Journalists, professors, authors and creative workers are increasingly required to work in environments that call for greater technical aptitude. Computer programming skills are required to make creative use of the full range of communication options available in our web-enabled world. To that end, this course wil teach students basic object-oriented programming skills, with a focus on web-related development topics.

Throughout the course, key concepts will be introduced that will help students think critically about technical issues with respect to communication. Examples include XML and the Document Object Model (DOM), the separation of content from design, localization, and version control. The course will also cover project management topics and introduce agile programming methodologies such as pair programming, where two people work side-by-side and share the task of writing code. No programming experience is required, but students should be comfortable with computer terminology and the world wide web.

Computer programming is a creative activity. It requires a degree of discipline and the use of certain techniques that are often unfamiliar to humanities students. How do you use the left side of your brain in service of the right side of your brain?

This will be an intense course. We will use "pair programming" in class, where two students will be paired to develop software together. This is a proven technique used by highly experienced developers and one that will be helpful to learning students. Students will rotate, with one student at the terminal typing in code and the second student (or possibly third) watching and discussing the program. Each week there will be a lecture and an in-class project. Students will also be working on a larger project (as a team or 2-3 programmers) to develop a wiki (you can decide what other features to add).