Overview
MAIS 623: Introduction to Trends in New Media: Digital Humanities explores digital technologies in society through the lens of humanities thinking with an emphasis on critical inquiry. MAIS 623 offers an introduction to Digital Humanities theories and approaches, with a special emphasis on critical methodology and artificial intelligence (AI) in contemporary society, including AI and gender, AI in health care, AI in education, and the importance of explainable AI. Students will also explore digital ethics, critical approaches to digital humanities research, and implications of algorithmic cultures. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with key issues arising in the digital humanities and, more specifically, ethical issues and epistemic tensions facing society as a whole in the wake of growing integration of AI systems and practices.
Outline
MAIS 623 is organized into 13 units, based on theoretical and methodological approaches to new media, especially as they apply to the emergent field of Digital Humanities.
Unit 1: What Is Digital Humanities?
Unit 2: Introduction to the Internet
Unit 3: Making Sense of Digital Networks
Unit 4: What are Digital Ethics?
Unit 5: Critical Approaches in the Digital Humanities
Unit 6: Algorithmic Cultures and the Humanities
Unit 7: Reading Week
Unit 8: Artificial Intelligence: From Past to Present, and Critical Practices
Unit 9: Machine Intelligence, Bias, and the Need for Explainable AI
Unit 10: Whose (Artificial) Intelligence? Gender and AI
Unit 11: AI in Education: Opportunities, Risks, and Strategies for the Future
Unit 12: Augmented Medicine: AI and the Medical Humanities
Unit 13: The Future of Digital Humanities
Learning outcomes
MAIS 623 has six major learning outcomes. After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Situate digital humanities in a historical context with traditional humanities scholarship.
- Deepen their understanding of the ethical implications of computational analysis.
- Understand the epistemic underpinnings of digital humanities research, including the implications of network societies and algorithmic cultures.
- Explore the social implications of artificial intelligence in terms of gender, education, and health care.
- Deepen their understanding of artificial intelligence, how it functions, and the ethical tensions regarding its transparency and explainability.
- Identify the emerging pedagogical issues and debates in the digital humanities.
Evaluation
To receive credit for this MAIS 623, students must participate in the online activities, successfully complete all assignments, and achieve a final mark of at least C− (60 percent).
Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the concepts presented in the course and on their ability to apply those concepts. The final grade in the course will be based on the marks achieved for the following activities.
| Activity | Weight |
| Weekly Participation | 15% |
| Assignment 1: Short Essay | 15% |
| Assignment 2: Digital Analysis | 25% |
| Assignment 3: Final Research Paper | 45% |
| Total | 100% |
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Mitchell, W., & Hansen, M. (Eds.). (2010). Critical terms for media studies. Chicago UP.
Lanier, J. (2010). You are not a gadget: A manifesto. Knopf.
Other Resources
All other materials are available online.