Too Many Projects -Jocelyn
To blog or not to blog — that was the question. But it no longer remains one I have to think about because I was told I had to blog.
So many moons have passed since I started my summer grant work that it’s hard to decide where to begin. The Visionary Cross Project is the core of the grant, so I should start there. The layout and aesthetic have improved tenfold. I had my doubts when Roberto gave feedback on my 2.0 design back in December, but he was so right. Now we just need real humanities content to replace the placeholder ipsum (and there’s a discussion coming up this week, so stay tuned).
After the CSDH Congress, my work on the project hit a bit of a standstill. The trip threw off my rhythm, my mojo, but I’ll get back on track. You know what would help? A new mission. The interface is done and beautiful, and I’ve done everything I can for now. Negotiations with the ADS are underway, and soon we’ll find out if we can use their archives to stream. So it’s time for me to focus on the data. But what exactly does that mean? Nathan told me 3D data is very complicated, and all these things need to happen, but I still don’t know what I need to do.
However, I did see that there’s talk of fixing the Brussels Cross and redoing it with updated software. Say no more. I want that job. I don’t know how to make 3D models, but I could learn.
I’ve been considering how the 3D model works with the edition. When Shara showed her pdf demonstration of how we could display the model, it made sense to me. When you clicked the panel description, the 3D model automatically moved to show that panel. It was guiding the reader. Is that what we want to? But then we’re just using the model like a static image and that is not the point. The design of the edition needs to encourage the reader to use the model. The model is the star of the show.
Let’s backtrack to the conference. It was a good presentation. It was a long presentation. It had an argument but it was a whinny argument because there was a minimal solution. However, one of the conditions of my grant is that I have to present at the university’s summer symposium, so I have a month and a half to turn the argument from “there’s not 3D editions” to “look at this beautiful 3D edition that combines the best parts of digital editions, 3D projects, and more.
As for the Old English textbook, things are being done.
This week, Dan was corresponding with a fellow prof of Old English about Old English course design and textbooks (and what would be nice in an Old English textbook). It’s proof that my idea for an unessay last semester would have been brilliant. I wanted to survey Old English professors about what’s missing in current textbooks, so that when the time came to write one, we’d know exactly what to include. I ended up doing a different unessay, but clearly I was onto something.
The Prof. mentioned something I’ve been thinking this whole time: the textbook should use examples directly from the course readings. So how can I start writing a textbook without knowing which texts will be taught? Just leave gaps for obviously. But I need the final reading list before it’s done.
I drafted a rough outline based on all of Dan’s syllabi dating back to 2006, a half finished Todoist list, and other syllabi from the internet. Until otherwise convinced or reprimanded, the book will have eight chapters:
1. Historical and linguistic background
2. Grammar 1 (parts of speech and morphology)
3. Grammar 2 (syntax)
4. The noun phrase and nouns
5. The verb phrase and verbs
6. Irregular verbs
7. Adjectives and adverbs
8. Poetry essentials
Isn’t that a beautiful plan?
Now, about the texts: I’ve been torn. Part of me thinks the Old English poetry course (rebranded Advanced Old English) should run in the spring and use Eight Old English Poems. The dilemma is that Caedmon’s Hymn and The Dream of the Rood are both in that collection and have been in Dan’s syllabus since 2007. Should we remove them in the regular course to leave space for the more advanced class? But Caedmon’s Hymn is perfect for a quick paleography lecture and a gentle intro to poetry. Also, if a dedicated student were to add up all the lines in Eight Old English Poems, they’d find only about 850 lines total. Is that really enough for an advanced course? That’s not even a third of Beowulf.
The Vercelli Book is more promising, about 3,500 lines altogether, and even longer than Beowulf. But all of this is beside the point and not my task. The question is: Which texts should I be using for textbook examples?
While I’m sidetracked with course design, let’s talk compositions. Composition is one of the main reasons I want to write this textbook. Back when I took Teaching and Learning Second Languages, I designed a project-based learning plan for Old English centered on the Colloquy of Occupations. It heavily emphasized mini compositions.
What if, instead of using the whole PBL project, we just used the composition idea? Something simple: students write one or two sentences in class, on paper, using a word bank. The goal would be to confirm they can use the proper demonstrative, choose the correct noun case, and conjugate verbs correctly. Doesn’t that sound so nice and useful?
I blog every week now.
