Hello all,

I posted some follow-ups to several messages, but hit the wrong button
on my mailer.  Here goes (in no particular order):

They would be suffused with a sense of humility ;)

(You ain't seen complexity till you've dealt with humanistic data)

Mostly because I think the documentation is fairly good.  I'm actually a
bit nervous about it, though.

There's a lot of interesting stuff in inform (in terms of programming
concepts), and I'm actually pretty excited about the fact that my
students will be able to learn a bit about OO from inform.  Still,
inform would certainly not be my first choice for a first programming
language (I usually teach Ruby in my humanities computing courses).

I think I'm going to tell my students: "Look, this class is going to be
a blast.  We're going to play games, read about games, talk about games,
and even build games.  But I won't lie to you.  The programming aspect
is not for the faint-hearted and you're going to have to really commit
to this class if you're going to get anywhere."

But actually, I'd love to hear arguments for or against inform on this
score.  Has anyone tried to teach if to undergraduates?  Did you use
inform (or TADS, or something else)?

Since a couple of people have communicated their bemusement  over the
term "Humanities Computing," I thought I'd post the description of HC
from the curriculum info at UGA:

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Humanities Computing endeavors to put the traditional objects of
humanistic inquiry into productive dialogue with computer technology.
As such, its terms are primarily of a philosophical and theoretical
nature. Students engaged in the study of humanities computing are
asked--first and foremost--to reflect upon the implications of
information technology for humanistic study and to consider the ways in
which that technology may work to enhance the varied projects of
critical endeavor.

An informed consideration of these matters necessarily entails an
acquaintance with the substantial body of theoretical scholarship in
humanities computing. In addition to this, however, students must
become adept at the use and creation of computer-based scholarly tools.
Ideally, the hands-on experience of using and creating such tools
deepens the students' awareness of the theoretical implications, while
conversely, philosophical reflection works to sharpen the students'
competence as users and creators of computer-based materials.

Students who choose to pursue humanities computing as an academic
field--whether by itself or as an adjunct to more conventional areas of
study--should find themselves well prepared by the core curriculum. The
technical training which the curriculum affords should also help to
prepare students for work in teaching, publishing, libraries, museums,
and those areas of commercial endeavor for which humanistic training is
understood to complement technical proficiency.

-cut-

There are actually three scholarly journals devoted to HC (all of which
have published articles on IF, incidentally) and a number of conferences
held each year.  I'd be happy to provide more information to anyone
who's interested.

Thanks for the thoughtful replies!

Steve

--
Stephen Ramsay
Assistant Professor
Department of English, University of Georgia
email: sram...@uga.edu, web: http://cantor.english.uga.edu/