Guidelines for Inclusion of Courses

DRAFT, last revised 9/27/18, to be reviewed by DHI Advisory Committee on 10/12/18.

Four general types of courses are currently included as valid electives for the minor in Digital Humanities at UNF: 

1. those that are oriented toward the teaching of relevant digital tools or methodologies;
2. those that employ such digital tools or methodologies in the analysis of materials in the humanities, broadly understood;
3. those that address theoretical questions related to the humanities, broadly understood, in a digital age; and
4. those that deal with more general skills that are often central to successful DH endeavors, including project management, grant writing, and the use of social media for promotional and community–building purposes.

An individual course could potentially fit into more than one—or even all—of these categories.

The DH minor culminates in a studio course, a requirement that currently can be fulfilled by the actual studio course, if enrollment permits, or, if not, a DH internship. In either case, a student will design their own project, further develop a project started in an earlier course, or contribute in a significant, original way to an existing project, including those led by UNF faculty. All courses to be included as valid electives for the DH minor should help to prepare students for this experience, either by teaching skills and methodologies, by creating opportunities to practice the use of those skills and methodologies, by challenging students to engage with relevant theoretical problems, or by helping them develop the skills needed to plan, manage and promote DH endeavors.

The DH designation refers to content and methodology, not method of delivery. A fully online or hybrid course could be valid as an elective for the DH minor if it fits into at least one of the categories above. Such a course cannot, however, be considered as an appropriate elective based only an online or hybrid format alone.

Likewise, the use of instructional technology—whether in an in–person, fully online or hybrid context—does not by itself make a course eligible. In the same fashion, student use of technology does not automatically make a course valid as an elective.

Faculty or departments may propose that courses in the UNF Undergraduate Catalog be listed in the program of study for the minor in DH by contacting the chair of the Curriculum Subcommittee. Each semester, the Curriculum Subcommittee publishes on the DHI website a list of the valid electives that are being offered during that term. Upon the request of faculty members or departments, the Curriculum Committee will also list courses that are offered on an experimental basis, or which involve in an ad hoc fashion a component corresponding to one of the categories above.

A single section of a course that is offered in multiple sections may be included on the course list for a given semester (not in the catalog program of study) on the basis of some aspect that causes it to differ from other sections that do not meet the criteria stated above. Because the DHI Curriculum Committee cannot anticipate the potential problems that listing a single section in this fashion can cause, written approval by the chair of the respective department is required.