The Programming Humanist: Text Analysis in the Age of AI

Course Description

Computational Humanities is transforming the study of literature, history, and culture.

This hands-on course introduces the latest computational methods for textual analysis through Python programming, teaching you to analyze text collections—from classic literature to social media archives, historical documents to contemporary websites. You'll learn practical Python techniques—including web scraping to build datasets and data visualization—while diving into cutting-edge AI technologies. These include Natural Language Processing (NLP) and transformer models (the technology behind ChatGPT) for applications like topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and zero-shot classification.

No programming experience required. The course provides both the basics of Python programming and the practical tooling to conduct your own digital humanities project. Throughout, you'll learn best practices for using computational and AI tools in research while developing a critical perspective on their limitations and biases. Ideal for students interested in the intersection of computation, AI, and the humanities.

Course Criteria

This course is primarily comprised of undergraduate students. A select number of places are reserved for advanced high school students.

Instructor(s)

Clovis Gladstone