Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 11:12:17 -0600
From: Susan Hockey <Susan.Hockey@UAlberta.ca>
Subject: ALLC Session at ACHALLC97
All are invited to participate in this ALLC-sponsored
session at ACHALLC97.
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Humanities Computing in the Graduate Curriculum
Session sponsored by the
Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing
ACHALLC97, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Tuesday 3 June 1997
Stirling Hall Theatre D
Chair: Susan Hockey, University of Alberta
Speakers: Harold Short, Kings College, London
Espen Ore, Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities
Willard McCarty, Kings College, London
Geoffrey Rockwell, McMaster University
The session will include European and North American perspectives on
the development of graduate programmes in the humanities in which a
computing component has a significant role. A major Europe-wide project
will be described whose objectives are not only to gather information
about the current situation in European universities, but also to promote
collaborative curriculum development. Other panelists will describe
initiatives under way in individual British and North American
universities.
All the panelists will be emphasizing the issues that are shaping the
development of new graduate curricula rather than describing particular
programmes in detail. The main focus of the session is on general
discussion, in which members of the audience will be encouraged to
contribute their experience and concerns. Anyone whose home
institution has or is contemplating a graduate programme with a strong
computing component is urged to attend and participate.
Here are some issues which the session will address:
What should be the scope of an MA programme in humanities computing?
What should be taught? And how?
What would be the optimum format for an MA programme in humanities
computing? What would be the appropriate balance between course
work, project work and dissertation?
Should a graduate programme be closely allied with one discipline,
for example English? Or should it attempt to fit the needs of several
humanities disciplines?
How can project work be encouraged and also examined? What factors
are important in the assessment of a project?
What are the crucial topics and issues to be discussed in a graduate
programme in humanities computing? How can these be related to
"critical thinking" in humanities scholarship?
What institutional factors are important to encourage the development
of humanities computing in the graduate curriculum?
What would be the typical components of a PhD in humanities computing?
What kinds of thesis topics would be appropriate and how might they
be examined?
What would attract students to a graduate programme in humanities
computing?
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Susan Hockey, Professor, Department of English,
3-5 Humanities Centre, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E5, Canada
Phone: 403 492 1029
E-mail: Susan.Hockey@UAlberta.ca
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