Geared toward the interests and aptitudes of humanities students, this course provides an accessible introduction to computer programming, statistics, and data science, and equips students with the practical and theoretical skills to engage critically with literary data and computation. What new insights about literary form, history, or culture might we glean from a spreadsheet of bestsellers, a database of fan fiction, or an archive containing more novels than any individual could ever read? What gaps exist in literary datasets, and what biases are enshrined in code? No programming or statistical experience required or expected.
Geared toward the interests and aptitudes of humanities students, this course provides an accessible introduction to computer programming, statistics, and data science, and equips students with the practical and theoretical skills to engage critically with literary data and computation. What new insights about literary form, history, or culture might we glean from a spreadsheet of bestsellers, a database of fan fiction, or an archive containing more novels than any individual could ever read? What gaps exist in literary datasets, and what biases are enshrined in code? No programming or statistical experience required or expected.
