Looking for classes to take this fall? Here are a few that will help you explore the intersection of theology and artificial intelligence, use digital humanities methods to study ecological issues, improve your programming skills, and more. Course offerings range from theoretical considerations of technology and DH to hands-on practice with digital tools.

For more detailed information about prerequisites and enrollment, please see the full course descriptions at courses.yale.edu.

If you are teaching a course connected to DH and would like it included in the list below, please email the DHLab.

The Automatic Promise: Architecture’s Computer Dismembered
ARCH 3076
Francesca Hughes

This seminar examines the historic, uncanny doubling of architecture with computation, arguing that without architectural imagination the computer would not be the same (and vice versa). Over the course of the semester, students will consider architecture and computation’s shared ideations of memory storage and retrieval systems; mechanisms for deletion and forgetting; windows, guns, pens, nozzles; universal languages, algorithms and other compressive strategies in the calculation of true products; and the taming of chance by prediction.

Python Programming for Humanities and Social Sciences
CPSC 110
Sohee Park

Designed for non-STEM majors, this class provides an introduction to computer science and Python programming and discusses practical ways to apply computing techniques to the humanities and social sciences. Topics will include abstraction, algorithms, data structures, web development, and statistical tools. No previous programming experience required.

YData: An Introduction to Data Science
CPSC 123, PLSC 351, S&DS 123, S&DS 523
Ethan Meyers

Computational, programming, and statistical skills are no longer optional in our increasingly data-driven world. YData is an introduction to data science that emphasizes the development of these skills while providing opportunities for hands-on practice. Focusing on the widely used computing language Python 3, the class is designed to be accessible to students with little or no background in computing, programming, or statistics, as well as to those who are more technically oriented.

Computer Science and the Modern Intellectual Agenda
CPSC 150
David Gelernter

This class offers an introduction to the basic ideas of computer science—computability, algorithms, virtual machines, and symbol processing systems—as well as to ongoing relationships between computer science and other fields, particularly philosophy of mind. No previous experience with computers necessary.

Making Art with AI
CSTC 210
Ted Moore

This course considers recent cultural developments and issues in artificial intelligence through the lens of generative AI. Students will generate text, images, video, and sound using personally created datasets, while also learning the theory and technique of AI systems and AI-generated art. Through a mix of creative projects and critical writing, students will develop a technical and theoretical understanding of how AI is changing society, in particular to uphold inequalities, injustices, and hegemonies. All students, with all levels of techno-fluency, are welcome to enroll.

Poetry and AI
ENGL 353
Benjamin Glaser

This course asks what literary study and especially poetics can teach us about the ongoing training, implementation, and dissemination of large language models. What can the history of poetry tell us about the form of AI text? Generative AI continues to transform writing across contexts and genres. What can its linguistic algorithms teach us about human-authored writing? What AI tools serve literary analysis? No knowledge of machine learning, programming, or familiarity with AI tools is required. Student work will include traditional critical essays, creative projects, and/or the supported development of digital tools and projects.

Media, AI and Algorithmic Bias
FILM 390
Neta Alexander

Algorithms play a crucial role in deciding which clothes we buy, which songs we listen to, which books we read, who we might date, and how much we would pay for a flight ticket. However, the logic on which algorithmic systems are based and the infrastructures that sustain them are still largely unknown to their users (and, increasingly, to their developers). This course explores several case studies—from Netflix’s recommendation system to Google’s autocomplete—in order to demystify the logic of algorithms, revealing how they paradoxically decrease diversity of tastes, opinions, and experiences. This process of “un-black boxing” will emphasize “the implantation gap” in algorithmic systems and the ways in which they give birth to new systems of control, surveillance, and biopower.

Environmental Digital Humanities
HUMS 300
Sayan Bhattacharyya

This class seeks to help students develop an integrated understanding of environmental and ecological issues from the point of view of the digital humanities, examining literature, the arts, philosophy, and cultural studies in conjunction with digital technologies. Over the course of the semester, students will consider how two increasingly important issues in the modern world—digital technology and environmental concerns—intersect.

Digital Humanities I: Architectures of Knowledge
CPLT 606, FREN 945, HUMS 387, SPAN 291, SPAN 845
Alexander Gil Fuentes

This course offers an introduction to digital humanities theory and practice through a combination of seminar meetings, brief lectures, and a digital studio. In addition to learning how to understand and produce popular genres of DH projects—for example, digital editions of literary or historical texts, exhibits of primary sources, and interactive maps—students will explore the basics of plain text, file and operating systems, data structures, and internet infrastructure. Students also will collaborate with one another on a shared research project. No prior experience required.

AI and Democracy
PLSC 338
Luise Papcke

This course examines the social and political impact of artificial intelligence on democratic life. How does AI affect the material conditions supporting prosperity, equality, and liberty? What is new about “surveillance capitalism,” and what repercussions are to be expected from the turn towards “data” as one of the main engines of the economy? Would Universal Basic Income solve the looming problem of unemployment stemming from the rise of generative AI? From echo chambers to mis/disinformation and deepfakes, how can we regulate how AI influences public discourse? Finally, how can we mobilize AI to improve our democratic institutions—from more responsive government, to digital forms of participation, and maybe even personalized law? No prior background in political theory or AI is required.

AI Ethics and Theology
REL 652
Jennifer Herdt and Kathryn Tanner

Rapid advances in AI and digital technologies, including predictive and generative AI, raise a host of ethical and theological questions. What kinds of subject formation result from the expanding reach of these technologies? How are they transforming our interpersonal relationships and our societies? This course explores these questions and more, covering topics such as bias, data discrimination, economic exploitation, misinformation, deep fakes, ecological impacts, and the use of autonomous weapons systems. In addition, we consider how the advent of generative AI reshapes discussions of theological and philosophical anthropology, and survey principlist, rights-based, virtue-ethical, and emerging theological responses to the issues that now face us.

Data Science Ethics
S&DS 150

This course analyzes ethical issues, algorithmic challenges, and policy decisions arising from data science and machine learning. Students will grapple with what constitutes bias, fairness, discrimination, and ethics in areas such as policing, health, journalism, and employment; use quantitative measures to study how algorithms codify, exacerbate, and/or introduce biases of their own; and study analytic methods of correcting for or eliminating these biases. Lastly, students will study the social implications of these decisions, and understand how we might make data-driven decision making more transparent and auditable. Readings include technical papers, legal scholarship, philosophy, sociology, and policy documents.

Digital Humanities Practical Workshop Series
SPAN 984
Alexander Gil Fuentes

Every term, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Humanities Program offer practical DH workshops for graduate students. Ranging from stand-alone sessions to series on particular themes or toolsets, the workshops cover topics such as text analysis, web scraping and data mining, digital editions and exhibits, dissertation and general academic tech, advanced scholarly research techniques, interactive maps and visualizations, data and project management, privacy and security, copyright law, cultural analytics, and more. Workshops also are available on demand at the request of four or more graduate students.

Digital Humanities Practicum
SPAN 990
Alexander Gil Fuentes

Project-based learning and teams are at the heart of digital humanities pedagogy. This independent study course is designed to allow teams of graduate students to pursue a research question in the humanities, as well as to provide an appropriate research output for their scholarly project. Student teams will be mentored by an instructor and other relevant professionals at Yale. Students may either pursue their own original scholarly project or participate in projects designed by the instructor or other humanities faculty.