Digital Humanities Results Report

To develop a syllabus that incorporates digital humanities theory and practice in the instruction of Seton Hall’s First Year Writing Courses, specifically through the theme of Race and Social Justice. The pilot courses will focus on teaching students to create and view their own “Language Landscapes” in the hopes of developing new and innovative ways to teach how language concerning social justice operates and evolves over time and through space. Language Landscapes will be visual representations of large changes, shifts or evolutions of language made possible by the powerful analytics tools that technology offers us. The courses will explore questions of digital literacy. They will allow students to consider themselves as digital citizens, asking that they visualize their source work to view a macro-context of their inquiry that will complement, not replace, close reading and traditional source use. Students will produce a portfolio of visual narrative projects concerning the language of oppression and social justice. The ultimate goal is for these projects to be collected and displayed in an online environment that will showcase multiple semesters worth of student generated digital humanities work. Through this project, I will continue developing innovative ways to teach race discourse in my courses. I will also gain insight into the larger questions and practice of digital humanities that I can share with my colleagues who can use the same techniques in their own courses, regardless of theme. I plan to use this opportunity to collect specific data and experience concerning how digital tools can change our instruction of the humanities