TXTDS 503 A: Archives, Data, and Databases

TXTDS 503 and ENGL 569 is a cross-listed and cross-disciplinary graduate course that considers subject heading lists, classification schemes, and other indexing languages used to organize information as primary texts. We apply literary and linguistic analysis techniques to these non-traditional texts to expand our understanding of what counts as a text, how texts change over time, and how texts shape and are shaped by society. 

Here's what you'll do in this class

• Learn to analyze non-traditional texts through hands-on practice.
• Conduct research on indexing languages, diving deep into the domain or indexing language that most interest you.
• Critique indexing languages from different perspectives, considering social, historical, and linguistic dimensions. 
• Become familiar with relevant literature and develop a focused literature review that tells a cohesive story.
• Participate in the process of an academic conference, including submitting your work, peer reviewing, revising early drafts, presenting and discussing your work, and publishing a final paper. 

TXTDS 503/ENGL 569 is a research community. This is your community for sharing ideas, writing about and discussing those ideas, giving feedback and suggestions, and supporting each other. It is important that this community be supportive and welcoming of everyone in the course. If we build a strong community together, you will get a lot more out of this course.

Name: Chris Holstrom
Preferred Name: Please just call me "Chris." If you want to be formal, call me "Dr. Holstrom."
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Email: cholstro@uw.edu
Office: Padelford A-19
Office Hours: Wed 12:00-2:00 and by appointment
Webpage: My English Department Profile Page

Communication is critical to your success in this course. I am here to help you! I want to hear what's important to you, when you need help, when you have a question, and when you want to discuss an idea. Just let me know. Don't wait until a small problem becomes a big one--communicate right away. For example, if you know ahead of time that you will need extra time for an assignment, let me know and we'll come up with a plan together.

Here are the main communication channels for this course, outside of class sessions and Canvas Discussion Boards:

• Office hours (Wed 12:00-2:00, and by appointment): You can use this time for anything that you need to discuss.
  
  
• Planning Meeting: We'll meet 1:1 to discuss your conference paper. That time is dedicated entirely to helping you. You can also ask other questions during conferences.
  
  
• Email (cholstro@uw.edu): Email is my preferred form of written communication. I will reply to email within 24 hours on weekdays. If for some reason I do not, please reply to your email thread with a message like: "Just putting this back at the top of your inbox."
  
  
• Canvas Announcements: I will use Canvas announcements to send updates to the whole class. It is your responsibility to monitor your UW email address and Canvas on a regular basis.

Readings: All required readings are available as PDFs and available in Canvas. See the Modules to find the readings that are due before each class session.

Laptop or Tablet: Bring a laptop (or at least a tablet) to each class session, so you can write, participate in activities, and access Canvas. 

The grading policy for the course is based on rewarding work that demonstrates active engagement with the concepts, theories, and ideas of the course. If you do the reading, engage in the discussions and activities, and complete the assignments in a thorough and conscientious manner, you'll achieve the learning objectives and earn a high grade. If you don't engage in the material and just try to sneak by, you won't. 

Important: If you don't understand something or need some extra help, just ask! I'm not here to trick you or to try to make you earn a lower grade if you don't understand something. I'm here to help you and to teach you, and that includes answering questions.

This class has three main types of assignments: 1) reading responses, 2) in-class activities, and 3) assignments related to the major output for the class: writing and presenting a conference paper. The reading responses are intended to get you engaged in the reading and give you a theoretical foundation for analyzing indexing languages as texts. The in-class activities are designed to give you hands-on experience with analyzing indexing languages as primary texts. The conference paper assignment sequence is designed to allow you to dive deep into the area that most interests you and to engage in the research, peer review, writing, and presenting work that scholars do in academia.

Grading criteria are listed in each assignment description. Assignment grades are weighted as follows:

• 24% Reading Responses: You'll submit responses in Hypothesis for each reading by 11:59 the night before class. Each reading response assignment is worth 1 point and is graded based on completion. There are 30 total reading responses, but only 24 responses will count toward your grade--your 6 lowest scores (or responses that you choose to skip) will be thrown out.
  
  
• 13% In-Class Activities: You'll work in class (in groups or solo) to analyze an indexing language or otherwise engage with an indexing language. Each in-class activity is worth 1 point and is graded based on completion. There are 15 total activities, but only 13 will count toward your grade--your 2 lowest scores (or responses that you choose to skip) will be thrown out.
  
  
• 63% Conference Paper and Presentation: You'll complete a series of assignments with a goal of writing and presenting a conference paper for our class's academic conference---Indexing Languages as Texts---at the end of the quarter. This assignment sequence includes an annotated bibliography and planning document, a first draft, a peer review, a presentation, a final draft, and a reflection assignment.

Your grade for the course overall is calculated based on the following mapping. You can view your calculated grade in Canvas.

Late Assignments: I am generally very accommodating of late assignments. Just make sure to let me know ahead of time if something will be late. I will work with you to set new deadlines and make sure that you don't fall too far behind. If you turn in assignments late without notifying me ahead of time, you might receive a  reduced grade in line with how late the assignment is and any mitigating factors.

Grade Changes: You may ask for clarification about or contest any assignment grade that you receive. Questions about grades must be submitted via email at least 24 hours after you receive the grade and no later than one week after you receive the grade.

There are no tests or quizzes in this class.

As with anything that you do, the more that you put into this course, the more you will get out of it. Your responsibility is not to understand everything that we discuss or read in class. Your responsibility is to put in the work to engage in the readings, assignments, and discussions and to ask questions to explore and understand as much as you can.

Here's how:

• Treat everyone in the class with respect and kindness to foster a welcoming and safe learning environment.
• Keep an open mind to others' perspectives and ideas.
• Respond thoughtfully in the reading responses and being ready to discuss your thoughts in class.
• Attend class regularly and being as mentally present as you can be.
• Engage in class activities and be thoughtful about how they inform your understanding of research methods an how to treat indexing languages as texts.
• Critique your classmates' work honestly, respectfully, and with the goal of helping them improve.
• Similarly, be open to critiques of your own work and treating them as opportunities to grow and improve.
• Let me know if you need extra help, extra time, or an extra explanation of a difficult concept. I'm here to help, but I can't do that if you don't let me know what you need.

If you do this work while treating yourself and the rest of the class with respect, you will do well.

You'll conduct extensive research in this class. Use UW Libraries to make your searches easier and to access journals, databases, and documents that require subscriptions.

You can access additional resources through the Services for Students page.

The University of Washington takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of your responsibility to the shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, just ask. I am willing to discuss any questions that you might have.

The type of academic misconduct that is most relevant to this course is plagiarism. Plagiarism can take multiple forms:

• Presenting someone else's work (or an AI's work) as your own. For example, buying an assignment online or from another student, using an article that you find online as your own, or asking ChatGPT to write your paper.
  
  
• Presenting part of someone's work as your own without properly quoting and citing. You can quote directly from other sources or summarize their ideas, but you must cite them properly and not present the ideas as your own. One goal of this class is to integrate sources into a publication-ready paper, so you want to ensure that your citations are in good order by the final draft.  

I am committed to engaging with anti-racist pedagogies. These pedagogies may take various forms, such as curricular attention to voices, communities, and perspectives that have been historically marginalized inside and beyond academic disciplines; inclusive classroom practices; discussions of racism; and consideration of other forms of prejudice and exclusion. I believe that countering the cultures and practices of racism in an academic institution is fundamental to developing a vibrant intellectual community. If you’re interested in how teachers of English as a professional community have taken up anti-racist work, check out the National Council of Teachers of English Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Teaching and Learning.

I am committed to engaging with and supporting religious students, including accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.