet Archive).

F 02-27

 HTML / CSS, mindful file management, and publishing a website. CSS for styling:
  • Separation of concerns
  • Storing a separate CSS file, and the <link> line to associate it on HTML pages
  • Start series of Command Line and Web Lore Quizzes on Canvas
  • HTML / CSS / GitHub Exercise 4
Week 8 Class topics Do before class

M 03-02
  • Website debugging lab
  • Resolving GitHub Pages issues
  • Orientation to PSU Wordpress and Penn State web hosting services. How to transfer and edit content on the Wordpress site
  • How to cope with Wordpress navigation menus>

W 03-04

 Website Development Lab: Spotlight on CSS
  • Reminder: Where to write your CSS: separation of concerns for styling and content
  • Look at the CSS Zen Garden: same HTML content styled several different ways with different CSS
  • Controlling image size display
  • Controlling page layouts: HTML container elements with CSS flex containers
  • Reflective Essay page development
 Wordpress Milestone assignment

F 03-06

 Web production work day: git/GitHub, HTML CSS Complete quizzes on Shell + Git Commands and HTML

Sun 3-08 – Sat 3-14

 Spring Break Enjoy this week!
Week 10 Class topics Do before class

M 03-16

 Review / debug / finalize websites. Look ahead and prepare for Text Analysis unit. Due by the end of the day: Comparative Web Development Assignment due: Check:
  • Prepare the same website content on GitHub Pages and Wordpress
  • The same reflective essay should be posted on each site
  • The reflective essay on GitHub Pages links to the reflective essay on Wordpress (and vice versa).

W 03-18
  • Discussion: Frankenstein Variorum
  • Introduce Natural Language Processing (NLP) and N-gram analysis: Google Ngram viewer
  • Intro/testing out Antconc, Voyant Tools.
  • Exercise on reading the Frankenstein Variorum
  • Install Antconc on your computer and/or Q drive space in campus labs.

F 03-20

 Mystery Text Exercise with AntConc and Voyant
Week 11 Class topics Do before class

M 03-23
  • NLP and AI Discussion / Exercise
  • NLP in digital humanities for analysis vs. text generation
  • Selecting texts and corpora to compare
 Readings/annotations on NLP and AI: Mark Riedl, The Intuition Behind how Large Language Models Work

W 03-25

 Setting up your text lab for comparative analysis
  • Organizing and re-naming photo files for your review and web writing
  • Looking for popular patterns
  • Looking for words / grams of interest in ngrams
  • Tracking an interesting n-gram from one corpus to the other
 Choose your text corpora to investigate for the Corpus Analysis assignment.

F 03-27
  • Preview / form teams for VARIA project next week
  • Expanding scope, testing, and re-testing:
    • How to inspect your text corpora: KWIC concordance and plot views
    • Comparative analysis: Looking for one corpus’s popular n-gram in the other corpus
 Set up GitHub repo for comparative text analysis of your corpora and work on storing, naming, organizing screen-captures.
Week 12 Class topics Do before class

M 03-30

 [VARIA Lab activity Part 1: with Dr. Liebe and VARIA lab team]* (verify the dates)

W 04-01

 [VARIA Lab activity Part 2: with Dr. Liebe and VARIA lab team] VARIA lab 3D scanning: prepare model

F 04-03

 Review/Debugging/Discussion of Annotated Models. Mount annotated 3D model on your website.
Week 13 Class topics Do before class

M 04-06

 Text analysis reflection/development: What do you see and what could it mean?
  • Raising meaningful questions vs. drawing convenient conclusions
  • Looking stuff up: What contexts do you need?
 Milestone for Corpus Analysis Project

W 04-08
  • Introduce Game Analysis unit and Tolkien reading for next class
  • Corpus Analysis draft workshop:
    • What more is needed?
    • Blocking and layout of legible and captioned screenshots for the website
    • Every set of pictures followed by a paragraph discussing what to notice.
 Post complete Corpus Analysis Draft to Website

F 04-10
  • Discussion of Leaf by Niggle
  • Setting up a simple network analysis with Kumu.io
 Reading/Annotation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Leaf by Niggle (before class)
Week 14 Class topics Do before class

M 04-13

 Orientation to network statistics and styling a network in Kumu.io

W 04-15

 Following a game narrative. Analyzing and reviewing a game for user experience.
  • Kumu.io network of Leaf by Niggle
  • Select, download, and install game to play and analyze for Game Analysis Project

F 04-17

 Developing a network for a game. Examples from previous projects. Experiment with the Palermo game
Week 15 Class topics Do before class

M 04-20

 Game reviews, capturing user experience. Finding limits of the game world.
  • Starter Kumu network analysis exercise.
  • Game play / analysis

W 04-22
  • Organizing network visualizations: Network statistics and styles
  • Including/Embedding your network visualization (and other visualizations this semester) on your website
 Milestone: Game Review notes

F 04-24

 Website Accessibility Workshop
Week 16 Class topics Do before class

M 04-27
  • Dracula and the strange past and present of copyright
  • Remixing, Copyright, and Creative Commons license for your website

W 04-29

 Web Portfolios and Game Reviews. Draft workshop.
  • Game Analysis Development
  • Select and embed a Creative Commons license on your website

F 05-01

 Last Day! DIGIT Works event ...
Finals Week: May 4 – 8 To Complete

T 05-05

 Final assignment: Game Analysis Project due by 11:59pm