Important GMU Academic Calendar Dates
- First Day of Classes: January 16th
- Last Day to Add: January 23rd
- Last Day to Drop (with 100% tuition refund): January 30th
- Last Day to Drop (with 50% tuition refund): February 6th
- Unrestricted Withdrawal Period: February 7th – February 20th
- Selective Withdrawal Period: February 21st – March 25th
- Spring Break: March 4th – March 10th
- Last Day of Classes: April 29th
- Reading Days: April 30th and May 5th
- Final Exam Period: May 1st – May 8th
Project Due Dates
- Project #1 (Website): Monday, January 29th
- Project #2 (Zotero): Monday, February 12th
- Project #3 (Tropy): Monday, February 19th
- February 28th – Last Call for Projects 1, 2 & 3
- Project #4 (Timeline): Monday, March 18th
- Project #5 (Podcast): Monday, April 1st
- Project #6 (Twine): Monday, April 15th
- Final Presentation: In-class either April 22 or April 24
- April 29th – Last Call for Projects 4, 5 & 6
- Final Reflection: Monday, May 6th at 10:30 AM
Blog Post Due Dates
- Blog Post #1: Monday, February 5th
- Blog Post #2: Monday, February 26th
- February 28th – Last Call for Blog Posts #1 & 2
- Blog Post #3: Monday, March 18th
- Blog Post #4: Wednesday, March 27th
- Blog Post #5: Wednesday, April 10th
- Blog Post #6: Monday, April 22nd
- April 29th – Last Call for Blog Posts #3, 4, 5 and 6
Week 0: Welcome to class! (January 17th)
Due January 22nd:
- Brainstorm your historical research topic & complete the welcome survey (sent to your email)
- Make a meme about our class using the resources here: The 6 Best Tools for Making Memes from Mashable
- Join the class Slack (invitation sent to your email) and post your introduction meme to the #week-01-intro channel.
- Watch The Internet: Packets, Routing and Reliability (7 minute video)
Week 1: Introduction to the Internet (January 22 & 24)
Monday: How the Internet works & Setting up your Website
- Begin working on Project #1: WordPress. Read the assignment brief here. Due January 29th.
Due January 24th:
- Read: “How Search Works,” Google.
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “How biased are our algorithms?”, Safiya Umoja Noble, TEDxUIUC (16 minute video)
**discussion of racism, sexism & misogynoir**
Prefer to read? Read: Chapter 2, “Searching for Black Girls” in Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble, pgs 64-109
**discussion of racism, sexism & misogynoir**
Wednesday: How Search Works
Due January 29th:
- Read: “The History of Fake News in America,” Karen Yuan and Matt Peterson, The Atlantic AND “Three challenges for the web, according to its inventor,” Tim Berners-Lee, Web Foundation
Week 2: Secondary Sources (January 29 & 31)
Due January 29th: Project #1 – Website
Monday: Finding credible sources online & Zotero
- Write: Blog Post #1: Wikipedia. Read the prompt here. Due February 5th.
- Begin working on Project #2: Zotero. Read the assignment brief here. Due February 12th.
Wednesday: Using the Library with Dr. George Oberle
Due February 5th:
- Read: “What is Metadata and how do I use it?”, Tropy.
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “The Power of Metadata,” Deepak Jagdish and Daniel Smilkov, TEDxCambridge (10 minute video)
Prefer to read? Read: “What is Metadata (with examples),” Piotr Kononow, Dataedo
Week 3: Primary Sources (February 5 & 7)
Due February 5th: Blog Post #1
Monday: Primary Sources & Tropy
- Begin working on Project #3: Tropy. Read the assignment brief here. Due February 19th.
Due February 7th:
- Read: “The Moon Landing” by National Geographic Kids (yes, really)
Wednesday: Primary Sources in the digital age
Due February 12th:
- Read: Mickey, Disney and the Public Domain: a 95-year Love Triangle by Jennifer Jenkins, Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain, AND “Who owns the rights to the archival materials I use?”, Tropy.
Week 4: Ownership (February 12 & 14)
Due February 12th: Project #2 – Zotero
Monday: Who owns what on the internet
Due February 14th:
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “Artificial Intelligence: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (27 minute video)
**crude language and humor, discussion of racism and sexism**
Prefer to read? Read: “What is ChatGPT?” by Amanda Hetler, TechTarget AND “These fake images reveal how AI amplifies our worst stereotypes” by Nitasha Tiku, Kevin Schaul and Szu Yu Chen
**discussion of racism and sexism**
Wednesday: ChatGPT and AI
Due February 19th:
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “What We Learned from 5 Million Books,” Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel, TEDTalk (14 minute video)
Prefer to read? Read: “Google Books,” Wikipedia
Week 5: Digitization & Text Analysis (February 19 & 21)
Due February 19th: Project #3 – Tropy
Monday: How analog becomes digital
- Write: Blog Post #2: N-Grams. Read the prompt here. Due February 26th.
Due February 19th:
- Read: “What is Distant Reading?” by Katherine Schulz, New York Times
Wednesday: Text Analysis & Voyant
Due February 26th:
- Read: ““In the cold mansions of the silent tomb”: Data, Disability, and New England Gravestones, Part 1” by Dan Howlett
Week 6: Visualizations (February 26 & 28)
Due February 26th: Blog Post #2
Monday: Presenting data in visual form
Due February 28th:
- Explore: “Timeline: The American Revolution,” Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
- Project Prep: Come up with 10 events having to do with your historical research topic that can be used to tell a story about your topic.
February 28th: Last Call for Projects 1, 2 and 3 & Blog Posts #1 and 2
Wednesday: Time & TimelineJS
- Begin working on Project #4: Timeline. Read the assignment brief here. Due March 18th.
Due March 11th:
- Watch: “The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes,” Slate. (2 minute video)
- Work on your timeline.
Spring Break (March 4 & 6)
No class this week! Enjoy your break!
Week 7: Visualizations (March 11 & 13)
Monday: Maps as Historical Sources and in Digital History
- Write: Blog Post #3: Maps. Read the prompt here. Due March 18th.
Due March 13th:
- Read: “Putting Harlem on the Map,” by Stephen Robertson, Writing History in the Digital Age
Wednesday: In-Depth Project Look: Digital Harlem, The Spread of US Slavery & Mapping Early American Elections
Due March 18:
- Read: “How to Listen to a Podcast for Class” by Abby Mullen AND “Going Narrative” by Karen Given
- Project Prep: Choose an episode or “snapshot” that would make a good subject for a podcast about your historical research topic.
Week 8: Digital Public History – Podcasts (March 18 & 20)
Due March 18th: Project #4 Timeline & Blog Post #3
Monday: History Podcasts & Audacity
- Begin working on Project #5: Podcast. Read the assignment brief here. Due April 1st.
Due March 20th:
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “POURing Over Your Website: An Introduction to Digital Accessibility,” Ashleigh Lodge, TEDxWinnipeg (14 minute video)
Prefer to read? Read: “Chapter 3: The discriminatory impact of digital inaccessibility” in Ensuring Digital Accessibility Through Process and Policy by Jonathan Lazar, Daniel Goldstein and Anne Taylor
Wednesday: Accessibility in the digital age
- Write Blog Post #4: Alt Text. Read the prompt here. Due March 27th.
- Work on your podcast.
Week 9: Digital Public History – Omeka (March 25 & 27)
Monday: Digital Public History
Due March 27th:
- Read: “Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial highlights Wilkins Plaza” by Damian Cristodero (features a 3.5 minute video) AND “From Archaeology to Artistic Representations” by Mariam Aburdeineh
Due March 27th: Blog Post #4
Wednesday: In-Depth Project Look – Mason Legacies
Due April 1st:
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “Why Assassin’s Creed Unity can’t rebuild Notre Dame cathedral?”, Polygon (11 minute video)
Prefer to read? Read: “Assassin’s Creed Unity can’t help rebuild Notre-Dame, and that’s OK” by Simone de Rochefort, Polygon - Project Prep: Identify or create a “protagonist” character who could serve as the main character of a video game about your historical research topic. This person can be a real historical figure or a fictional character you create.
Week 10: Digital Storytelling (April 1 & 3)
Due April 1st: Project #5 – Podcast
Monday: Video Games & Twine
- Begin working on Project #6: Twine. Read the assignment brief here. Due April 15th.
Due April 3rd:
- Read: “War of 1812 Overview” from the USS Constitution Museum
- Explore: “Ranks & Rates” from the USS Constitution Museum
Wednesday: In-Depth Project Look – A Sailor’s Life for Me
- Write: Blog Post #5: Games. Read the prompt here. Due April 10th.
- Work on your Twine story.
Due April 8th:
- Read: “How One of the Internet’s Biggest History Forums Deals With Holocaust Deniers” by Johannes Breit, Slate
**discussion of anti-Semitism, racism and the Holocaust**
Week 11: Digital Lives (April 8 & 10)
Monday: Historians Online – Social Media & Ethics
Due April 10th:
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “Why Digital Preservation is Important to You,” Library of Congress (8 minute video)
Prefer to read? Read: “Digital Preservation Guide,” Duke University Libraries
Due April 10th: Blog Post #5
Wednesday: Longevity & Stability in the Digital Age
Due April 15th:
- Prefer to watch? Watch: “Internet Privacy Prank,” Buzzfeed (3 minute video) AND “What is Your Password?”, Jimmy Kimmel (3 minute video)
Prefer to read? Read: “How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking” by Mat Honan, Wired
Week 12: Security & Originality (April 15 & 17)
Due April 15th: Project #6 – Twine
Monday: Digital Security
- Write: Blog Post #6: Security. Read the prompt here. Due April 22nd.
Due April 17th:
- Read: “Author, 17, Says It’s ‘Mixing’ Not Plagiarism,” Nicholas Kulish, New York Times AND “On Building,” Steve Ramsay
Wednesday: Remixing, reusing & originality
Due April 22/24:
- Be prepared to give your final presentation during your time slot next week. Read the assignment brief here.
Week 13: Final Presentations (April 22 & 24)
Due April 22: Blog Post #6
Monday & Wednesday: Student Presentations
- Write your final reflection. Read the assignment brief here. Due May 6th. **Important Note: Final reflections will NOT be accepted late.**
Week 14: Game Day (April 29)
Monday: Last Day of Class – Extra credit Game Day
Due April 29th: Last Call for Projects 4, 5 and 6 & Blog Posts #3, 4, 5 and 6
Final Reflection
Due May 6th: Final Reflection