Application for 685: Directed Studies
Elizabeth Grumbach
Fall 2011
3 Hour Credit
Justification
The requirements for the Digital Humanities certificate at Texas A&M University include an
“independent study project” in which a report is presented to the certificate coordinator, evaluated, and
archived on the Digital Humanities certificate website. Because I will be starting my final year at A&M
this fall, an independent study in this semester would be the most beneficial for my degree plan. I will
learn practical theory and skills to aid further professional and scholarly development in the spring
semester.
This independent study course will produce a digital visualization project, but a traditional scholarly
paper of 12-20 pages will also be required. The course will include research into various mapping
methods such as Omeka and ArcGIS in order to determine which program would be best for the project
proposed below; because I was able to experience an Introduction to GIS and Mapping at the THATCamp
and BOOTCamp sessions at Rice University this spring, practical and hands-on research into different
programs will be able to be completed. Data will be collected from the Records in Early English Drama
website, and this data will be synthesized and visualized within the chosen mapping program.
The final paper will draw on the theoretical research completed at the beginning of class to rationalize the
project; in addition, it will construct a scholarly argument about the movement of acting troupes across
early modern England. The second half of the article will be supplemented by the visualization project
and additional secondary sources/research into early modern travel and performance histories.
The overall goals of this course are to explore the mapping possibilities available for historic literary
scholarship, provide a practical background in and introduction into the digital humanities community,
and produce a project and final scholarly paper that reflects a high quality of research, theoretical
soundness, and a contribution to the early modern literary and digital humanities communities. This
digital mapping project will allow for a comparison of each acting company over several years and a
single company’s typical movements with the average movement of all companies.
Proposed Schedule of Readings and Assignments
August 29th-September 9th
Researching Mapping Programs and General Mapping Background
Readings:
Researching programs and the history of spatial projects will consist of sifting through many
blogs and bookmarking sites recommended by organizations such as the Association for
Computers and the Humanities, the Institute for Enabling Geospatial Scholarship, and the
Historical GIS Research Network. However, a few published articles and books will be carefully
examined:
Bodenhamer D.J., et al., eds. The Spatial Humanties: GIS and the Future of Humanities Scholarship.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2010. Print.
Douglas, Audrey, and Sally-Beth MacLean, eds. REED in Review: Essays in Celebration of the First
Twenty-Five Years. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2006. Print.
Gregory, Ian N. and Paul S. Ell. Historical GIS: Technologies, Methodologies, and Scholarship.
Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print.
Assignments:
A one page progress report, or summary of readings, will be turned into the Faculty Director
weekly.
September 12th-October 24th
Data Collecting and Mapping Project
Readings:
Data collection from the “Patrons and Performances Web Site” within the Records in Early
English Drama project will be completed. The recording of specific troupes travelling throughout
England will include these companies:
Chamerlain’s Men, King’s Men, Queen’s Men, Admiral’s Men, Worchester’s Men,
Pembroke’s Men, Strange’s Men, and Sussex’s Men
as well as these components:
Troupe Name: Sir Thomas Cornwall’s Entertainers and/or Minstrels/Baron of Burford’s
Entertainers
Patron: Thomas Cornwall (1472-1537)
Locations: Shrewsbury, Shropshire (5 times), Ludlow, Shropshire (1 time)
Assignments:
Using the collected data above, the inclusion of chronological dates, and generated GPS
coordinates through historical/contemporary generating programs (GoogleEarth), I will be
inserting information into the chosen mapping program in order to visualize where and when
acting troupes performed.
A weekly progress report will be delivered orally and/or in written form to the Faculty Director.
October 31st-December 2nd
Secondary Research and Synthesizing Visualized Data
Readings:
Secondary scholarly research into the movement of performing troupes throughout early modern
England will be conducted, but the following article will comprise most of the secondary readings
on troupes in early modern England:
Bentley, Gerald Eades. The Profession of Player in Shakespeare's Time. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984.
Print.
Cerasano, S. P. "The Chamberlain's-King's Men." A Companion to Shakespeare. David Scott Kastan, ed.
Hoboken, NY: Wiley-Blackwell, 1999. 328-45. Print.
Davidson, Pete. "Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Stage: Touring Practice in Shakespeare's Day." Talking
Shakespeare: Shakespeare into the Millenium. Deborah Cartmell and Michael Scott, eds.
Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 2001. Print.
Davidson, Peter. "Commerce and Patronage: The Lord Chamberlain's Men's Tour of 1597." Shakespeare
Performed: Essays in Honor of R. A. Foakes. Grace Ioppolo, ed. Cranbury, NJ: Associated UP,
2000. Print.
George, David. "Shakespeare and Pembroke's Men." Shakespeare Quarterly 32.1 (1981): 305-23. JSTOR.
Web. 1 May 2011.
Greenfield, Peter. "Professional Players at Gloucester: Conditions of Provincial Performing." Elizabethan
Theatre 10.1 (1988): 73-92. Print.
Gurr, Andrew. "The Loss of Records for the Travelling Companies in Stuart Times." Records of Early
English Drama 19.2 (1994): 2-18. Print.
Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespeare Acting Company, 1594-1642. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.
Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearian Playing Companies. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Print.
Keenan, Siobhan. Travelling Players in Shakespeare's England. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan,
2002. Print.
Knutson, Roslyn L. "Too Many Myths, Too Little Evidence." Publications of the Arkansas Philological
Association 15.1 (1989): 29-39. Print.
MacLean, Sally-Beth. "Players on Tour: New Evidence from Records of Early English Drama."
Elizabethan Theatre 10.1: 55-72. Print.
Maclean, Sally-Beth. "Tour Routes: 'Provincial Wanderings' or Traditional Circuits?" Medieval and
Renaissance Drama in England 6.1 (1993): 1-14. Print.
Somerset, Alan. "'How chances it they travel?': Provincial Touring, Playing Places, and the King's Men."
Shakespeare Survey 47 (1995): 45-60. Print.
Somerset, J. A. B. "The Lords President, Their Activities and Companies: Evidence from Shropshire."
Elizabethan Theatre 10.1 (1988): 93-111. Print.
Tiner, Elza C. "Professional Players in Stratford-on-Avon, 1587-1602." Inside Shakespeare. Paul Menzer,
ed. Cranbury, NJ: Associated UP, 2006. Print.
Assignments:
A traditional scholarly article will be produced that utilizes the visualized primary data and
secondary sources to draw conclusions about the patronage, lifespan, movement, and
performance history of various acting troupes. The article will also discuss and explore the future
of digital humanities visual scholarship in literary studies.
An outline or abstract, including an initial bibliography, will be due in oral and written form by
November 21st.
A rough draft will be due on December 2nd.
December 9th
Final Paper Due
December 19th
Grades for all students due.