Spring 2017--Engl 495 Nebraska Literary Lab
The Nebraska Literary Lab is a collaborative research enterprise focused on leveraging computational text analysis and mining methods for the study of literature. The Lab is open to students, faculty, and staff at UNL with occasional participation from collaborators at other universities and also from industry. Literary Lab research is collaborative in nature with a focus on advancing new knowledge within literary studies (defined broadly to include fiction and nonfiction, new media, the book industry, publishing, etc). The primary work product is co-authored publications and conference papers. Lab participants may occasionally write and release software developed as part of the work, though this is not a primary objective. The Lab supports several simultaneous projects. Participation on project teams varies based on interest, but typically a project has two or three collaborators. New projects are proposed (pitched) by Lab participants at regularly scheduled meetings. Projects tend to develop organically and begin life as “exploratory” investigations. After an initial phase of exploration, projects move to a proof of concept phase in which the objective is to develop and test potential methods of analysis with an eye towards learning as quickly as possible if the project is technically viable. Viable projects then move into full production with the goal of producing a research paper for presentation and/or publication. After each phase in the life cycle of a project, the research team makes a 30-60 minute report/presentation to the larger Lab group. These are opportunities to get feedback from the entire Lab community. In these meetings we encourage an atmosphere of open and rigorous exchange.
Requirements include:
As part of the internship, students are required to read Text Analysis with R for Students of Literature (Springer 2014), and complete some related assignments to demonstrate competency. At the beginning of the internship, each student will be assigned (based on preference) to one of the projects underway in the lab. Working in collaboration with other team members, the students will develop a plan and outline a set of deliverables for the semester. At the end of the term, each team will present their work in the lab. Following the formal presentation, we will discuss and explore the next steps in the research and begin working on transitioning the work into a formal paper to submit for peer review. Participants are expected to work up to nine hours per week including a weekly 1-2 hour long team meetings / work sessions.
Learning Objectives:
-Interns will develop text mining skills while working on a real research project
-Interns will work in teams and develop skills in effective collaboration
-Interns will develop ad hoc computer program and routines
-Interns will practice presentation skills
-Interns will develop leadership and project management skills.
Assessment:
Grades will be rewarded based on the quality of the research work completed
Application Process:
Please submit the following documents to the English Undergraduate Advising Office:
1.Academic Resume
2.Cover letter: Your cover letter should be addressed to Matthew Jockers (Director of the Nebraska Literary Lab). The letter should briefly describe your background in textual literary analysis (quantitative or qualitative) and what you hope to gain through participation in a research lab geared toward the computational text analysis/mining of literary material.