Digital humanities

Maintained by: David J. Birnbaum (djbpitt@gmail.com) Last modified: 2026-02-07T17:14:04+0000

Syllabus: Spring 2012 (2124)

Getting started

Download and install the following software on your home computer:
- All users: <oXygen/>. The University has purchased a site license for this software, which is installed in all CSSD labs. The license also permits students enrolled in the course to install the software on their home computers (for course-related use only). The license key is available in the Announcements section of Courseweb.
- Windows users: SSH Secure Shell Client 3.2.9 (free)
- Mac users: Fetch (students may obtain free licenses at http://fetchsoftworks.com/fetch/free)
- Linux users: Nothing; all necessary tools are preinstalled
During the first week of the semester, meet with the instructor to configure an individual user account on Obdurodon

Date	XML	Digital humanities	Homework due next time
Wed 01-04	Introduction to XML: hierarchy, well-formedness, elements and attributes The <oXygen/> XML editor and IDE	What is Digital humanities?	If you haven’t done so already, take care of the items in the Getting started list at the top of the page Read An even gentler introduction to XML Copy the text of one letter by either Oscar Wilde or Anton Chekhov and mark it up in XML using <oXygen/>, employing whatever markup you consider appropriate
Fri 01-06	Types of markup: descriptive, procedural, presentational	Sample projects: Karolina Pavlova Exploring speech in Russian fairy tales	One-page response paper to Pavlova or Fairy tales discussing the site’s 1) utility as a tool for exploring the text, 2) identification and treatment of specific research questions, and 3) effectiveness of overall user experience (design, interface, interaction, etc.) Mark up a text of your choice (any genre; manageable but reasonable size; foreign languages welcome)
Mon 01-09	Document analysis: Kubla Khan	Sample projects: Paul the Simple My immortal	Mark up a different text of your choice (any genre; manageable but reasonable size; foreign languages welcome) Response paper to Paul or My immortal Think about your own project (text, approach, research question, teams)
Wed 01-11	Test #1 (XML, markup) Markup strategies for different types of text	Sample projects: Perseus project Melville’s marginalia	Read HTML basics Response paper to Perseus or Melville Post to Obdurodon drupal blog site: One page tentative/exploratory project proposal: text, approach, research question, participants. All projects must be by teams of two or three persons, but this initial, exploratory proposal is an individual assignment
Fri 01-13	Schema language overview Relax NG	Sample projects: The heart of Rachel The Blake archive	Read Introduction to Relax NG Relax NG exercise Create and upload your first HTML web page (any content) to Obdurodon Standing assignment beginning today: Each project team must post at least one project update per week to the Obdurodon blog site (at least one posting per team, not per person, although more are welcome) Each person must post at least one thoughtful response per week to another team’s weekly blog posting (comment, question, observation, suggestion, etc.)
Mon 01-16	No class: Martin Luther King observance
Wed 01-18	Relax NG	Sample projects: The Rossetti archive The Shakespeare quartos archive	Choose a small text, perform document analysis, write a schema, and mark up the text according to the schema Response paper to Rachel or Blake or Rossetti or Shakespeare
Fri 01-20	Relax NG lab session with calvino.xml	Text analysis and data mining (Mining the dispatch)	Choose a small text of a different type or genre than last time, perform document analysis, write a schema, and mark up the text according to the schema Read Poetry, patterns, and provocation: the nora project or In praise of pattern and submit a one-page response paper Group consultations about projects (cancelled) Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on the choice of text) (cancelled)
Mon 01-23	Test #2 (Relax NG) The Web, part 1: HTML, XHTML, HTML5, CSS, Unicode	Digital humanities associations	Read Introduction to cascading stylesheets (CSS) Design and attach CSS to one of your XML documents from earlier assignments Group consultations about projects (cancelled)
Wed 01-25	The Web, part 2: SSI, JavaScript, PHP, database servers	Digital humanities conferences	Design and attach CSS to a different one of your XML documents from earlier assignments; the CSS should differ in meaningful ways from the previous CSS assignment Group consultations about projects (cancelled)
Fri 01-27	Digitization Discuss projects	The Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)	Read one chapter from the text body of the TEI guidelines (except Chapter 2, TEI header, which is assigned separately later) and submit a one-page response paper Read What can XPath do for me? Form project teams; first weekly blog posting (project team; focus on the big picture, from start to finish)
Mon 01-30	XPath: overview, paths, axes (activity) Namespaces	Human factors and interface design	XPath assignment #1 Review one Stanford project (bottom half of the page) from a UX perspective and submit a one-page response paper
Wed 02-01	XPath: predicates	Human factors and interface design	XPath assignment #2 Read one chapter from Designing web interfaces: Principles and patterns for rich interactions (available on-line through the Pitt library) and submit a one-page “response paper.” (If appropriate, see the note about accessing articles, electronic books, and electronic journals from off campus.)
Fri 02-03	XPath: predicates and functions	Critical editions	XPath assignment #3 Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on the research question)
Mon 02-06	XPath: predicates and functions	The XML family of standards	XPath assignment #4
Wed 02-08	XSLT and XPath overview		Read XSLT basics XSLT assignment #1
Fri 02-10	Test #3 (XPath) (postponed until Mon, 02-13) XSLT templates XPaths and XPath patterns	The digital workstation	XSLT assignment #2 Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on document analysis and schema design)
Mon 02-13	Test #3 (XPath) XSLT program structure and design XSLT push and pull		Read Modal XSLT XSLT assignment #3
Wed 02-15	XSLT		Read Attribute value templates XSLT assignment #4
Fri 02-17	XSLT	Metadata	XSLT assignment #5 Read the “TEI header” section (Chapter 2) of TEI P5 and submit a one-page “response paper” Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on transformation and views of your documents)
Mon 02-20	Test #4 (XSLT) XSLT	Metadata	Read Transforming XML with XSLT XSLT assignment #6
Wed 02-22	Regular expressions (regex)	Multipurposing	Read about `<xsl:analyze-string>` and the XPath `tokenize` function in Michael Kay Read regex mini-tutorial at http://www.regular-expressions.info/quickstart.html Read Using `<xsl:analyze-string>` Regex assignment #1
Fri 02-24	Regular expressions	Text analysis and data mining	Regex assignment #2 Read Schematron tutorial Weekly blog posting (project team)
Mon 02-27	Test #5 (regex) (moved to Wed, 02-29) Schematron		Schematron assignment #1
Wed 02-29	Test #5 (regex) Schematron		Schematron assignment #2 Read Getting started with XQuery
Fri 03-02	XQuery and databases	Sample project: Print media usage of marked features in Serbian and Croatian	Read XQuery tutorial at http://www.stylusstudio.com/xquery_primer.html XQuery exercise (cancelled) Weekly blog posting (project team)
Mon 03-05 through Fri 03-09: Spring recess
Mon 03-12	Test #6 (Schematron) Comparing XQuery and XSLT	Sample project: Comparing Blake’s Innocence and Experience	Read XQuery tutorial at http://www.stylusstudio.com/xquery_flwor.html XQuery assignment #1
Wed 03-14	XQuery		Read Using HTML forms with eXist XQuery assignment #2
Fri 03-16	XQuery The eXist XML database	Multimedia	Configure eXist to work with your project (sandbox) (cancelled) Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on XQuery) About this site page must be up for projects
Mon 03-19	Test #7 (XQuery) Adding your project to eXist	Images	Read tutorial on stylometrics and submit a one-page response paper (NB It’s available on line for Pitt users; if you’re coming in from outside the Pitt network (that is, from off campus), you need to connect first to https://sremote.pitt.edu/ and prove that you’re a Pitt user. There will be a connection from there to the library, which you can use to navigate to the article on jstor.) Configure eXist to work with your project (HTML form) (cancelled)
Wed 03-21	The R statistical package	Stylometrics	XQuery exercise Read R for digital humanities
Fri 03-23	Social network analysis	Sample project: A visual explorer for the language of Greek tragedy	Read w3schools SVG tutorial Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on potential uses of R and social network analysis)
Mon 03-26	SVG	Visualization	SVG assignment #1
Wed 03-28	SVG	Sample project: The sonneteer	SVG exercise
Fri 03-30	SVG		Weekly blog posting (project team); focus on SVG
Mon 04-02	Test #8 (SVG) SVG		SVG exercise Read JavaScript tutorial
Wed 04-04	JavaScript and DHTML		JavaScript exercise
Fri 04-06	JavaScript and DHTML		JavaScript exercise Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on JavaScript and DHTML)
Mon 04-09	JavaScript and DHTML		JavaScript exercise
Wed 04-11	Project presentations and discussion		Project development Submit one-page “response paper” on a project presented today
Fri 04-13	GIS coding and the Google maps API	GIS	GIS exercise Project development Weekly blog posting (project team; focus on GIS [if applicable])
Mon 04-16	Project presentations and discussion		Project development Submit one-page response paper on a project presented today
Wed 04-18	Project presentations and discussion		Project development Submit one-page response paper on a project presented today
Fri 04-20	Project presentations and discussion		Project development Submit one-page response paper on a project presented today Weekly blog posting (project team; taking stock, both within course time constraints and potential future enhancements)
TBA	There is no final examination, but projects must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on the date assigned by the Registrar for the final examination. Examinations have not yet been scheduled; we will add this date to the syllabus when it becomes available.