Learn how to use computers to solve humanities-based problems. Libraries and archives—as well as corporations and governments—have more information than can be practically read. Computing in the humanities gives us the ability to organize this material and make it available to the widest possible audience. All courses that count for this module are typically offered at Behrend every semester unless specified. Here are some possible minors if you are interested in digital humanities:
Creative Writing
English
History
In ENGL 50 you will explore the genres of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry by reading published essays, short stories, and poems and by writing personal essays, sketches, scenes, and poems.
This course will explore the relationship between the genres and what makes each of them a distinct art form. Students are expected to hand in regular writing assignments, complete longer writing projects and share some of their creative work to discuss in class.
*Course counts toward GA requirement
*Course offered during Fa. and Sp. semesters
ENGL 420 Writing for the Web (3)(BA) focuses on the analysis and composition of informative, persuasive, and "creative" Web texts, based on rhetorical principles; no prior Web writing experience required. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course, designed for writers and potential writers, will explore the unique opportunities and constraints of writing for the Web.
As a writing course, it should appeal to students in the Humanities; however, because of the growing importance of Web texts in fields such as business and the social sciences and given the opportunity to compose/construct a variety of fictional and non-fictional "creative" and informative/persuasive Web texts, this course should be of value to students across the college.In this course, students will survey a wide variety of Web texts--webs, electronic journals and books, learning to analyze these as to their efficacy in light of each text's rhetorical situation. As students learn to compose and construct such texts themselves, rhetorically based principles of audience awareness and persuasive appeal will be emphasized. Rather than focusing on writing HTML and java script codes, this course will build on the rhetorical principles taught in first-year writing courses, teaching students how to apply those principles to more sophisticated, multi-sensory, multi-media hyper textual writing.
The course will be taught primarily in a hands-on workshop environment-in a PC computer lab or laptop-equipped classroom. Although no prior Web writing experience is required, some experience with Web navigation and computer word processing will be helpful. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation/attendance in the course's workshop environment, written web analyses, and constructed web texts.
Select one of the following prerequisites:
ENGL 15
ENGL 30H
CAS 137H
*Course offered in Sp. semesters
GEOG 160 Mapping Our Changing World(3)(GS)(BA) emphasizes the fundamental concepts of GIS, cartography, remote sensing, and GPS in the context of environmental and social problems. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Mapping involves producing and using geographic data. Geographic data specifies the locations and characteristics of people, the objects people create, and the various phenomena of the natural environment with which people interact. Geographic data is produced by several methods, including land surveying, aerial photography and photo grammetry, satellite remote sensing and positioning systems, and social surveys such as those conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Geographic information systems (GIS) and related technologies are used to turn data into maps, tables, and other kinds of information people need to make informed decisions.
In a rapidly changing world, detailed, up-to-date geographic data is indispensable for governance, for commerce, and for research intended to improve our understanding of social and environmental systems. GEOG 160 helps students begin to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that constitute geographic information literacy - the ability to 'recognize when information is needed and ... to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information' (ALA 1989). Geographic information science (GIScience) is are search enterprise concerned with the design, development, and use of geographic information technologies to help institutions and individuals not only respond to, but ideally to predict, environmental and social change.
GEOG 160 is an introduction to GI Science that provides students with the technical and contextual knowledge they need to become knowledgeable consumers of geographic data and information produced by government agencies, industry, and popular media. The course is intended to be of value not only to future specialists in the geographic information enterprise, but also to every student who is concerned with social and environmental research and policy-making. Like other information technologies, GIS is evolving rapidly. People who work with GIS understand that learning is a way of life, not just a prelude to a career. With this in mind, GEOG 160 aims not only to help students learn about geography and GIS, but also to develop the disposition to become effective lifelong learners.
*Course counts toward the data visualization minor.
*Course offered during Fa. and Sp. semesters
An introduction to GIS (Geographic Information Systems) with emphasis on applications and analysis. Applied Geographic Information Systems (1) is a one-credit two-hour laboratory course to be taken concurrently with GEOG 160, Mapping Our Changing World. GEOG 160 and GEOG 161 will be offered concurrently as a required course pair for the proposed Environmental Studies Option within the B.S. Science major (SCNBD) at Behrend College. The courses can also be choices in the 'Supporting Courses and Related Areas' list for the B.S. Science major's General, General Pre-certification, and Earth and Space Science Pre-certification options. The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with GIS and provide them with the ability to use GIS software commonly used by industry, academia, and government agencies. GEOG 161 will provide students with training and experience in computer-based practical applications of concepts and theory learned in GEOG 160. They will analyze and solve 'real-world' problems using hands-on, problem-solving, and inquiry-based approaches to learning. Students will work individually and in small teams in a GIS software-equipped computer laboratory. Students will be evaluated based on the quality of laboratory reports/assignments and on a larger research project with a presentation conducted during the final five weeks of the semester. GEOG 161 will be offered at least once per year.
*Course counts toward the data visualization minor.
*Course offered during Fa. and Sp. semesters
This course describes and explains the principles of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Building on the overall introduction in the prerequisite course on the special characteristics of spatial data and how our earth is measured an mapped, Geography 363 focuses on ho to use data to develop solutions for geographic representation and analysis tasks using GIS software. Students learn the basics of GIS data acquisition, manipulation, and analysis. Students will learn to gather or create relevant spatial data, clean/recertify/bring the data into the GIS, perform GIS operations, visualize and communicate results in an informative way, and sufficiently answer basic research questions. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Understand Geographic Information Science principles. 2. Handle geographic data for a variety of applications. 3. Find, use and evaluate GIS datasets. 4. Describe capabilities and limitations of GIS methods and models. 5. Confidently use capabilities of the ArcMap GIS software package. 6. Demonstrate ability to design and carry out spatial analyses using GIS. 7. Communicate the results of geographic analyses to others, both in oral and written form. 8. Acquire skills to use GIS in a career, or work in a GIS-related career. 9. Solve spatial problems. 10. Give advice for what problems can be solved and what techniques can be used.
*Course offered in the Sp. semesters
Prerequisite:
GEOG 160
Guided research in the literature of medieval Europe.
*Consult with your advisor about when this class is offered
*Course counts toward writing across the curriculum
Prerequisite:
HIST 1