Applied Computing for History
Objectives
A) To know the main debates on digital history and digital humanities
B) Discuss the digital transformation in today's society and its impact on the historian's work
C) To be able to search, select, evaluate and analyze historical sources in digital format
D) Learn to use resources available on the Internet that are relevant from the historian's point of view
E) Explore relevant digital tools for the several stages of the historian's work
General characterization
Code
01101002
Credits
6.0
Responsible teacher
Daniel Ribeiro Alves
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - 168
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
None.
Bibliography
Alves, D. (2016). Humanidades Digitais e Investigação Histórica em Portugal: Perspectiva e discurso (1979-2015). Práticas da História. Journal on Theory, Historiography and Uses of the Past, 1(2), 89–116.
Alves, D. (2014). Introduction: Digital methods and tools for historical research. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 8(1), 1–12.
Blaney, J., Milligan, S., Steer, M., & Winters, J. (2021). Doing digital history: A beginner's guide to working with text as data. Manchester University Press.
Crymble, A. (2021). Technology and the Historian: Transformations in the Digital Age. University of Illinois Press.
Greengrass, M., & Hughes, L. (Orgs.). (2008). The Virtual Representation of the Past. Ashgate.
Salmi, H. (2020). What is Digital History?. Polity.
Schreibman, S., Siemens, R., & Unsworth, J. (Eds.). (2016). A New Companion to Digital Humanities. John Wiley & Sons.
Teaching method
Teaching of a theoretical/practical nature, framed, when necessary, by expositions and debates. Classes take place in classrooms equipped with computers and Internet access, with students encouraged to use their laptops and mobile communication devices. Learning will be based on readings and debates, on individual practical exercises and on the elaboration of a collaborative project work, under the guidance of the teacher.
Evaluation method
Attendance in practical classes - 10%
An individual paper of critical discussion on Digital Humanities or emerging technologies, taking into account their impact on the work of the historian - 25% (or 30% for student workers
A collaborative research project (groups of 3 people) - 65% (or 70% for student workers)
Subject matter
1. Introduction
1.1. The History of Digital History and Digital Humanities.
1.2. Digital transformation and the work of the historian.
1.3. Sources, open data and collaborative work in the Digital Age.
1.4. Artificial intelligence in knowledge production: potential, challenges and ethical issues.
2. The Internet and the historian
2.1. Search, selection and evaluation of digital content: archives, libraries, databases, repositories and digital infrastructures.
2.2. Data organization and management.
3. Historian's Tools in the Digital Age
3.1. Programming languages for historical data collection.
3.2. Methods and tools for analyzing and visualizing time and space.
3.3. Annotation of textual historical sources.
3.4. Platforms for creating and managing digital archives.