Grant Project

Project Ideas:
Project Ideas Due: Friday, February 25th by 5:00 pm
Percentage: 5%

Annotated Bibliography:
Peer Review: Wednesday, March 16th (in class)
Annotated Bibliography Due: Sunday, March 20th by 11:59 pm
Percentage: 10%

First Draft - Grant:
Peer Review: Wednesday, April 6th (in class)
First Draft Due: Friday, April 8th by 11:59 pm
Percentage: 10%

Final Draft - Grant:
Peer Review: Friday, April 22nd (in class)
Final Draft Due: Monday, April 25th by 11:59 pm
Percentage: 20%

Total Percentage: 45%

General Overview

Over the next several weeks, we will be working on writing a grant that proposes a digital humanities project. You are not responsible for completing the actual project (that’s what you’re asking for money for, after all), but you are responsible for several components that flesh out the project you imagine. If you choose, you can work in teams of two for this project.

Remember, however, that you want to imagine a project that you can actually complete within the span of a semester or summer. In fact, this project is loosely based on CNU’s Independent Research Grants. The thought here is that if you get really excited about your project, you can apply for this program and potentially get paid to create your own DH project (it comes with a $1,500 stipend!). So, this isn’t about imagining a BIG project, it’s about thinking about something small and feasible within the field of DH.

Grants are a huge part of the digital humanities field, and being able to know what goes into a grant will be helpful in many other fields as well. Plus, this is a time for creativity! This is about what you want to develop within the field of DH!

Project Ideas

For the first part of this assignment, you’re not just pitching one idea–you’ll be pitching three ideas. When I give you feedback on this portion, I’ll be trying to help you pick the best and most feasible idea. I will not accept other portions of this grant until your project idea has been approved.

So, essentially, you’ll brainstorm a few ideas for (small!) DH projects and then pitch them to me. These ideas can incorporate your area of study and/or be inspired by communities you are a part of as long as they have humanistic (and digital!) elements. So, this can’t just be a pitch for a research paper–there needs to be some sort of digital component planned (again, not executed, but planned).

Some ideas (note that this list is not exhaustive). I’ll also be sharing a list of digital resources in the Shared Google Drive:

A mapping project
An interactive timeline
A virtual museum exhibition – think about copyright here
A digital edition of a text (not just an electronic text) – and remember, editions should deal with something out of copyright and in the public domain, and you’ll want to focus on something small to start, such as a short story or a small collection of poems
A 3D modeling or printing project (critical making in a broader sense could also work here)
Some sort of network analysis or data visualization (looking at how actors are connected in old films, for instance, or looking at Twitter, Instagram, etc.) – note that this is likely the most complicated in terms of the technology used
A podcast about some aspect of DH
A born digital creative project (this could be interactive fiction, for instance)

When you pitch your three ideas, you’ll be writing a short (~100 word) description of each idea. You don’t have to know exactly what software you’re going to use to create your project yet (although thinking about this would be good, and sometimes technology can inspire the project as much as the project can decide what technology to use!), but try and come up with three ideas you are passionate and excited about. After all, we’ll be spending over eight weeks on this portion of the class. Please order your ideas in order of preference, the first one being the one you’d prefer to work on the most.

Evaluation Criteria

Pitches a digital humanities project, not a scholarly paper or something to do with another field
Follows the appropriate instructions (three ideas, ~100 word description for each idea)
Works hard to be concise and avoids unnecessary jargon
Utilizes proper mechanics; style, sentence structure, and spelling promote coherence, clarity, and credibility

Annotated Bibliography

You’ll be responsible for finding at least ten sources and writing 100-150 words per entry explaining the central argument of the source and its relevance to your project (i.e. how you plan to use it). At least five of these sources should be peer-reviewed articles/chapters either about the topic you’ve chosen or about the kind of method you’ll be using. Your other sources can include similar DH projects.

For example, say you had pitched our “Dracula’s Guest” project. Some of your sources would be about TEI and best practices for creating digital editions, other sources would be literary scholarship on the story of “Dracula’s Guest,” and still more would be examples of inspirational digital editions and/or DH projects that already deal with Bram Stoker and/or Dracula in some way.

The Annotated Bibliography should be formatted according to MLA guidelines. This means it should be double-spaced, alphabatized by the last name of the authors, and formatted with a hanging indent.

To make my life easier, I’m asking you to split the Annotated Bibliography into two parts: scholarly articles/sources and other resources (this will include DH projects and other sites/resources you find). Please see my example in the Shared Google Drive.

Finally, you should also remind me (briefly!) what your project is about before the actual entries. Again, see my example in the Shared Google Drive.

Evaluation Criteria

Follows the appropriate instructions (10 sources, at least 5 of which are peer-reviewed; 100-150 words per entry; formatted according to MLA and split into two parts)
Shows critical thinking in both the sources chosen and the description of them/their importance to your project
Works hard to be concise and avoids unnecessary jargon
Utilizes proper mechanics; style, sentence structure, and spelling promote coherence, clarity, and credibility

First Draft

Although this is called a “First Draft,” it should be a polished first draft, not a shitty first draft.

For this draft, you’re going to write a 1500-word Project Description, a 250-word Abstract, and a one-page Resume OR a one- to two-page CV.

Project Description

The first draft of your Project Description should be 1500 words and follow MLA guidelines. We’ll talk about this more in class, but keep in mind the guidelines for the Independent Research Grant here at CNU:

State the primary objective(s) of your research or creative project.
Briefly describe the foundational themes that inform your subject and elaborate on how your own work builds on these themes and/or forges new ones.
Describe the processes, methods, and materials you will use to conduct your work.
Outline any anticipated results and their significance.
Orient your work within your broader course of scholarship: Does it build on work you’ve done in the past? Do you intend to develop it in the future?
Explain the relevance and implications of your research or project: Why is this work important?
This description should be written with a general reader in mind, a reader who may not necessarily be familiar with your discipline (and certainly not with the jargon of that discipline).

Evalution Criteria - Project Description

Thinks critically about the project as a whole and answers the guidelines listed above
Persuades the reader that the project is of scholarly importance
Explains the technology needed for the project in a succinct but informative way
Presents information in an organized and coherent way
Works hard to be concise and avoids unnecessary jargon
Utilizes proper mechanics; style, sentence structure, and spelling promote coherence, clarity, and credibility
Follows the appropriate instructions

Abstract

An Abstract should effectively summarize the contents of your Project Description (which is why I urge you to write it after you’ve finished the Project Description). Remember, this will be the first thing someone reads, so make it engaging, thoughtful, and complete. Again, we’ll talk about this more in class.

Evalution Criteria - Abstract

Summarizes the contents of your Project Description in a thoughtful and engaging way
Works hard to be concise and avoids unnecessary jargon
Utilizes proper mechanics; style, sentence structure, and spelling promote coherence, clarity, and credibility
Follows the appropriate instructions

Resume or CV

You get to choose: do you want to write a 1-2 page Curriculum Vitae (CV) OR a 1-page Resume?

A CV is more common for grants because this document describes your academic achievements as opposed to emphasizing the skills you learned at certain positions.

I’m giving you the choice because a Resume might be more helpful for you at the moment as you get ready for your career, but if you are interested in writing a CV, already have one, or are thinking about graduate school, then by all means, write a CV!

We’ll be talking about both in class, but the point of both of these documents is to emphasize your preparedness for this project. Part of this is presenting a professional document, meaning it should be well designed. This does not mean you need to have color or anything especially clever–it just means you need to be consistent in formatting and presentation while also listing all of the relevant information about you.

Evaluation Criteria - Resume or CV

Formatted professionally
Presents information in an organized and coherent way
Thinks critically about the necessary content
Utilizes proper mechanics; style, sentence structure, and spelling promote coherence, clarity, and credibility
Follows the appropriate instructions (1-2 page for the CV, 1 page for the Resume)

Final Draft

Taking the feedback from your peers and me, you will revise grant packet for the Final Draft. Interestingly enough, your Project Description is going to be shorter than your First Draft; you’ll be trimming the fat, as it were, and trying to be more concise.

For this Final Draft, you’re going to submit a 1000-word Project Description, a 250-word Abstract, and a one-page Resume OR a one- to two-page CV.

You’ll still be following the guidelines listed under the First Draft section of this prompt (and anything we go over in class), but now you’ll be polishing and refining your grant as a whole and making the Project Description the appropriate length. Something to keep in mind: the word count for each part of this grant is the maximum (unlike in many of our other assignments), but you shouldn’t go much under the word count either.

Evaluation Criteria

See evaluation criteria under the First Draft section of the prompt above.

Late Work

Unless we’ve talked, I will deduct 5 points for every day each assignment is late.

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