HIST 697: Data Analysis for History

HIST 697-001: Creating History in New Media
(Spring 2017)

07:20 PM to 10:00 PM M

Aquia Building 213

Section Information for Spring 2017

In this course you will be create history in new media using data manipulation and visualization. You will learn to work with historical data, including finding, gathering, manipulating, analyzing, visualizing, and arguing from data, with special attention to geospatial, textual, and network data. These methods will be taught primarily through scripting in the R programming language, using other command line tools as appropriate. While historical methods can be applied to many topics and time periods, they cannot be understood separate from how the discipline forms meaningful questions and interpretations, nor divorced from the particularities of the sources and histories of some specific topic. Therefore, in this course we will examine the historiographical tradition to see how historians have used data and visualization to understand the past. And we will work together to apply these methods to a linked series of datasets, some of which we will create ourselves, in the history of nineteenth-century American religion.

HIST 697 001 enrollment is controlled. Contact nroth@gmu.edu to register.

Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Introduces students how to create, computationally analyze, and publish historical data. Students explore theoretical and historical issues as well as learn programming skills. Notes: Students with limited computer competency should consult with department before enrolling. May not be repeated for credit.
Recommended Prerequisite: HIST 696 or permission of instructor.
Registration Restrictions:

Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.

Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.

Schedule Type: Seminar
Grading:
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.