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B4826 - Informatics for the Humanities

Academic Year 2025/2026

  • Docente: Luigi Asprino
  • Credits: 3
  • SSD: INF/01
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Languages, Markets and Cultures of Asia and Mediterranean Africa (cod. 9264)

    Also valid for First cycle degree programme (L) in Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student knows the basic theoretical concepts of computer science, learns the operating principles of hardware and software systems and knows the basic technical vocabulary of the discipline. They acquire the rudiments of scripting (Python language) for text analysis. They become familiar with the structure and functioning of the Internet and the Web and is able to create a web page. They will be able to use the most important collaborative document management and to write, collect and code a bibliography.

Course contents

The Informatics for the Humanities course is delivered entirely online via the Teams platform. The course is divided into four units, which aim to provide theoretical and practical knowledge of computer science useful for humanities studies, particularly linguistics. The topics covered in each unit and lesson are listed below:

 

Introduction to computer science

  • What is computer science?
  • Hardware and software
  • Information systems
  • Software and data
  • Algorithms and flowchart diagrams
  • How to organize data in a program - data structures: List, Queue, Stack, Set, Dictionary, Graph, Tree, Vector, Tensor
  • How a computer is made: Computer architecture

The Internet and the web

  • Computer networks
  • Classification of networks: LAN, MAN, WAN
  • The ISO/OSI stack
  • Connections between networks: communication protocols
  • The World Wide Web and how to create a web page with HTML

Computer science for text analysis

  • Introduction to programming languages
  • Automatically finding patterns in text (words, groups of words, etc.): Regular expressions (Regex)
  • Scripting with Python
  • An overview of machine learning

Collaborative environments for document management and writing

  • Word processing programs
  • Latex and Overleaf
  • Google Doc and OneDrive
  • How to build a bibliography: Scholar, Scopus, and search engines

Readings/Bibliography

The slides used during the lessons will be made available to students on the University's VIRTUALE platform [https://virtuale.unibo.it/] before the start of the lesson.


The following texts will be used as references:

  • Dennis P. Curtin et. al. "INFORMATICA DI BASE" VII edizione (2021). Mc Graw Hill

  • Allen Downey. “Pensare in Python” Edizione 2. Green Tea Press

Teaching methods

The Informatics for the Humanities course is delivered entirely remotely via online lessons through the Teams platform. Students will have access to the lesson slides via the Virtuale platform. In addition, exercises similar to those that will be included in the exam will be made available.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of a test with no grades assigned, only the qualification of “idoneo.” The exam is designed to assess the theoretical knowledge and practical skills acquired by the student during the course, through exercises similar to those found on the Virtuale platform. The assessment consists of a 30-minute test, taken on a computer in the classroom.

There will be five exam sessions per academic year. Students are invited to register for their preferred session via AlmaEsami.

 

Teaching tools

Slides and exercises will be made available via the Virtuale platform.

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Asprino