MODELLING AND VISUALIZING TEXTUAL DATA

The course is part of the Master’s Degree Programme in Digital and Public Humanities and is connected to the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH) in the Department of Humanities. It aims to provide students with a methodological framework on the concepts of modelling and data visualization, with a specific focus on literary texts.

Students will consolidate their theoretical knowledge in the field of modelling, acquiring practical skills in the design, management, and implementation of a data model. They will learn to use computational techniques and tools to analyze features of a literary textual corpus. Students will be able to critically evaluate the results obtained, identifying both the potential and the limitations. The skills acquired will be applied to a specific textual corpus, thus providing hands-on experience with modelling and visualization processes.

The course includes a hands-on component in the classroom and requires basic knowledge of programming (Python), as well as familiarity with data aggregation methods (XML, JSON, CSV).

This course provides a theoretical introduction to the concept of model and the practice of modelling and visualizing data in the field of Digital Humanities, with a specific focus on the modeling and visualization of resources based on literary textual data.
The course will address the following key topics:
• Modeling spatial and temporal data.
• Data structures and ontologies.
• Data modeling
• Operationalizing
Students will actively engage in a project based on the literary corpus of J.D. Salinger. Through this project, they will apply computational methods to analyze the characteristics of the corpus, gaining hands-on experience in modelling and visualization techniques.

The Shape of Data in Digital Humanities. Modeling Texts and Text-Based Resources, edited by Julia Flanders and Fotis Jannidis, Routledge 2019

S. Alllison, R. Heuser, M. Jockers, F. Moretti, M. Witmore, Quantitative Formalism : an Experiment, Pamphlet 1, January 15, 2011, available through Stanford Literary Lab: https://litlab.stanford.edu/pamphlets/
F. Moretti, "Operationalizing": Or, the function of measurement in modern literary theory, Pamphlet 6, December 2013, available through Stanford Literary Lab: https://litlab.stanford.edu/pamphlets/
M. Algee-Hewitt, M. McGurl, Between Canon and Corpus: Six Perspectives on 20th-Century Novels, Pamphlet 8, January 2015, available through Stanford Literary Lab: https://litlab.stanford.edu/pamphlets/

The final exam is designed to assess the skills acquired during the course. The evaluation will focus on the students' disciplinary knowledge, as well as their critical and methodological abilities developed through lectures and individual study. The questions will cover topics discussed in class, activities carried out during the course, and any optional projects that students may choose to present during the exam.

oral

In order to achieve the expected learning outcomes, the following activities are envisaged: 1) lectures, study and deepening of the bibliography; 2) guided exercises: 3) class discussion. Materials and resources will be madre available through the e-learning platform: https://moodle.unive.it/course/view.php?id=21493

Attendance is strongly recommended. Non-attending students should contact the professor.

English

For information regarding office hours, please check the page: https://www.unive.it/data/persone/28978558 .
E-mail: emmanuela.carbe@unive.it