How can digital technology facilitate critical engagement with cultural heritage and its significance? How are cultural institutions are engaging with technology and what does the future look like? How can the digitization of historical artifacts–from pottery and jewelry to entire historic sites–change the ways we can understand past cultures? How can citizen science models energize the humanities? How is AI going to shape our access to and stories about the past? This is a class that’s focused on discussing and making things, not just memorizing and regurgitating a historical facts.
We’ll examine how digital storytelling, virtual exhibits, digital historical tours, photogrammetry (3D modeling) of historic artifacts and sites, interface design for cultural collections, and digital mapping can help bring history and its relevance to life. We’ll draw from a wide range of fields including digital public history, historic preservation, museum studies, digital archiving, spatial humanities, and media studies. We’ll collaborate on some posters, maps, 3D prints, digital essays, and a fictional interview with a campus building. Although we talk a lot about technology and this is a hands-on course (a laptop is helpful but not required), no technical skills are expected or needed–just an open mind about exploring the future of digital heritage!
Final Evaluation of Digital Portfolio (10 points)
| Points | Grade |
|---|---|
| 94+ | A |
| 90-94 | A- |
| 87-89 | B+ |
| 83-86 | B |
| 80-82 | B- |
| 77-79 | C+ |
| 73-76 | C |
| 70-72 | C- |
| 67-69 | D+ |
| 60-66 | D |
| 59- | F |
Up to three unexcused absences are allowed without any grade penalty. However, after that, you lose roughly two points for every absence—so that basically every two missed classes lowers your grade one notch (B+ to B, for instance). Family or medical emergencies are excused absences, provided that you get in touch with me ASAP about them.
I heartily encouraged you to speak with me at any time about how I think you’re doing in the class and how it can be improved (if at all). If life gets overwhelming during the course, it can be tempting to drift away from an elective course like this. Rather than disappear, please come talk with me about how we can accommodate your circumstances and thus avoid digging a huge hole from which it becomes increasingly difficult to escape.
There are NO REQUIRED BOOKS for this course. But you will need to subscribe to the course Zotero library to access assigned articles. This will be discussed in class, but for reference, please see the instructions for connecting. The URL for the group library is https://www.zotero.org/groups/1647219/digital-history-unm/items.
CAPS Tutoring Services is a free-of-charge educational assistance program available to UNM students enrolled in classes. Online services include the Online Writing Lab, Chatting with or asking a question of a Tutor.
The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodations of their disabilities. If you have a disability requiring accommodation, please contact me immediately to make arrangements as well as Accessibility Services Office in 2021 Mesa Vista Hall at 277-3506 or http://as2.unm.edu/index.html. Information about your disability is confidential.
You should be familiar with UNM’s Policy on Academic Dishonesty and the Student Code of Conduct which outline academic misconduct defined as plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, or facilitating any such act.
All students are welcome in this class regardless of citizenship, residency, or immigration status. I will respect your privacy if you choose to disclose your status. As for all students in the class, family emergency-related absences are normally excused with reasonable notice to the professor, as noted in the attendance guidelines above. UNM as an institution has made a core commitment to the success of all our students, including members of our undocumented community. The Administration’s welcome is found on our website: http://undocumented.unm.edu/.