7.0459 Humanities Computing Course (1/275)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 2 Feb 1994 18:44:46 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0459. Wednesday, 2 Feb 1994.

Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 17:57:48 GMT
From: DAN GREENSTEIN <DIGGER@dish.gla.ac.uk>
Subject: Comments requested on new hum.comp.course

Dear colleagues, 1 February 1994

I am writing to ask your help in launching a
new university undergraduate degree course in
humanities computing which is described below. At
Glasgow University, quality assessment procedures
demand that we consult as widely as possible within
both academic and non-academic communities before
new courses can be mounted.

To this end, we need to attract comment from
university teachers involved in related areas as
that covered in the proposed course, university
examiners used to reviewing and examining in courses
offered in related areas, employers used to hiring
undergraduates with arts backgrounds, recent
university graduates with a background in arts
disciplines.

If at all possible, would you take a moment to
read through the appended documentation where we
have set out our aims and objectives, and a brief
overview of the course content. Then send any
comments, criticisms, and the occasional glowing
testimonial to me. Our timescale is terribly tight
if we are going to launch the course beginning in
autumn, 1994 so I need as much feed back
as possible by Monday 7 February (but will certainly
take anything I can get thereafter). To facilitate
this, I am happy to print locally any comments you
care to send by e-mail (digger@dish.glasgow.ac.uk).

Thank you in advance for your assistance in
helping us to develop this relatively new and
important by bringing it into the undergraduate
degree program in our university.


Yours sincerely,


Daniel Greenstein
Department of Modern History
Glasgow University
G12 8QQ
Scotland

e-mail: digger@dish.gla.ac.uk
phone: (041) 339-8855 x6115
fax: (041) 330-5000



HUMANITIES COMPUTING: ISSUES AND APPLICATIONS

NEW COURSE FOR FIRST- AND SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS
AT GLASGOW UNIVERSITY


REQUEST FOR COMMENTS AND CRITICISM


The above course is being proposed at Glasgow
University for the 1994/95 academic session. Given
the course's interdisciplinarity, and its focus on a
relatively new area, it would be helpful to the
course
team to have your comments and criticisms. To this
end,
we have provided a brief synopsis of the course's
aims,
content, work, and method of assessment.

We are particularly interested in comments from:

anyone with experience in teaching, examining,
or
evaluating such courses;

members of relevant professional associations;

heads or members of humanities computing or
like
departments within universities or colleges;

university graduates with arts backgrounds or
majors who can reflect on the value of such a
course in light of their subsequent career
paths;

employers who hire university graduates with
backgrounds or majors in arts subjects.


I. DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED IN COURSE TEAM: Archaeology,
Archives, English Language, English Literature,
Glasgow
University Library, Hetherington [modern] Language
Centre, Hunterian Museum, Modern History, Music,
STELLA


II. AIMS OF THE PROPOSED COURSE:

to introduce students to those computing
concepts which will enable them to
comprehend
and evaluate rapid changes in information
technology;

to provide a basic understanding of
computer
applications frequently used in humanities
disciplines, and in libraries, museums and
archives;

to show how substantive problems arising
out
of humanities disciplines have been solved
through the application of computers, and
examine the impact that computers have had
on
the development of the disciplines
themselves;

to examine some of the broader social and
educational issues involved in the
revolution
in information technology;

to extend the computing skills acquired in
schools, basic IT or computing science
courses.


IV. COURSE CONTENT.

The course will run over three terms (25 weeks
-
10 weeks in the first term, 10 weeks in the second
and
five weeks in the third) and consist of lectures,
practical work in computer laboratories, and
seminars.
There will be two or three one-hour lectures per
week
depending on the subject being addressed. Lab work
in
the first term will provide basic familiarity with a
range of applications. In the second term, lab work
will provide students with more extensive experience
of
computer usage in one specific subject area (here
students will choose between modules offered in
archaeology, history, English, and modern languages,
and music). Seminars will provide a forum for
discussion of those issues arising out of the
lectures
and the lab work.


THE FIRST TERM (ten weeks), lectures will introduce
students to computing concepts and
application areas. Concurrent practical
work
in computer labs will consolidate basic
computing skills and extend them to
applications most widely used by
humanities
scholars.

THE SECOND TERM (ten weeks), lectures will focus on
the
application of computers in archaeology,
English, history, modern languages, and
music. The subject will be developed in
five
thematic lectures for each discipline
covering:

1) the origins of computing within the
discipline, early challenges and
subsequent developments;

2) computer tools and applications
currently used within the discipline;

3) strengths (where computer
applications
are particularly
successful/productive
within the discipline);

4) limitations (where computers
applications have been
unsuccessful/unproductive and cannot
readily be used within the
discipline);

5) future challenges and direction of
computational developments within the
discipline.


In addition to lectures, students will
choose
one lab-based module (from amongst
archaeology, history, English) where they
will conduct a computer-based project
within
a specific discipline.


THE THIRD TERM (five weeks) lectures will broaden
out
from the core humanities disciplines to
address wider themes including:

the future of information storage and
retrieval (the storage, delivery, and use
of
computers in libraries and museums);

the changing shape of humanities education
(the strengths and limitations of
computers
in teaching);

computers and society (how computers
change
the nature of work, home, and community
life);


V. WORK OF THE COURSE:

All items are required for successful completion of
the
course. Only those items marked with an asterisk
will
be counted in the assessment.

Term 1

* Lab-based exam testing familiarity
with
applications

Essay developing computing concepts
introduced in the first term

Term 2

* Computing project based in either
archaeology, history, English


Essay (c.1500 words) requiring students to
choose at least one application area (e.g.
databases, text-processing systems) and to
examine its use, strengths, and weaknesses
in
at least two humanities disciplines

Term 3

* Essay (c.1500 words) from topics
which
will require students to integrate
themes from several sections of the
course.


* Two-hour degree examination.