Proposals for discussion, March 2001

Context The English Department is committed to "mainstreaming" humanities computing (see below). Two groups have been working to develop proposals: the Technologies Curriculum Group and the Computer Committee. The Curriculum group produced draft proposals in a document last year (March 3rd 2000); the Computer Committee has produced several discussion papers, available on the web (see this document). These earlier documents are now largely superseded by the documents available here. At its most recent meeting on March 2nd the Computer Committee approved outline proposals for first year computing (see link to First Year); the Technologies group, which meets on March 5th, is tasked to produce draft proposals in preparation for a Department meeting on April 13th. The documents assembled here are intended to facilitate this discussion; in addition to the First Year document they include: the new courses proposed in March 2000 (see Computer Courses); suggestions for computer components in other courses; a brief guide to computer applications (specific programs, electronic texts, etc.), and Resources (estimated lab requirements, personnel, etc.). Comments on these documents are invited: please email David Miall (Chair, Computer Committee). Background to this initiative In the Strategic Plan for the Department of English 2000-2005, Initiative #5 is "Mainstreaming humanities computing." This mentions the already high level of existing computer-related activity among faculty and graduate students, and points out the need to: assess existing computing courses as a part of our review of the undergraduate program; explore ways to introduce issues in humanities computing into some mainstream courses; explore and evaluate computer tools for writing, especially in first year courses; in computer courses explore the transformations in culture arising from the computer. Following discussion of these possibilities by the Computer Committee and the Technologies Curriculum Group, the present set of documents offers specific proposals for computing in the English curriculum and outlines some of the implications for resources.

First draft compiled March 4th 2001 / revised March 5th

David S. Miall
on behalf of
the Computer Committee and
Technologies Curriculum Group

Department of English
University of Alberta