Author: Margaret Smith (Page 2 of 3)

Data set review (due 3/19)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Sometimes we think of data as something that just exists, that we discover or access. But data sets are shaped by the people who create them, who structure them, and who use them. In order to produce visualizations and analysis that are accurate, critical, and transparent about data sources and bias, we have to evaluate our data sets.

Choose a data set from the list below and answer the following questions in about 300-400 words total. The first four questions are about the sources of the data. You can answer these relatively briefly. If you can’t find the answers to any of them, note that in your review. The last questions are about how we can or should use it, challenges with the data, and any perceptible biases in it. These will take more reflection and should accordingly make up the bulk of your review. Submit the review as a blog post on the class website by Wednesday, March 19 at 1:30, with the tag “Data review.”

Data set profile:

Who is credited as the creator and/or contributors of this data set? Who are they?
What are the sources of their data?
Why did they create or compile it?
How has it been used?
What format is the data set in?

Data set evaluation:

Take a look at the data itself. How have they structured it? What fields have they chosen? What effect might that have on how it can be used?
Read the creators’ description of the data set. Have they described the choices they made in cleaning the data, and if so, how? What effect might those choices have on the data?
Consider the creators’ identities and goals in creating the data set. How might those things have shaped the data, either intentionally or inadvertently?
What would you use this data for?

Data sets to choose from:

Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, STL Metro Statistical Area

Monthly and Seasonal Temperatures, St. Louis (since 1874)

Washington Park Cemetery North Reinterment Index

Tombstone Transcription Project (choose a local cemetery that’s been transcribed)

Illinois Landcover in the Early 1800s

If you have another data set you’d like to review instead, please check with me (the earlier, the better).

Problem statement (due 3/5)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Write a problem statement on your chosen research question (300-450 words). Your problem statement should include:

Observation, background, context: Here you might talk about what drew your attention to this topic, what struck you as interesting about it, and/or any important context for the topic.
Problem: What problem or question arises from your observation?
Frame: How are you approaching that problem? What’s your point of view?
Example sources: Provide citations for one primary source (something that is direct evidence for the question you’re asking) and one secondary source (something that uses direct evidence to make an argument) that relate to your research question.
Proposed technology: What tool or method do you intend to use in your project? This could be
- A storytelling tool that you’ll use to share your research about a topic (for instance, an interactive timeline, a storymap, or a website)
- A tool for data analysis and visualization that you’ll use to formulate an argument (for instance, text analysis, a distribution map, or charts and graphs)
- A tool, project, or organization that you want to interrogate, to understand its impacts on a local or regional community (for instance, a municipal data platform, a tech-related organization or nonprofit, or a large language model)

Post your problem statement to the course website as a blog post by the start of class, using the tag “Problem statement.”

Frederick Douglass speech annotations (due 2/26)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Read Frederick Douglass’s speech on the Dred Scott decision. As you read, highlight at least 5 things you think would need to be explained to someone reading this with no background knowledge. Your annotations can include (but aren’t limited to) unfamiliar names and places, historical events, or ideas and concepts.

Meet with Dr. Smith (2/24-28)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

During the week of February 24, meet with me to discuss ideas for your final project. This is a brief, 15 minute meeting where we can make sure your project is feasible, talk through what sources or data you might need, and discuss potential tools you could use.

Digitization and metadata (due 2/24)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Pick an item of significance to you. This should be something that you can bring to class on the 24th. Create some metadata for it, including a robust description that explains its significance to you and how it might speak to broader histories.

Metadata to include:

Title
Creator
Date
Format
Description

Add your metadata to a blog post, which (in total) should be at least 200 words. Add the tag “Digitization” before you publish. Don’t forget to bring the item with you

Article annotations (due 2/19)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

We’re reading a couple of articles this week that are a little more dense than usual. As you work through them, make sure to annotate them. Your annotations might include underlines and highlights, definitions of unfamiliar words, marginal notes about how the text relates to something you’ve read elsewhere, or sometimes even just stars and question marks. I recommend Zotero for this, but you can use whatever system (digital or on paper) that works for you.

When you read an academic article, you don’t have to grasp it all the first time through! Annotations are a good way to help parse complicated arguments and scaffold the text for the next time you read it.

You don’t need to submit your annotations, but you should come to class prepared to discuss the text. Be ready to talk about at least two or three observations or questions you have about the texts. If conversation lags about a reading, I might ask you to share one of your annotations.

AI fiction review (due 2/12)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Write a brief review of the AI fiction you chose to read or watch. Your review shouldn’t merely summarize the work — in fact, it should contain very little summary at all! Instead, your review should engage with the substance of the work. There are some guiding questions below, but feel free to incorporate other kinds of analysis as you see fit.

What assumptions does the creator make about the world, technology, and human beings?
What arguments is the creator making about the relationship between people and technology?
What is the vision of AI presented in the text? (Again, you’re analyzing rather than summarizing here! Don’t just say what the AI does, say what those actions mean for the abilities, nature, and ethical weight of the AI.)
How does this AI work draw on or inform other AI fictions we’ve encountered?

You’re encouraged to incorporate various kinds of media into your review. In the case of a movie or tv show, that might include GIFs or clips; but you can be as creative as you’d like here: memes, infographics, mind maps, audio, or anything else that helps you convey your ideas.

Your review should be a minimum of 300 words, posted to the class website as a blog post with the tag “AI fiction.”

Fiction options:

A Murder at the End of the World (tv show, currently on Hulu)
Robin Sloan, Sourdough (novel, available at Edwardsville Public Library in hardcover, audiobook, and ebook)
Mrs. Davis (tv show, currently on Peacock)
2001: A Space Odyssey + Interstellar (movies, 2001 on Tubi and Interstellar on Netflix)
The Imitation Game + WarGames (movies, both on Max)
Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (novel, available at Edwardsville Public Library in hardcover, audiobook, and ebook)
Artificial Intelligence + I, Robot (movies, Artificial Intelligence on Pluto and I, Robot on Hulu)
Karel Čapek, Rossum’s Universal Robots + Metropolis (1927) (play and movie, both freely available)
Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (novel, available at Edwardsville Public Library in hardcover, audiobook, and ebook)

History of computing timeline events (due 2/5)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Choose at least three events from the history of computing that you think constitute significant moments. You may use any source you like, so long as you cite it. Write a brief description (a couple sentences) for each event noting why you think it’s a milestone worth noting.

Add your events (one per line) to this spreadsheet.

If your event duplicates someone else’s event, that’s ok! But your description of it should be your own.

Assess the Cahokia VR app (due 2/3)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Read the article and watch the video about the Cahokia AR app: https://cahokiamounds.org/augmented-reality-project/. You do not need to buy the app!

Write a blog post applying what we’ve read and discussed about audience, accessibility, and representation to the Cahokia app. What does the app do well? For what audiences does it enhance access and accessibility? What groups does it exclude? Your blog post should be at least 200 words. Add the tag “Cahokia” before you publish.

Add to Zotero (due 1/27)

January 6, 2025 / Margaret Smith / 0 Comments

Find two resources that you think will be helpful for this course. They can be related to the topics you identified in your interest statement, or they can be general resources about digital humanities, technology, tech ethics, etc.

Add the two items to the class Zotero group. Your entries should include the essential metadata (or as much of it as possible) for the type of item.