Macquarie University

Digital Humanities - FOAR705

This unit explores cross-disciplinary approaches to research that fall under the rubric of ‘digital humanities’, the aim of which is to use technological tools to solve domain problems. We will begin by asking what forms digital humanities research takes, specifically how digital humanities approaches can help answer particular research questions. Since the digital humanities include such a wide range of approaches, students will learn how to frame questions, find appropriate tools and solutions, acquire the knowledge required to deploy those solutions, and present results in an accessible way.


Topics covered by the course include:

-Defining ‘digital humanities’
-Overview of major approaches and tools
-Framing questions
-Selecting appropriate approaches
-Finding and learning appropriate tools
-Managing data
-Project management
-Digital presentation and visualisation
-Digital outreach and social media
-Digital publication and data sharing

This unit is cross-disciplinary, introducing approaches used by or useful for research in (e.g.) history, archaeology, language and literature, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, political science, etc. Students are encouraged to bring their own disciplinary perspectives to the course, and will explore how their own research can benefit from digital methods.