Syllabus: Introduction to Digital Humanities

Fall 2026: Classes meet M W F 2:30 – 3:20pm in Kochel 77

Read the Course Description

This contains a detailed explanation of course policies and the basis for grades.

This link jumps to the closest day to today's date. Review the schedule as we get started to get a sense of how this course will work on a daily basis.

Quick links to digital resources

Canvas: http://canvas.psu.edu To submit homework assignments and exams and read private course announcements
oXygen XML Editor: for coding of all kinds, used in multiple DIGIT courses for text archiving, analysis, and web projects
introDH-Hub: https://github.com/newtfire/introDH-Hub Class GitHub Repository and Issues Board
Wordpress (via PSU): Penn State resource for creating a website
BabyTimeMapper: Web-based tool redesigned by DIGIT major, Ashton Maloney, in 2026 for plotting and visualizing events in time and space based on spreadsheet data. BabyTimeMapper updates MIT’s original TimeMapper software.
Voyant Tools and Antconc Free concordance and indexing tools supporting distant reading analysis of texts.
Google Sheets: Web-based spreadsheet software designed for interactive sharing.
Kumu.io: Concept mapping and network tool
itch.io: Source of indie games, a selection of which will be made available for critique.
Course Home Website: https://newtfire.org/courses/introDH/ Home of our syllabus and schedule.

Week 1	Class topics	Do before class
M 08-24	Welcome! Introduction to the course, and what we do in Digital Humanities (DH). Preview some professional DH projects: Map of Early Modern London Frankenstein Variorum Accessible VAR for Virtual Blockson project) Livingstone’s 1871 Field Diary Student DH projects: Voynich TEI Anna Julia Cooper survey Locke Anthology project for music encoding Piper Baron's poetry/art Olivia Rodrigo Project Ephemeral vs sustainable technologies: NativeGone Project Look ahead: Introduce Digital Humanities Manifesto for next time, web annotations with Hypothes.is (for Day 2).	Investigating a manifesto about Digital Humanities Introduce Open Annotation and Hypothes.is Hypothes.is. Set up Hypothes.is accounts and join our private class Hypothes.is Group (invitation in Canvas) Launch first Annotation Assignment
W 08-26	Investigating a manifesto about Digital Humanities Introduce Open Annotation and Hypothes.is Hypothes.is. Set up Hypothes.is accounts and join our private class Hypothes.is Group (invitation in Canvas) Launch first Annotation Assignment	Read The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0 (originally posted at humanitiesblast.com) and check out who wrote it, when, and how..
F 08-28	Digging into the DH manifesto: contexts/commentary, ephemerality, and marks of time.	Set up Hypothes.is account and complete first annotation assignment. Re-read up close (text and image) and annotate with Hypothes.is (Detailed guidance posted on Canvas): The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0 Context/Metadata: ~2009.

Week 2	Class topics	Do before class
M 08-31	Livingstone Online, spectral imaging, and the Field Diaries. Short videos re LO, spectral imaging: PBS trailer for Secrets of the Dead: The Lost Diary of Dr. Livingstone The Play of Light: Multispectral and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (Dariah Teach) Cultural Heritage at Risk: Digital Preservation of/by/for Local Communities (RIT: MISHA project) Robust vs. brittle in digital heritage curation projects Introduce tagging for Hypothes.is annotations	Livingstone Online exploration assignment
W 09-02	Discussion of Warsame and this essay’s importance for Digital Humanities: Lived experience and historic significance. Introduce hand-drawn data visualization project	Read and annotate with tags: Khalid Warsame, This Vast Conspiracy of Memory Published in Spring 2019 Meanjin Quarterly
F 09-04	Art / data: data visceralization: Explore Mimi Onuoha’s art on structural forgetting Introduce hand-drawn data collection / visualization assignment	Annotation assignment on Mimi Onuoho's galleries

Week 3	Class topics	Do before class
M 09-07	Labor Day Holiday: No classes.	...
W 09-09	In-class exercise on Dear Data. Launch the longer-range assignment on personal data collection and visualization	Discussion Exercise (Canvas) Before class, take three screen captures of three hand-crafted/humanized data visualizations from anywhere on the Dear Data site (including video content) that particularly struck you. In your discussion post post the images and comment on what is being shown and why does it seem memorable?
F 09-11	Revisions / guidance / launch of class proposals for Dear Data Visualizations	*Proposal for Dear Data* assignment**

Week 4	Class topics	Do before class
M 09-14	Launching Dear Data: Approval / revision of proposals. Markup and data structures: the Electronic Verse Engineer Learning the code syntax of eXtensible Markup Language: elements and attributes. XML and HTML Introduction to the oXygen XML Editor: Look at markup data under the hood of a digital humanities project	If necessary, revise Dear Data proposal. Install oXygen XML Editor, prepare for markup and code orientation.
W 09-16	Encoding and markup of historic documents. Refining how you work with XML elements and attributes	Start recording/drawing: Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization XML Markup Exercise 1
F 09-18	XML: Markup of data and metadata structures Introduce Time Mapping with BabyTimeMapper	XML Markup Exercise 2: emphasis on meaningful nesting elements and systematic use of attributes

Week 5	Class topics	Do before class
M 09-21	Accessing software from a GitHub Repo: BabyTimeMapper: Forking and cloning Orientation to git, GitHub/Codeberg, and version control	Annotate readings: Intro to Git and Version Control Systems Propose topic for Time Mapping project
W 09-23	Orientation to Command Line, Git, and your local computer file directory system How to find a good directory (folder) to work with git repositories on your local computer: Should be easy for you to navigate to in your shell (with `cd`, `ls`) Should not be actively syncing (to OneDrive, Google, iCloud, etc) Forking and cloning a repo (BabyTimeMapper) Demonstration: Pushing and pulling files.	Complete Dear Data: Your Week of Visualization Short git + GitHub / Codeberg setup assignments: (details in Canvas) Expose file extensions setting on your computer GitHub / Codeberg account setup; find/join class GitHub / Codeberg organization Fork the BabyTimeMapper repository to your own repository space
F 09-25		Local computer setup to work with BabyTimeMapper (instructions on Canvas) Establish a location on your local computer to work with your git repositories: This needs to be easy to navigate to from your shell. Use git commands / Git Bash shell to clone your fork of the BabyTimeMapper to a your local computer Install Node.js on your computer Install the BabyTimemapper's Node libraries BabyTimeMapper: Configure your repository fork to publish a website on GitHub/Codeberg Pages

Week 6	Class topics	Do before class
M 09-28	BabyTimeMapper orientation: How to enter valid data in XML (view the attached schema validation rules) Node and npm commands to build the Timemapper visualization on localhost Pushing your files back to your own fork on GitHub/Codeberg	...
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Week 12	Class topics	Do before class
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Week 13	Class topics	Do before class
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Week 14	Class topics	Do before class
Sun 11-22 – Sat 11-28	Thanksgiving Holiday	Have a peaceful and productive week!

Week 15	Class topics	Do before class
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Week 16	Class topics	Do before class
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Finals Week	Due
T 12-15	Final assignment: Game Analysis Project due by 11:59pm

DIGIT 100: Introduction to the Digital Humanities

Read the Course Description

Quick links to digital resources

M 08-24

W 08-26

F 08-28

M 08-31

W 09-02

F 09-04

M 09-07

W 09-09

F 09-11

M 09-14

W 09-16

F 09-18

M 09-21

W 09-23

F 09-25

M 09-28

W 09-30

F 10-02

M 10-05

W 10-07

F 10-09

M 10-12

W 10-14

F 10-16

M 10-19

W 10-21

F 10-23

M 10-26

W 10-28

F 10-30

M 11-02

W 11-04

F 11-06

M 11-09

W 11-11

F 11-13

M 11-16

W 11-18

F 11-20

Sun 11-22 – Sat 11-28

M 11-30

W 12-02

F 12-04

M 12-07

W 12-09

F 12-11

T 12-15