The following is only a preliminary sketch and is subject to change; student interests and existing strengths will also be taken into account in the actual proceeding of the course.

  • Week 1 (June 1-4): Introduction to Arabic-Script Paleography and Digital Codicology
    • Script: An Overview of Script Development, Scribal Practices, and Features in Script Recognition
    • Introduction to eScriptorium
  • Week 2 (June 7-11): Introduction to Hand-Written Text Recognition and Structural Metadata Annotation
    • Script: Arabic and Persian Naskh, I.
    • Introduction to Mirador
  • Week 3 (June 14-18): Understanding Layout Issues in Islamicate Manuscripts and How to Annotate Them
    • Script: Arabic and Persian Naskh, II.
  • Week 4 (June 21-25): Guest Scholar, TBD
    • Script: An Overview of the ‘Calligraphic’ Scripts
  • Week 5 (June 28-July 2): Dealing with Marginalia, Interlinears, Scribal Abbreviations, and Corrections
    • Script: Ta’liq and Early Nasta’līq
  • Week 6 (July 5-9): Guest Scholar, TBD
    • Script: Later Persian Nasta’līq
  • Week 7 (July 12-16): The Ethics and Politics of Digitization; Introduction to Lithography and Its Role
    • Script: Maghrībī and ‘Sūdānī’
  • Week 8 (July 19-23): Guest Scholar, TBD
    • Script: Riq’a
  • Week 9 (July 26-30): The Diversity of the Islamicate Manuscript World: Other Scripts and Traditions
    • Script: Southeast and East Asian Variants of Naskh
  • Week 10 (August 2-6): The Really Hard Stuff: Documentary Scripts, Hands, and Genres
    • Script: Dīvānī and Shikasta Nasta’līq
  • Week 11 (August 9-13): Non-Textual Elements in Manuscripts and Their Role in Digitization
    • Script: An Overview of Epigraphical Scripts
  • Week 12 (August 16-20): Wrapping Up