Welcome to the Canvas site for ENG 715: Topics in Digital Studies (Topic: The Digital Black Atlantic) with Prof. Roopika Risam!

Image of the roots and routes of the African diaspora

This hybrid course is designed as a series of modules that correspond with each week of the course. To access the modules, which include the readings and assignments for the course, please click "Modules" in the menu on the left-hand side of your screen.

In anticipation of each week, you should make sure to check the week's module, where you will find a welcome note for the week with an overview of expectations. I will also send reminders each Friday about the upcoming week.

Faculty Course Description

As digital methods for humanities research produce a digital cultural record of humanity, we must be sure that we resist reproducing literary and cultural canons that privilege white European and American writers. Do you want to become part of an emerging community of literary and cultural studies scholars who are using computational and digital tools to change how we read, interpret, and teach African diasporic cultural production? This course examines how digital humanities methods can be applied to African American, Black British, Caribbean literary and cultural production to ensure that voices and stories that have long gone unheard find their place in the digital cultural record. Together, we will examine scholarship on African diaspora digital humanities and analyze digital archives, databases, critical digital editions, maps, and multimodal compositions of African diasporas. We will then use our knowledge and insights to collaboratively produce a digital humanities project using African diasporic materials as our sources. No prior experience with digital humanities or computational or digital tools is necessary.

This course counts as a literature (world) course for the M.A. in English and an elective course for the Graduate Certificate in Digital Studies.