ENGL/TXTDS 267: Intro to Data Science in the Humanities
Autumn 2022 | M/W 10:30-12:20 | Condon Hall 110B
Instructor: Anna Preus (apreus@uw.edu)
Office Hours: Tue. 10:30-11:30 (on Zoom) / Wed. 12:30-1:30 (in MGH)
Course Description
Do humanistic questions have a place in the field of data science? Conversely, are methods from data science useful for the study of literary classics, famous works of art, or historical debates? And how can humanities approaches help us address issues of bias and exclusion in an increasingly technology-driven world? This course tackles such broad issues while offering an introduction to a range of approaches and methodologies within the growing field of humanities data science. Topics will include data bias, text digitization, digital archiving, data visualization, modeling, and computational analysis. During the course, we will work with and analyze a broad range of digital resources, including online libraries, digital editions, data visualization platforms, text analysis packages, and creative projects. We will use and analyze these digital tools and work with datasets. The final project will involve conducting an original analysis of a dataset using digital tools. This course will take place in person.
Syllabus designed in collaboration with Rachel Yim-Schlotfeldt and Nikita Willeford-Kastrinos.
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate an understanding of the structures and functions of digital tools and examine the ways they have been applied to the preservation and study of cultural artifacts.
- Develop skills in data manipulation and make use of various methods of close and distant analysis to enunciate arguments about cultural artifacts and historical trends.
- Consider how humanistic questions apply to systems for producing, collecting, storing, and analyzing data.
- Examine how systems of power including capitalism, racism, white supremacy, sexism, heteronormativity, ableism, transphobia, colonialism and imperialism impact the production, dissemination, and valuation of information online and in digital forms.
- Amplify alternative methodologies and ways of knowing, listening and learning about the past and present, the local and the global, and consider how these ways of knowing apply to the digital realm.
Required Texts
All required readings will be available on Canvas.
Instructions for in-class technical workshops will be available on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1V89XsSBmO01nZ145yNXbBqxDhT_0IO-P?usp=sharing