DIGITAL HUMANITIES 1: INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL HUMANITIES

The course is fundamental for those who wish to be introduced to the practical methodologies as well as to the theoretical aspects of the Digital Humanities, in order to get a basic understanding of the theory and practice of different on-going digital projects.
It allows the students to grasp the main theoretical debates, practices and processes of the digital humanities. The goal is to provide them with the necessary knowledge to approach this subject.
The course will be taught by Prof. Barbara Tramelli

1. Knowledge and understanding:
• Knowledge of the evolution of the digital and public humanities from the origins up to the present time.
• General knowledge of the relevant theoretical and intellectual debate.
• General knowledge of the main techniques and methodologies.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
• Ability to apply the methodologies of digital and public humanities to specific cases.

3. Judgement skills:
• Ability to critically analyse a digital or public humanities source, document, or project.
• Ability to develop critical thinking skills with reference to digital methodologies specifically for the cultural heritage.

4. Communication skills:
• Ability to interact with the peers and the professor and communicate the outcomes of the student’s work.

Knowledge of the English Language

The Introduction to Digital Humanities course will provide the students with an overview of the digital methods and practices applied in the humanities. It will offer a basic understanding of the what the Digital Humanities are (and are not) and some of the directions towards which they are developing. The course deals with the digital tools and methodologies which the humanistic disciplines (art history, textual scholarship, history and archaeology) are developing for the study and dissemination of their research results. Referring to different digital projects and scholarly resources students will be introduced to past and current debates on theoretical issues and implications of applying digital tools and methodologies in artistic, literary, historic and cultural heritage research.

During the course, we will see the role of Digital Humanities have in shaping new ways of knowing and doing research. We will analyze some of the problematic issues entailed with these developments, and we will enquire on the on-going process of developing research models in an international and interconnected context. We will look into the case of Digital Art History, which is still focused on the definition of its own research scope, while trying to legitimise the adoption of big data analysis for art historical knowledge (iconographic comparison, image matching, material analysis etc.) as well as establishing best practices in digital archiving systems specifically for the arts.

Course topics include: history of the Digital Humanities as a discipline, data models and standards; institutions and collaborations; data retrieval, visualisation and analysis; the Digital Humanities applied to the cultural heritage.

All the articles and other didactic materials will be made available through the Moodle e-learning platform

The assessment will be based on the following components:

1) Final oral exam
2) Participation to class discussions
3) Assignments and course activities

Attendance is strongly recommended

Classes and interaction between professors and students.
Attendance is strongly recommended.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion.
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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