The 'Paragon of Animals' in a World of Computers: An Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry in the Digital Age Syllabus

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1 MWF Time Place The 'Paragon of Animals' in a World of Computers: An Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry in the Digital Age Syllabus Instructor: Ted Dawson Office: Office Hours: Course Description Humanists have long brought insights from centuries-long traditions of thinking to the analysis of contemporary phenomena. Famous examples include Walter Benjamin's early 20 th century Marxist analyses of film and photography, Friedrich Schleiermacher's revolutionary application of biblical hermeneutics to contemporary 18 th and 19 th century literature, and of course Aristotle's application of older Greek philosophy to contemporary Athenian theater. In the 21 st century, many of the objects of the humanistic engagement with the contemporary are digital music produced with computers, video games seen as aesthetic phenomena, and the epistemology of the internet, to name a few examples we will encounter in this course. At the same time, humanists have, since the 1970s, begun using computer programs and tools to analyze these phenomena, as well as phenomena of older historical periods. In this course, you will be introduced to basic methods of humanistic inquiry through discussions of contemporary technological phenomena and to the uses of these technologies in contemporary humanistic inquiry. At the end of the course, you will have an appreciation for the tradition of critical thought, a familiarity with Audacity and Gephi, two common digital tools used by humanists, and a basic understanding of the Python programming language, a widely used language across the university. Assignments and Expectations This course has two tracks, one for 'thinkers' and one for 'tinkerers'. All students complete the core readings and the basic Python assignments. 'Thinkers' will additionally read the supplemental readings and prepare reflections and presentations on them, preparing critical analyses for the end of semester Digital Humanities Forum, while 'tinkerers' will complete the coding challenges and prepare technical demonstrations for the end of semester Forum. Students with a strong interest in pursuing work in the digital humanities should meet with the instructor to discuss possibilities for completing both tracks. (1) Weekly Readings + Reflections // For each week's readings, students answer three questions in words each. (2) Weekly Tech Tutorials /* Every Wednesday, a tutorial will become available on the online toolbox, introducing either a new technical tool or a specific aspect of Python. These tutorials must be completed before class on. */ (3) Midterm Essay /* All students write a midterm essay of 5 7 pages. To be submitted as plain text marked up using Markdown */ (4) Final Essay / Portfolio /* Depending on track, students will either write a final essay of pages or prepare a portfolio of Python scripts, MP3s, and Visualizations */ (5) Presentation /* Students prepare a final presentation of minutes appropriate to their track, for sharing with a wider University audience at the Digital Humanities Forum */

2 2 Evaluation Daily Participation 30% Reading Reflections 15% Tech Tutorials 15% Midterm Essay 10% Final Essay / Final Portfolio 15% Presentation 15% Digital Humanities Forum In the final week of the semester, students will organize a forum, open to the entire university community. Here, they will present their research and tools for the benefit of the entire DH crowd at the university. The organizational work and roughly 2/3 of the presentations will be done by students in this course, with other students and faculty contributing the remaining presentations. Core Readings (1) Shakespeare. Hamlet (2) Heiner Müller. Hamletmachine (3) Jorge Luis Borges. Fictions (4) Course Reader / Contains Excerpts Of: (i) Ovid. Metamorphoses (Narcissus and Echo) (ii) Umberto Eco. The Name of the Rose (iii) Michel Foucault. The Order of Things (iv) Paul Gilroy. The Black Atlantic (v) Sherry Turkle. Alone Together (vi) Nicolas Carr. Is Google Making us Stupid? (vii) Benjamin. Arcades Project (viii) Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno. The Dialectic of Enlightenment (ix) Deborah Cameron. Is There Any Ketchup, Vera? (x) Roland Barthes. Mythologies (xi) George Orwell (5) Other Media/Formats (Available Online): (i) Amalia Ulman. Excellences and Perfections (ii) Stephen Ramsay. On Building (iii) Mozart. Symphony 40 (iv) Beethoven. Symphony 5 (v) BeeGees (vi) Public Enemy. It Takes A Nation [...] (vii) Nas. Illmatic (viii) Pong (ix) The Legend of Zelda (x) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (xi) CampKillCommentary #10: Is Reality Real? Supplemental Readings (Selections available on Coursesite) (1) Chad Wellmon. Organizing Enlightenment (2) Lutz Koepnick. On Slowness (3) Friedrich Kittler. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter (4) Alexander Galloway. Gaming (5) E.T.A. Hoffmann. Review of Beethoven's 5 th Symphony 2

3 (6) Johan Huizinga. Homo Ludens (7) Robert Fink. Repeating Ourselves (8) Theodor Adorno. Beethoven (9) Stephen Ramsay. Reading Machines Academic Integrity The University's understanding and expectations in regard to issues of academic honesty are fully articulated in the Honor Code. It is expected that all students have read, understand and agree to abide by the Honor Code. Any violation will result in the assignment of a failing grade ( F ) in the course, and the filing of a full and documented report. Acceptance and Respect All students are welcome in my class and will be treated with acceptance and respect by everyone. Jokes or inappropriate comments about race, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, and/or identity will not be tolerated. Class discussions will also be conducted with respect for all ideas and questions. If you ever feel uncomfortable in class, or feel that another student has been disrespectful to you or someone else, please meet with me as soon as possible. Weekly Plan Date In Class Homework Week 0. Introduction: Between Beast and Calculator Monday Wednesday Course Introduction Between Beast and Calculator Technical Introduction: Using the CLI, Python Hello, world! Tutorial 0: Setting up Python on the Command Line PART I. THE SELFIE FROM NARZISSUS TO NOW Week 1 Monday Let's talk about ME Be prepared to talk about yourself with one selfie as visual aid Wednesday Ovid and Ulman Read: Ovid Read/View: Ulman Python: A Program about ME Tutorial 1: Input/Output, Variables, Functions Week 2 Monday 3 Hamlet I: or, Do We Really Have to Read this Again? Read: Hamlet Acts I, II

4 4 Date In Class Homework Wednesday Hamlet II: Western Subjectivity and mise en abyme Python: ME 2.0 Turing Complete and Endless! Week 3 Read: Hamlet Act III View: Dürer, Velazquez Tutorial 2: Branching and Recursion Monday Hamlet III Read: Hamlet Acts IV, V Wednesday Hamlet in the 20 th Century Read: Müller Python: The Hamletmachine in the 21 st Century? Tutorial 3: Branching and Recursion part 2 PART II. PROJECTS OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE Week 4 Monday The Encyclopedia at 300 Read: Diderot/D'Alambert, Carr Wednesday The Library Read: Borges Python: Universal Coding? Exploring Modules on GitHub Week 5 Tutorial 4: HTML in 5 Minutes and Modularity Monday The other side of universal Read: Horkheimer and Adorno knowledge? Wednesday An End to Universal? Read: Grimm, Herder Python: A Web Directory of Our Class Knowledge Week 6 Tutorial 5: Urllib, Reading and Writing to Files Monday The University: What are We Doing Read: Foucault Here? Wednesday Conflagration Read: Echo Gephi: Visualizing our Knowledge MIDTERM DUE! PART III. GENIUS AND PLAGIARISM Week 7 4

5 Date In Class Homework Monday Sonata-Allegro Form and the Listen: Mozart, Beethoven Original Original Genius Wednesday The Aesthetics of Recirculation Listen: Bee Gees, Bambaataa, Chic, Sugar Hill Gang Audacity: Making a Beat Tutorial 6: Audacity Week 8 Monday Original Copies? Listen: Public Enemy, Nas View: Warhol Wednesday Read: Benjamin, Arcades Audacity + Python: Systematic Sound Editing Week 9 Tutorial 7: APIs Monday Pong + Ping Play: Pong Wednesday World Explorations Play: Zelda Python: Building a Game Tutorial 8: Data Structures and Design Week 10 Monday Gaming and Simulation Play: Modern Warfare III (OPTIONAL) Read: Benjamin, Flaneur Wednesday The Return of Mise en Abyme? View: CampKill Commentary Python: Building a Game part 2 Tutorial 9: Data Structures and Design 2 PART IV. WHAT IS LANGUAGE? Week 11 Monday Language as Divine and Universal Read: Rousseau, Herder Wednesday Language as Human and Universal Read: Saussure Python and Natural Language Tutorial 10: Natural Language Tool Kit Week 12 5

6 6 Date In Class Homework Monday Language as an Instrument of Power Read: Cameron, Barthes Wednesday Language Power in the Digital Age Read: Orwell Python and Natural Language 2 Tutorial 11: NLTK Part 2 Week 13 Monday Computers and Language None Wednesday Prove You're Human! None Beast and Calculator Revisited FINAL PAPER/PORTFOLIO DUE! Week 14 Monday DIGITAL HUMANITIES FORUM 1 Wednesday DIGITAL HUMANITIES FORUM 2 DIGITAL HUMANITIES FORUM 3 6