Course Description
This course provides an opportunity for students to translate theory into practice as they make meaningful contributions to a digital humanities project. The field experience can be tailored to fit the intellectual and professional needs of students from a wide range of disciplinary interests and anticipated career pathways. Students may choose to pursue a digital humanities field experience in a variety of venues, such as libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions, or within academic departments or units on campus or across the Triangle. Students are also encouraged to consider opportunities outside of the Triangle.
Logistics
With guidance from their academic advisor and the Faculty Director of the GCP/DH, students will identify a digital humanities field experience opportunity relevant to their academic interests and career goals. Students are required to make arrangements with the field experience host institution or academic unit and identify a site supervisor who will oversee their work and provide feedback to the Faculty Director of the GCP/DH.
While students are only required to undertake a one-credit hour field experience to fulfill the requirements of the Graduate Certificate Program in Digital Humanities, students may opt to register for up to three credit hours. The number of credits earned as part of the Digital Humanities Field Experience depends on the number of hours worked and must be determined prior to registration. Students are required to enroll in the course during the semester in which they work the majority of their field experience hours. Students may or may not receive pay for the experience, depending on the policies and resources of the host institution. If pay is available, students may receive both credit and pay. Credit hours are calculated accordingly:
1 credit hour: 45-89 hours
2 credit hours: 90-134 hours
3 credit hours: 135 hours or more
Requirements
Digital Humanities Field Experience Agreement (form available here)
The DH Field Experience Agreement is required for registration and must be submitted before the semester begins. As part of the agreement, students are required to provide a brief summary of the project and affiliated institution, describe their role and expected contributions, and commit to the number of hours they plan to work with the project as part of the field experience. The student must also outline three to five learning objectives and indicate how they will be met through the term of the field experience. Additionally, the student must define the scope and form of their final deliverable, which will vary and depend on the nature and scope of the digital humanities project with which the student will be working. For instance, some students might submit a small but complete web exhibit, while others might submit a completed portion of a larger project, or even planning documents, such as a data plan and data dictionary, or user interface diagrams with affiliated documentation. Of course, these are examples–not an exhaustive list! The final deliverable should be accompanied by a short paper (approx. 1000 words) that summarizes the student’s contributions to the project, discusses any challenges faced and how they were negotiated, and includes recommendations for the project as it moves forward.
The student should review the Digital Humanities Field Experience Agreement with the Faculty Director of the GCP/DH and his/her site supervisor and must obtain both of their signatures before submitting to the CDHI Programs Coordinator for enrollment.
Midway Checkpoint Report and Meeting
About halfway through the DH Field Experience, the faculty advisor, site supervisor, and student must arrange a meeting to check-in about progress toward the learning objectives and the feasibility of completing the final deliverable defined in the agreement. This is a time to reassess and amend the agreement as needed.
As a basis for this meeting, the student must prepare and submit beforehand a short report that outlines the following: contributions to date; progress toward learning goals; challenges, questions, or concerns; and plans for the remaining portion of the field experience. Bullet points are fine; brevity is key. If the agreement is amended as a result of this meeting, it must be signed by all parties and submitted to the CDHI Curriculum Coordinator within a week.
In preparation for this and the report accompanying the final deliverable, students are strongly encouraged to keep a weekly work log to record reflections, thoughts, opinions, questions, comments, concerns, etc. as the field experience unfolds.
Evaluation & Final Deliverable
Site Supervisor Evaluation: At the end of the field experience, the site supervisor will evaluate the student using the Site Supervisor Evaluation form (see form appended below) and discuss the evaluation with the student. The form must be submitted to the faculty advisor, who will complete the form and return it to the CDHI Programs Coordinator.
Final deliverable: The final deliverable is defined as part of the Digital Humanities Field Experience Agreement, includes a short written report, and will vary according to the project. It must be submitted to the Faculty Director of the GCP/DH by the last day of class, or a date defined in the Digital Humanities Field Experience Agreement.
Evaluation and Grading
Based on the deliverables outlined above, the Faculty Director of the GCP/DH will recommend a grade of H, P, L, or F to the instructor of record, who submits final grades to the University Registrar.
Suggested Schedule
Suggested dates for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 are included, but may be adjusted in conjunction with the Faculty Director of the GCP/DH to suit the needs of the student and his/her field experience site supervisors. Due dates assume that hours will be worked evenly across the course of the semester, though this is not required.
Fall 2018
Before August 21
Digital Humanities Field Experience Agreement — Required for registration.
Week 7: Week of October 1
Midway Checkpoint Report and Meeting
Week 15: Week of November 26
Site Supervisor Evaluation of Student
Final Deliverable
Spring 2019
Before January 9
Digital Humanities Field Experience Agreement — Required for registration.
Week 7: Week of February 18
Midway Checkpoint Report and Meeting
Week 15: Week of April 22
Site Supervisor Evaluation of Student
Final Deliverable