“ALLC Special Session: Humanities Computing in the
Graduate Curriculum”
Chair:
Susan
Hockey
University of Alberta (ALLC Chair)
Speakers:
Harold
Short
Kings College,
London
Espen
Ore
Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities
Willard
McCarty
King's College,
London
Geoffrey
Rockwell
McMaster University
The session will include European and North American perspectives on the
development of graduate programmes in the humanities in which a computing
component has a significant role. A major Europe-wide project will be described
whose objectives are not only to gather information about the current situation
in European universities, but also to promote collaborative curriculum
development. Other panelists will describe initiatives under way in individual
British and North American universities.
All the panelists will be emphasizing the issues that are shaping the development
of new graduate curricula rather than describing particular programmes in
detail. The main focus of the session is on general discussion, in which members
of the audience will be encouraged to contribute their experience and concerns.
Anyone whose home institution has or is contemplating a graduate programme with
a strong computing component is urged to attend and participate.
Here are some issues that the session will address:
- What should be the scope of an MA programme in humanities computing? What should be taught? And how?
- What would be the optimum format for an MA programme in humanities computing? What would be the appropriate balance between course work, project work and dissertation?
- Should a graduate programme be closely allied with one discipline, for example English? Or should it attempt to fit the needs of several humanities disciplines?
- How can project work be encouraged and also examined? What factors are important in the assessment of a project?
- What are the crucial topics and issues to be discussed in a graduate programme in humanities computing? How can these be related to "critical thinking" in humanities scholarship?
- What institutional factors are important to encourage the development of humanities computing in the graduate curriculum?
- What would be the typical components of a PhD in humanities computing? What kinds of thesis topics would be appropriate and how might they be examined?
- What would attract students to a graduate programme in humanities computing?