Introduction
The SOCRATES/ERASMUS programme of the European Commission has established
thematic
network projects in order to develop selected themes in higher education
and give them a European dimension.
Advanced Computing in the Humanities (ACO*HUM) is one of twenty-eight
networks started in 1996. The theme of our network has been the increasing
use of advanced computing in teaching and learning in the humanities, with
its problems and possibilities.
About one hundred European universities, professional associations and
other organizations found this theme so important that they have chosen
to work on it together, rather than individually. In this way, they hoped
to cope with the challenge for universities to change due to the new technologies
and their effects on our society.
ACO*HUM has been investigating the impact of new information and communication
technologies (ICT) on curriculum content, scientific methodology and learning
methods at institutions for higher education. The project has also paid
attention to the relevance of new technologies for humanities content providers,
such as museums, libraries, and archives.
ACO*HUM finished its work on October 31, 2000. The main results
can be consulted via the homepage.
Aims and objectives
ACO*HUM has investigated the use of new technologies in Humanities teaching
and learning, by identifying opportunities, problems, and good practice
with respect to the integration of advanced computing into the wider humanities
curricula. Our multilateral educational research had the following objectives:
Humanities education: needs for change
-
to analyze the ways in which humanities scholars can exploit advanced computing
methods in working with language, literature, history, philosophy, logic,
art, music, and so on
-
to research how humanities students can be better prepared for the professional
world where our languages and cultures will increasingly be manipulated
by information technology
-
to research how institutions are addressing the teaching of new skills
in advanced computing in their traditional humanities disciplines, and
how this development challenges traditional discipline boundaries
Humanities education: innovation in curricula
-
to facilitate the further development of advanced computing content in
Humanities programmes through European collaboration
-
to identify learning modules for cross-disciplinary humanities programmes
with a broad agreement on advanced computing content, means of delivery
and learning, and potential uses
-
to identify learning modules which integrate specialized computing in the
curricula of specific humanities disciplines
Humanities education: new processes for learning
-
to facilitate mobility for humanities students whose studies depend on
advanced computing
-
to increase the number of teachers competent in advanced computing in the
humanities
-
to increase the accessibility of computational resources for humanities
scholarship (e.g. language data, text repositories, historical databases,
digitized art collections)
-
to collaborate with Open and Distance Learning (ODL) projects in order
to promote the integration of accessible humanities resources in distance
learning modules
Organization
In ACO*HUM, universities in seventeen countries have worked together with
professional associations, existing groups of Universities, companies,
museums and other humanities content providers, learned societies and other
international networks.
The coordinating institution was Universitetet
i Bergen (Norway). The project has been supported by the European Commission
through a contract under the SOCRATES/ERASMUS thematic network project
action. Coordination and management of the various project elements was
the task of the project coordinator, Prof. Koenraad de Smedt, supported
by a steering committee, working groups and a project administrator.
The activities of the network were meant to be relevant for a wide range
of areas in humanities scholarship. The following working groups were established:
The working groups initiated activities and gathered results. Activities
included conferences, workshops, surveys, area meetings, curricula research,
ODL tests, information infrastructure and joint activities with other networks
and associations. ACO*HUM encourages wide participation and ensures effective
dissemination of results throughout the network by meetings and Internet-based
communication and resources.
For further information, please contact:
ACO*HUM
University of Bergen, HIT-centre
Allégaten 27
5007 Bergen, Norway
tel. +47 55582970, fax +47 55589470
http://www.aksis.uib.no/AcoHum
