Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. The main field of study must be within the humanities or the social sciences. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following knowledge and skills:

• Knowledge of methods for large-scale computer-supported text analysis and their areas of application.
• Knowledge regarding debates and criticism surrounding distant reading and its epistemological foundations.
• Skill in the use of software and basic scripting languages for quantitative analysis of digital text material.
• The ability to critically evaluate basic statistical results.

Content

The course introduces and discusses tools and methods for what is known as distant reading; i.e., computer-supported and quantitative analyses of digital text material. The course begins by contextualising the term distant reading, theorising on how quantitative and statistical methods differ from more traditional humanistic approaches. This perspective is continuously maintained as attention is turned to concrete distant-reading methods. The emphasis of the course is on introductory lectures and subsequent laboratory elements in which students will have the opportunity to try various distant-reading methods and programs for themselves. The primary point of departure is finished software; however, some basic scripting languages will also be presented and implemented during the course in order to increase understanding of how computer-supported text processing works in practice.

Instruction

The course consists of seminars, practical sessions, and laboratory elements. All elements of tuition that involve some form of examination are compulsory. Absence will need to be compensated for by performing supplementary tasks. We recommend that course participants bring a laptop for use during classes, however this is not necessary.

Assessment

The course is assessed by an individual written assignment, seminars, and laboratory tasks.

Active participation in the examined seminars is a requirement fulfiling the course requirements. Any student who misses a single compulsory teaching element will be required to submit a supplementary assignment, the scope of which will reflect the workload that would have been required to actively participate in the teaching element in question.

Generally speaking, the course will include one ordinary examination opportunity plus one retake. The date of the retake will also be the deadline for submitting supplementary assignments. Thereafter, students will be referred to the next occasion on which the course is held, which as a rule will be during the following academic year.

Students who wish to complete supplementary assignments from a previous course will preferably be given an assignment based on current course content. All elements of the course will be assessed with one of the grades fail, pass or pass with distinction.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.