98937 - Digital Sources and Methods for Historical Research (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student will have learned about the main methodologies and the most important publications available within the scope of digital history, with particular regard for the documents on the contemporary age. The student will be able to critically analyse projects and publications within the scope of digital history and, more in general, to move consciously within the scope of the Digital Humanities.

Course contents

The course is divided into two sections.

The first section recounts the general background of historical methodology, tracing some of its stages and reintroducing some classics of historiography.

The second section explores how the practice of history is changing thanks to the impact of digitization and digital technologies. It focuses on the different ways of exploring the past in the digital age, the evolution of historical sources, the increasing awareness of new conceptual and methodological issues within the historical community.

Main questions:

- defining the field: that is digital history?

- new digital technologies and digital resources

- teaching materials, data collections, methodologies

- connectivity and interactivity in the digital age

- interaction between historians and historical records

- plenty of historical materials and saturation of sources

- how could the reliability of the sources be tested?

- preservation of the historical record in the digital age

- digital public history

Readings/Bibliography

A student who attends at least 75% of the lectures is considered an attending student.

 

In addition to the lecture notes, attending students should read:

1) Gabriele Balbi, Paolo Magaudda, Media digitali. La storia, i contesti sociali, le narrazioni, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2021

2) Stefano Vitali, Passato digitale. Le fonti dello storico nell'era del computer, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2004

3) Il web e gli studi storici. Guida critica all’uso della rete, a cura di Rolando Minuti, Roma, Carocci, 2017

 

Non-attending students should bring, in addition to the texts listed above:

4) La storia in digitale: teorie e metodologie, a cura di Deborah Paci, Milano, Unicopli, 2019

 

 

Teaching methods

Lecture; critical analysis of texts.

Regular attendance and participation are recommended.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The exam will take the form of an oral discussion. The student will be assessed according to the knowledge he has acquired, his ability to provide a clear summary of the topics covered and his critical handling of the material.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology. Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology. A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

Some materials will be available in the specific section of the University website.

Office hours

See the website of Antonella Salomoni