This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence and will particularly introduce students to digital methods of historical inquiry. With a special focus on U.S. history in a local and global context, students will create and study existing digital projects to see how history and the digital humanities intersect. Course topics will include: archives, digital storytelling, mapping, virtual reality, working with humanistic data, computational analysis of text, and more. No prior technical skills are necessary.
Along the way, we will think a lot about how to do good history. What makes a good historical question? How can we use digital tools to analyze primary and secondary sources to help us answer historical questions? How do digital technologies change or help the communication of historical narratives and interpretations?
We will develop skills in reading, writing, and speaking—as well as some level of skill in various digital platforms and data methods. We will also think critically about data and data analysis, ethics, and applications. All this, while also learning to be better historians.
