Old Books, New Technologies: Textual Studies’ Dawg Daze Event Recap
Last week, the UW Textual Studies Program welcomed new and returning students to our Dawg Daze event, “Old Books, New Technologies: UW Special Collections and the Minor in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities.” Held in the UW Libraries’ Special Collections, the event featured an overview of the minor program, a preview of upcoming Textual Studies courses from faculty, and insight from Textual Studies alums about their experience during the program and with their capstone projects.
If you didn’t get a chance to join us at Dawg Daze, don’t worry! We’re recapping the whole event and sharing some of the exciting items we viewed in Special Collections. Read on for more!
The Minor in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities
At the event, students got to hear about The Minor in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities. This interdisciplinary minor focuses on the study of the history, present, and future of texts from scrolls, manuscripts, and printed books to archival documents, digital texts, and textual data—some of which were on display during our time at Special Collections!
When pursuing the minor, students complete twenty-five credits, with at least two of the courses being from the Textual Studies Program core sequence, two courses from the Textual Studies Program’s approved electives, and a final capstone course. Now, if you’re thinking that a minor sounds like a ton of additional classes, not to worry! Many of the undergraduate students who spoke at Dawg Daze said there was quite a bit of crossover with their other degree requirements, making the completion of the minor quite manageable.
Interested students can email text@uw.edu with any questions about the minor, its requirements, or how to declare! You can also view upcoming courses and get more information about the capstone requirement on our website.
Courses in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities
Students also got to hear from faculty teaching in the Textual Studies Program. One of the faculty members we heard from was Anna Preus, an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and the Director of the UW Humanities Data Lab. Dr. Preus teaches courses in the digital and data humanities, two interdisciplinary fields that use digital technologies and data science techniques to pursue humanities questions.
For winter, Dr. Preus and Melanie Walsh, another faculty member in the UW Textual Studies Program and an Assistant Professor in the Information School, are planning a course on Artificial Intelligence, TXTDS 321: Text Reuse, AI, and the Art of Stealing. This course will explore the concept of “text reuse” throughout literary history, putting AI text generation technologies like ChatGPT in the context of a broader lineage of literary phenomena such as allusion, quotation, remix, parody, and plagiarism. The course will use both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze text similarity, such as close reading and computational approaches. This course will count toward the minor’s elective requirements.
In spring quarter, Beatrice Arduini, Associate Professor in the French & Italian Studies Department, will teach TXTDS 220: Making Manuscripts: Manuscript and Handwriting Technologies from Antiquity to Today. This course will cover the long history of script, asking questions about the origins and lineage of communication in handwritten form. Also in spring quarter, Kathryn Medill, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures will offer MELC 211: Introduction to Myths of the Ancient Middle East. Both of these courses will count toward the minor’s elective requirements.
The Textual Studies and Digital Humanities Minor Capstone
The TXTDS Capstone is a five-credit course (offered as TXTDS 405) that can be taken in any quarter. It is a sustained project or experience relevant to the goals of the Textual Studies Minor. During Dawg Daze, we heard from a few students who had recently completed their capstones who worked with the UW Libraries on exhibitions and completed internships with Partners in Print, a local non-profit that promotes letterpress printing. There are many options for students looking to complete their capstones. You might choose to do a traditional research paper, a digital or data-science driven project, or you might choose to undertake other kinds of work, like collaborating with faculty on research projects, or working with an organization like a library, a bookstore, or a publishing house.
Upcoming Courses in the UW Textual Studies Program
You will declare the Minor with your major advisor. But for other advising help, contact the advisors in Humanities Academic Services, who are eager to help students enrolled in programs in the Humanities. They offer student support and advising and can help you declare and negotiate the Minor in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities. You can make an appointment or stop by the HAS center in Padleford Hall during their drop-in advising hours every Monday and Wednesday from 2:30pm to 4:00pm and every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30am to 11:00am.
Having trouble finding HAS? No worries. Check out their walk-through video.
Thank you to all who made our Dawg Daze such a success! You can find more information about the UW Textual Studies Program, our minor and grad certificate, and our upcoming courses on our website.
Be sure to sign up for our mailing listserv to keep up to date on all UW Textual Studies news, courses, and events.
Don’t forget, you can also follow UW Textual Studies on Instagram @uwtextualstudies and on X @TextUW.