Final Project

During the first half of the semester, we have experimented with a variety of digital humanities methodologies and tools. For the entire second half of the semester, you’ll have the opportunity to work on another novel from the same period as Herland. Whereas during the first half of the semester, I’ve chosen tools for us to give you the opportunity to screw around and learn about different kinds of DH methods, now your will build upon this foundation, research additional tools, and build a project that combines the best content and methods to meet your own scholarly goals.

In a final project like this, negotiation between students and professor will be essential. Unlike in the case of a paper, where I can specify number of pages, number of sources, etc. each of these projects will be distinctive. They may require different kinds of writing, data curation of varying difficulties, and acquiring new skills. In order to accomodate these differences, and to give you as much freedom to explore as I can, instead of specific project requirements, I’ve provided the opportunity for several checkpoints wherein you present your developing work for feedback from myself and your classmates so that you have the opportunity to retool as needed to meet the standards necessary for the grade you’ve chosen in the learning contract.

Step 1: Brainstorming March 18-20

The goal of this week in class is to establish an effective team, brainstorm about the kinds of projects that might interest you, choose your text or texts, and make a reading schedule. Note that collaboration is one of the outcomes on the learning contract, so if you haven’t demonstrated this outcome yet, it would be wise to work with others for the final project.

By the end of class on the 20th, show me: your reading plan (should be on track to present on the novel by April 3), your group members.

Step 2:  Novel Presentations, April 3

On this day, your group will give a 5-7 minute presentation that gives a synopsis of the novel and explains what themes, ideas, and theories might be useful for understanding it further. You should also consider what aspects of the digitial humanities might be useful in exploring the text, and whether you might be interested in pairing the novel with other texts or using it on its own.

On the blog, someone in your group should submit a list of at least ten sources that your plan to explore in preparation for your project proposal (5 related to the novel itself and 5 related to DH tools and methods), with group assignments for each.

Step 3: Proposal Presentations, April 10

On this day, your group will present a 5-7 minute proposal for the final project itself. You should cover your research and address what methods you want to use to explore the novel digitally and why. Explain what you still need to investigate, what your work plan is for the coming two weeks, and how you will break up the required tasks. Have one team member share your slides on the blog too.

Your proposal should address the following topics:

  1. Question(s) driving the project
    1. What hypotheses or underlying questions are driving the project?
    2. What do you hope to discover for yourself and/or visualize for others?
    3. What, based on your research, helped you arrive at these specific questions?
  2.  Scope
    1. What text or texts will the project cover and how much of each text?
    2. What additional research and/or data will you need to cover.
    3. How will you define limits? Why will you define limits this way?
  3. Methodology
    1. What digital/analog methods will you use to answer your question(s)?
    2. Why are these the best methods for your project?
    3. What other methods did you consider?
    4. What, based on your research, helped you arrive at these specific methods?
  4. Tools
    1. What digital/analog tools will you use to complete the project?
    2. Why are these the best tools?
    3. What other tools did you consider?
    4. What, based on your research, helped you arrive at these specific tools?
  5. Design
    1. What questions of design will be important to consider in your project?
    2. How will your tools/methods limit and/or provide the best platform for designing your project?
  6. Workplan
    1. Demonstrate how you’ve divided the workload of the project in time and between team members.
    2. Make sure to include time for testing and versioning. Take future projects dates into account.

Step 4: Rough Draft and Peer Review, April 22

Have a rough draft of the project available for your classmates to assess.

Step 5: Finished Product and Presentations, Final Exam Period, Wednesday, May 8

You will give a ten-twelve minute presentation of the final project. You should explore both the process and the completed design. Be prepared to discuss what you are happy with and what you would do differently.

Sample Final Projects