Dear Future Student,

I learned a lot of important things this semester about Digital Humanities. Some of the most important things include the softwares that we learned to use. My favorite was Zotero which helps with citing sources. We also learned to use the Voyant tool, which could be beneficial for documentation practice. Topic Modeling is great for understanding the breakdown of compositions and how word choices impact the text. Studying archives gave me a new perspective on ways to interpret historical data. We even learned the basics to coding which was really fun and informative and really exciting, especially from a potential graphic design perspective which is my minor. Finally, exploring the uses and future of VR prompted interesting discussion about the future of technology and the ways that we interact with it. 

My advice to a future student in this class is to really read the weekly readings! They help so much when you are doing in class activities and engaging in in-class discussions. I would also really encourage building a friendship with the people in your small groups because you will be working with them all semester and it makes the class so much more enjoyable. Lastly I would say to not get overwhelmed with all the softwares that are introduced. It may seem like a lot up front but they are all fairly easy to learn.

The most important skill I have learned in this class that I will definitely be using in the future is the software Zotero. It allows you to combine a mix of books, articles, and other media into a folder and create a bibliography from that section. The best part is, you can use any type of formatting you want, whether that be MLA or APA and cite all your sources at the exact same time. It has already saved me so much time on assignments this semester and will be great for future work purposes with creating bibliographies as well. However, I would love to find a way to incorporate using coding skills into graphic design and website development if my career leads me in that direction. Overall, I would just say to enjoy the class and make friends with your classmates. It’s interesting conversation, wonderful skills and lovely people. 

Sincerely,

Victoria Landry