Assignments

• January 29: Learning Reflection: Write a short (150-250 words) blog post reflecting on what you’ve learned thus far in our class, and any skills you think you have developed. If you wish, you may also add a discussion of any concerns or anxieties you have about the material so far.
• February 13: Write a brief (250-word) blog post about your experience learning the basics of web publishing languages. Did you find understanding the concepts challenging? What did it help you understand about websites, structure, and design? Did it increase your interest in learning more about coding? (Note that “no” is a perfectly fine answer!)
• February 26: Write a 400-500-word blog post summarizing what you have learned about principles of data visualization, and the skills you are developing with regards to data visualization and analysis.
• March 25: Write a 500-ish word blog post summarizing progress on your final project. At a minimum, you should discuss these three elements: 1) what dataset are you using? (if possible, please provide a link to the data) 2) what are your current research questions that you’re hoping to answer with this data? 3) how can I help you move forward? what challenges concern you? (this might be technical details, or more theoretical issues)

(due Monday, February 5)

After choosing a site in class, write an approximately 750-word blog post reviewing the project, applying the guidelines and criteria from the JAH and The Public Historian. 
Before beginning your review, study these examples from academic journals as useful models

• Sample Review 1
• Sample Review 2
• Sample Review 3

At a minimum, your review should include:

• The name of the project, as well as a link to its main page
• Chicago-format bibliographic citation, in this format
• Description of the project’s type and purpose, and a brief descriptive overview of topical focus
• A screenshot of some part of the project
• Identifying creator and/or institutions that support the project
• What software or tools are used in the project? (Sometimes this is stated in the “about” section, or the footer; if not, try BuiltWith)
• The project’s “category” as classified by the NCPH & JAH guidelines
• At least one paragraph addressing questions raised under the “Content” section of the NCPH & JAH guidelines
• At least one paragraph addressing questions raised under the “Form” section of the NCPH guidelines

Please be aware that even though this is a blog post, you should treat this as formal academic writing, and aim for your review to have the same depth and tone of the sample reviews (even if shorter)