2.+5485+Syllabus

HIST 5485: Digital History and New Media[[image:http://shanemcauliffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Digital-History-Cloud.jpg width="560" height="346" align="right"]]
Spring Semester 2011 University of West Georgia

Professor Contact Information
Dr. Keith S. Hebert khebert@westga.edu TLC 3245/ Pafford Hall 207

Course Objectives and Description
This course will introduce students to free or inexpensive Web 2.0 applications to build a more engaging web presence and help students identify, understand, and adopt tools that can be adapted by small cultural heritage organizations who often lack a "web presence" due to a lack of funding and staff expertise. Students will learn how to use these tools and how to apply them effectively in the development of humanities web projects. The course will combine the development of technical skills with an understanding of the guiding principles of historical research. Students working in groups will plan, research, implement, and present a digital humanities project designed to supplement select Georgia K-12 Performance Standards. Each group project will become part of the Digital Georgia History website currently being developed by the University of West Georgia's Center for Public History.

Course Outcomes

 * Understand research skills required for conducting research in the digital age;
 * Understand how to write the results of historical research for a general audience;
 * Develop collaborative writing skills;
 * Understand digital project planning;
 * Understand the basics of HTML and CSS;
 * Understand the basics of Omeka.net; Wordpress; Wikispaces;
 * Understand how to incorporate audiovisual and mapping elements into digital humanities sites;
 * Understand how to select, edit, and digitize textual primary source documents;
 * Understand metadata standards, the Dublin Core, and tagging;
 * Collaborate with a group of students to build a digital archive around the Georgia 8th Grade Social Studies Performance Standards;
 * Create a digital exhibit that supplements the Thomas B. Murphy exhibit AND align that exhibit with the GA 8th Grade standards;
 * Develop project leadership and management skills;(Graduate Specific)
 * Develop presentation skills; (Graduate Specific)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Develop course discussion leadership skills. (Graduate Specific)

Required Textbooks/ Readings
toc <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">1. Johnny Ryan, A History of the Internet and the Digital Future. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">2. David Staley, Computers, Visualizations, and History: How New Technology will Transform our Understanding of the Past. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">3. David M. Levy, Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">4. Jessica Litman, Digital Copyright. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5. Joan Schwartz and James Ryan, Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical Imagination. **(Graduate Students Only)** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">6. Christine Borgman, Scholarship in the Digital Age. **(Graduate Students Only)** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">7. National Council for Public History, [|Public Humanities Toolbox__] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">8. G[|eorgia 8th Grade Georgia Studies Performance Standards]

Students with Disabilities
Any student with a disability that might impair their performance in the course must consult with the course professor as soon as possible to arrange possible accomodations. Paperwork from the university is required for all accomodations.

Academic Honesty
All work completed in this course must be a student's original work. Students are responsible for understanding the University of West Georgia Department of History's definitions of plagiarism and academic honesty. Any work completed in this course that violates these expectations will receive a failing grade for both the assignment and the course.

Grading
A=90-100 (Exceptional Quality Work) B=80-89 (Above Average Work) C=70-79 (Average Work) D=60-69 (Below Average) F=0-59 (Needs Significant Improvement)

Assessments

 * 1) Weekly Assignments
 * 2) (Group Project) Digital Museum Exhibit
 * 3) Class Discussion/ Lab Demonstration Lead
 * 4) Midterm Research Paper
 * 5) Book Reviews
 * 6) Final Exam Class Presentation

Group Project

 * 1) Research Team
 * 2) Education Team
 * 3) Design & Layout Team
 * 4) Label Copy Team
 * 5) Promotion & Outreach Team

January 5--Introductions

 * //We will discuss the course goals, assignments, and the use of the Wikispaces site and other software that will be used in the course, and have an introduction to the history of Thomas B. Murphy.//
 * LAB: Using Wikispaces and Omeka.net

January 12--What is digital history?

 * Assigned Readings:
 * Johnny Ryan, //A History of the Internet and the Digital Future//
 * Guest Speaker: Catherine Hendricks, Ingram Library, University of West Georgia
 * LAB: Thomas B. Murphy Georgia Public Broadcasting documentary

January 19--Historical Research in a Digital Age

 * Assigned Readings:
 * [|"Getting Started"]
 * [|"Becoming Digital"]

January 26--Writing History for the Web

 * Assigned Readings:

February 2--Digitization and Copyright

 * Assigned Readings:

February 9--Metadata and Tagging

 * Assigned Readings:

February 16--Time and Place on the Web

 * Assigned Readings:

February 23--Building Exhibits

 * Assigned Readings:

March 2--Building Web Sites and Audiences

 * Assigned Readings:

March 9--SPRING BREAK

March 16--Information Overload

 * Assigned Readings:

March 23-- Label Copy and Captions

 * Assigned Readings:

March 30--Group Work
 * Assigned Readings:

April 6--Class Canceled

 * I will be presenting a paper at the National Council for Public History meeting in Pensacola, Florida. Class will not meet this week. Students are strongly encouraged to continue working on their group projects.
 * Assigned Readings:

April 13--Group Work
 * Assigned Readings:

April 20--LAST DAY OF CLASS

 * Presentations (Part One)

Final Exam Period--
 * Presentations (Part Two)