Assignments

This seminar is discussion-driven, so active participation is required. You are expected to complete the reading for each day and come to class prepared to discuss it. You should plan on reading the assignments before the start of the institute so you can formulate substantive questions and comments that lead to productive class discussion. Given the volume of reading for the course, I have prepared a list of questions for you to consider to give your reading some focus. In addition to being an active participant in discussions, you may be asked to complete quick writing activities, explore digital projects, and participate in collaborative work on a digital project that we design together. All of this will be included in your participation, which will count for 50% of your final grade.

Each participant will be responsible for leading discussion on one literary text and two of the theoretical texts assigned. You will be given the opportunity to sign up for texts of your choice. As discussion leader, you are required to formulate questions that will shape our discussion of the text and guide our conversation on them. Please supply me with a copy of your questions, either on paper or via email. You do not need to give me questions in advance but I am happy to look over them if you wish. To sign up, please click here and add your name as the leader to your selections. Leading discussion will count for 25% of your final grade.

During the institute, we will be collaborating on a digital project based on Maryse Condé’s novel I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem. This project will serve as the culminating experience for the course. Digital literary projects engage an array of skills including literary analysis, working with data, coding, and design. Creating a project together will allow us to not only share our common interest in literary study but also leverage and develop our other interests to engage in literature in new ways. You will notice that I have built in time on the institute schedule to introduce you to the field of digital humanities, familiarize you with tools for digital literary research, and allow you to explore and discuss existing digital scholarship. Based on these experiences, we will design and execute a project on Condé’s novel, which has relevance to both the theme of the course and our location in Salem, Mass. In the course of the institute, we will brainstorm, plan, and work together to create a project practically achievable in the scope of the class. At the conclusion of the institute, there will likely be additional independent work to complete the project and you will also write a 4-5 page, double-spaced reflection paper that describes your contribution to the project, what you learned from it, and the insights on Condé’s novel and Salem that you gleaned from your work. Your work on the project and reflection paper will count for 25% of your grade.