IS583 an experiential course that moves between discussion of readings and applied lab sessions week-to-week. A central goal of the class will be to bring its two facets into conversation: to use our readings and discussions to contextualize our applied work in laboratories, and to use our applied work in laboratories to enrich our understanding of concepts from our readings. Taken together, our discussions and labs will give students a sense of both the theory and praxis of DH.

If you look at the schedule, you will see our weeks divided into six units, each with one Discussion and one Lab session. For each lab section, you will complete a Lab Report.

Assignment Overview

  • (roughly) Bi-weekly
  • Students work individually
  • Students complete lab activity and submit 500-1000 word report
  • Due within 2 weeks of the lab session

Assignment Details

Your lab report entries will vary a bit from lab to lab, depending on which technology we are exploring in the pertinent week, and there will be specific instructions for each. You will be required to complete the lab activity, if it was not completed during class, and to write up your results with reference to the unit readings. I would expect lab reports to be at least 500 but no more than 1,000 words, as an absolute maximum.

In each lab report entry, I will expect to find an account of what you did: that is, a brief description of the lab activities completed and any outcomes (code, a visualization, etc.). For coding labs, you will likely integrate code snippets directly into your prose (more on this as those labs approach), while for other labs you may instead reference external proof of your work, such as screenshots. Next, I would expect some prose that reflect on the process: what thoughts did doing the lab activity prompt about the medium and/or technologies we used? What insights or questions occurred as you worked? Did the activity remind you of other labs in this class, or other experiences beyond the course?

I will also expect prose that reflects analytically on the work of the lab, putting it into conversation with one or two readings from the same unit of class as the lab, as well as readings drawn from the larger syllabus, or beyond where appropriate. This prose need not be as formal as a research paper, but it should demonstrate careful thought and preparation. You should integrate the readings explicitly—i.e. through direct quotation—and cite them consistently and appropriately. Use this writing to experiment with intellectual pairings you think might be generative to your larger thinking and help you prepare for your longer experimental entries.

You should submit lab report entries within two academic weeks of the lab activity, unless otherwise specified. I do not consider break periods such as fall break “academic weeks,” so you can discount them when calculating due dates.

Updated: