In March, with support from the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) and the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab, the Maker Lab in the Humanities at the University of Victoria (UVic) will offer a free, hands-on, weekend workshop in programming in the arts and humanities. As part of the “Hello World” workshop series, participants will learn how to write in the Python 3 programming language. Python 3 is known for its versatility and appeal across platforms and settings. For instance, it is frequently used when building games, interactive media, digital art, and text analysis applications. When compared with many other programming languages, it is also quite friendly to beginners. And its name indeed refers to the BBC comedy series.
Conducted as a graduate micro-seminar, with a small number of students (~10), the DHSI workshop will assume all participants have no programming experience or knowledge of Python. It will also assume a bias toward programming from arts and humanities perspectives. Participants will be asked to bring their own laptops (PC or Mac). In advance, they will also be given instructions for how to install Python 3 on their own machines. During the two-day workshop, each participant will use both the command line and a text editor of choice to write and execute programs. The first day will cover the basics of programming and Python 3 (e.g., conditionals, loops, regular expressions, IDEs, variables, values, dictionaries, and debugging) anchored in tangible examples intended for arts and humanities practitioners. The second day will build upon the participants’ research interests, but may include instruction in how to use Python 3 to create graphics/3D models, make simple games, manipulate electronic text, and/or record audio/video. All participants will be given workshop materials, including source code, for future reference. By the workshop’s end, they will develop a beginner’s familiarity with Python 3 as well as a working understanding of how it might be meaningfully integrated into arts and humanities projects.
Details about this DHSI workshop are below. Please note that seating is limited, and registration will work on a first come, first served basis, with a waiting list. To register, please email maker@uvic.ca your name, department, and degree you’re pursuing. Requests for registration should come from UVic email addresses. In early 2015, all participants will be contacted by the Maker Lab with an update on the workshop, including details about logistics, installing Python 3, and meals provided during the morning and afternoon.
INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING AND PYTHON 3 IN THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES
A Digital Humanities Summer Institute “Hello World” Workshop for Graduate Students at UVic
Saturday March 7th (10am- 5pm) and Sunday, March 8th (10am – 5pm) 2015
Instructor: Jentery Sayers (Dept. of English, jentery@uvic.ca)
Intended Audience: UVic graduate students in the arts and humanities with an interest, but no experience, in programming
Location: Clearihue Building (exact room to be announced in early 2015)
Meals: Breakfast (bagels from Mount Royal) provided both mornings; lunch (pizza from Ali Baba) provided Saturday
Cost: No registration fee, but space is limited (first come, first served, with a waiting list)
Register: Email maker@uvic.ca your name, department, and graduate degree you’re pursuing (when registering, please use your UVic email address)
If you cannot attend the workshop in its entirety (i.e., both days, 10am-5pm), then please refrain from registering. Thank you.
Post by Jentery Sayers, attached to the HelloWorld project, with the news tag. Featured image for this post care of Jentery Sayers and Sublime Text 3.
