Ateneo - UPO

It is a "hands on" course that presupposes the constant active participation of students who, guided by tutors, will read and compare texts, learn to use two of the main platforms for writing and digital research and will create a digital critical edition of John Hewlitt's novel, "Cross on the Moon" with the digital publication platform "Manifold".

Mandatory Readings:

James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912). Edited by J Goldsby, New York: A Norton Critical Edition, 2015.

George Schuyler, “Black No More” (1931) Penguin Classics (January 16, 2018), Paperback ISBN-10 0143131885; ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143131885;
Nella Larsen, “Quicksand” (1928) in Quicksand and Passing: two novellas. New York: Vintage, 2022.

John Hewlitt, "Cross on the Moon", McGrow-Hill, 1946 (pdf will be available on DIR)

Extra readings, for further consultation and available in the library:

Stephen Ramsay, “On the Digital Humanities Essays and Provocations” Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2023.
David Marriott, “Of Effacement Blackness and Non-Being” Stanford: Stanford UP, 2023.
Shirley Moody-Turner, ed., “African American Literature in Transition, 1900-1910”, Oxford UP

FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS:

Critical Review of one of their choice among these two essays:

A) Jennifer Wenzel, “The Disposition of Nature: Environmental Crisis and World Literature” NY, Columbia UP, 2019.

B) Nocek Adam, “Molecular Capture.” Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2021

A reading list to be agreed upon with the Professor and a 3000 words essay on a topic agreed upon with the Professor

Learning to recognize different forms of racial and interracial representation in the early twentieth century, i.e. before World War II and the Civil Rights Movement;

Learning to recognize stereotypes and forms of racialization and race-based discrimination .

Gaining in-depth knowledge of the literary texts planned in the syllabus and their rhetorical, morphosyntactic, and cultural structures, situating them in the context of North American literary history.

Familiarizing with methodologies for distant reading (Voyant Tools) and strengthening close reading skills for North American literature; developing a basic knowledge of conventional and digital bibliographic research and with the digital publishing platform, “Manifold”

Developing the skills and abilities consistent with the general frame of the degree course LM37. In particular:

Learning how to interpret, analyze and critically synthesize the proposed texts with particular attention to their transnational dimension;

Learning how to reflect critically on the use of digital technologies for the purposes of humanistic research and editing purposes, especially in the literary field;

Learning how to communicate clearly and effectively in English through the drafting of comments, notes, critical observations and all the editorial work related to issuing the critical edition of John Lewitt, “Cross on the Moon”.

No specific pre-requisite. Interest for the subject of this class and for collaborative projects;
English B2-C1 level.
No previous knowledge of digital tools for literary analysis and research is required.

Double modality teaching: in class (Professor) and online (Digital Humanities expert tutor).

Class will start in the week of October 2nd. Between the end of October and the beginning of November a short suspension period will allow students to work on research, and in December students will work on building the database together with the tutor. The final presentation of the students' editorial works will take place in January.

This is a "hands on" course that presupposes the constant active participation of students, who, guided by tutors, will engage in a comparative digital analysis of texts concerning racial representation. After exploring different forms of racial representation in assigned readings written by both African American and white American writers, and using the methodologies of both close and distant reading, students will practice their own research with the digital methodologies taught in this class on a corpus of periodical publications in order to create a critical edition of John Hewlitt novel, “Cross on the Moon” on the publishing platform, “Manifold”. Publication will follow digital methodologies taught in this class and on which students will have exercised in the course of the semester, particularly as it concerns common rhetorical forms, recurring figures, thematic areas, and textual strategies of racial representation in the United States of the years 1910-1940.
Students will be asked to produce short texts (1000 to 2000 words) in English on specific aspects of the novel. They will also have to write a short critical reflection (500 words) on their experience in applying digital technologies to the study of literature. Students will have to prepare individually the assigned readings, but will work in small groups on the research and design and construction of materials for the critical edition of the novel.

To pass the exam students must: 1. participate in the lessons and complete the weekly assignments that will lead to the creation of the critical edition of the novel; 2. carry out research and annotations under the guidance of teachers-tutors; 3. Write: short texts in English (between 1000 and 3000 characters), conducive to the critical edition and on agreed upon topics/issues or specific aspects of the novel, and brief report of about 500 words on the experience of Digital Humanities for the study of literature. The final version of the written assignments, delivered by e-mail, at least one week before the date set for the appeal, will contribute for 40% to the determination of the final grade, and will be evaluated on the basis of: - level of depth of the content; - consistency; - synthetic efficiency – expressive correctness (spelling, grammatical and syntactic); - formal correctness (use of sources, notes, bibliography, layout).

4. Present, in class, according to the early semester calendar, a weekly reading assigned by the teachers and / or related to their research, and the various annotations to the readings indicated by the teachers.
All the necessary information will be distributed at the beginning of class. Presentations and assignments contribute for 60% to the attribution of the final grade.

The overall grade will be assigned on the basis of the following characteristics that correspond, respectively, to the "advanced", "intermediate", "elementary" levels:
HP (High Pass): the writings, research and presentations assigned are accurate, convincing, comprehensive, precise and written in well-articulated prose in English; demonstrate knowledge of the assigned material, awareness of the relationship between information, digital research and interpretation; analytical reading skills; ability to apply the digital research tools acquired in this class to research design; originality and critical thinking skills. (28-30L)
P (Pass): the assigned writings, researches and presentations demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the course material, an elementary acquisition of the digital tools taught in the course and a basic ability to link digital tools to literary analysis. (18-23)
F (fail): Insufficient. The assigned writings, researches and presentations do not meet any of the following criteria: accuracy, precision, reading comprehension, written expression, acquisition of basic digital research tools. (less than 18)

Critical literature and further information will be provided at the beginning of class. Registration on platform DIR is required. Please check the teacher's page on Upobook regularly. Non-attending students (i.e. those not attending more than half of the lectures) should contact the professor in order to develop a detailed program. Please read the texts before we will analyze them in class, so you will be able to better understand the explanations and to participate in the discussion.

In order to achieve a basic level of knowledge, skills and abilities, the student is asked to: 1. (knowledge and understanding) demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the three novels covered by the course, through the assigned writings, annotations and presentations; 2. (ability to apply knowledge and understanding): have acquired elementary skills and a basic knowledge of the digital tools taught in the course and apply them to the assigned project; link digital tools to literary analysis at basic level; know how to carry out an elementary search on databases and digital archives; 3. (communication skills): to be able to present, with clear formulation, relevant considerations on texts, events, and problems related to the main issues of racial representation in the United States of the early twentieth century; 4. (learning skills): knowing how to use at an elementary level the methodological tools provided in class (for attending students) and make use of the materials on DIR and the essays provided in the exam bibliography (for all students), in order to identify the thematic nuclei and the fundamental objects of study.
To achieve an advanced level, the student must demonstrate: 1. (knowledge and understanding): in depth knowledge of assigned materials through solid research, writings and assigned presentations and through accurate, convincing, comprehensive, precise written texts in a well-articulated prose in English; 2. (ability to apply knowledge and understanding): a deep awareness of the relationship between racial representation and ideology and of the relation between information, digital research and interpretation; analytical reading skills; originality and capacity for critical thinking and methodological reflection; 3. (autonomy of judgment): knowledge of how to organize the research by integrating close and distant reading; knowledge of how to select the relevant information and data for the project, starting from an elementary research on databases and digital archives; knowledge of how to establish connections independently, for example through different texts, events, authors, people; 4. (communication skills): know how to present, with consistency and organicity, with clear formulation, and through a logical and argumentative sequence, original observations about the object of study, demonstrating synthetic and terminological skills and property of use.