CONTEXT The wider context for this project is determined by: a) The unbalanced application of Digital Humanities to education in comparison to its growth as a research field, which is changing perspectives on the history of literature. The application of DH to the teaching of literature has a great potential to understand discourses in context, cultural connections through intertextualities and flow of topics across the time. b) The necessity to further develop distant learning didactics due to growing numbers of working students, the unavailability of specialists in certain areas in all the universities, and the perspectives of future lockdown situations. c) The restriction of syllabi in Hispanic Studies around the world to studies on Spain and Latin America, leaving behind other historical Spanish speaking communities around the world (including the Philippines, Marianas, Western Sahara, Morocco, the US, Sephardic communities and Equatorial Guinea) and thus ignoring transnational and transcultural connections beyond national borders. MAIN OBJECTIVES This project focuses on the improvement of methods for teaching literature and covering a gap in syllabi in Hispanic Studies around the world. In this way, we intend to narrow the gap between research trends and educational practices in the Humanities. In particular, its main objectives are (1) facilitating the incorporation of Digital Humanities methods and resources to the teaching of Literature in Higher Education, (2) enabling the study of Philippine Literature in Spanish despite the lack of specialists in most of the universities in Europe and (3) improving the didactics of distance learning to get the students to acquire skills and practice them instead of being recipients of the information. RESULTS 1) Compile, examine and compare the syllabi and methodologies in literature teaching in different European countries identifying good practice in successful collaboration across borders. 2) Analyse the different types and resources of distance learning that involved universities are engaged in and identifying areas for development and improvement. 3) Contribute to the debate on transnationalism and on the importance of literature teaching by focusing on the interdisciplinarity of the chosen topic (Philippine Literature in Spanish), which helps to understand trends in History, Sociology, Anthropology, Art, English Studies, Asian Studies, Language evolution and Languages in contact. 4) Design guidelines and tools for the development and running of courses on Literature using Digital Humanities, on Distant Learning and on Philippine Literature in Spanish which can be used by any European university. 6) Contribute to the training of docents in methodologies of distance learning that allow an optimization of the efficiency to get closer to the actual classroom experience, and promoting open education. PARTNERS The transnational context in which this project is set is that of a network of 5 young universities from 3 different European countries: Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain), UNED (Spain), Université Paris Nanterre (France) and Université Clermont-Auvergne (France). We work in collaboration with an extensive network of colleagues around the world including two associate partners: Universidad Ateneo de Manila (Philippines) and HSE University (Russian Federation). All of them have specialists either in distance learning, in Digital Humanities or/and in Philippine Literature and cultural relations East-West. METHODOLOGY The methodology applied involves: (i) an assessment of the tasks required to complete a project (ii) a detailed breakdown of the process to monitor their completion. Intellectual outputs and activities have been carefully designed. Every partner has a key role in the project and will be responsible for the coordination of one or more work package(s). Leadership and effective communication are key to the successful management of the project. IMPACT We plan for extensive and sustainable impact at the institutional level, to enhance the professional development of project members and the opportunities for learners. At the European level, the project paves the way for diversifying the syllabi in Literature and the Humanities, the revalorization of literature te as well as narrowing the gap between research and education. It reaches well beyond the consortium, to have a strong impact on institutions that have expressed an interest in the project as can be in the annexes. It will be ensured with a range of multiplier events. In the short-term, the outputs of this project should provide institutions in Europe with the necessary tools and resources to incorporate Digital Humanities and Philippine Literature to their teaching. Sustainability of the project is guaranteed by the use of both, universities’ and European platforms to publish the expected intellectual outputs (guidelines, teaching materials, and MOOCs).
This project focuses on the improvement of methods for teaching literature and covering a gap in syllabi in Hispanic Studies around the world. In this way, we intend to narrow the gap between research trends and educational practices in the Humanities. In particular, its main objectives are (1) facilitating the incorporation of Digital Humanities methods and resources to the teaching of Literature in Higher Education, (2) enabling the study of Philippine Literature in Spanish despite the lack of specialists in most of the universities in Europe and (3) improving the didactics of distance learning to get the students to acquire skills and practice them instead of being recipients of the information.
The idea for this project came from a group of researchers, most of whom specialise in Hispanic-Filipino literature, who wondered why Hispanic-Filipino literature was absent from university curricula. We identified three shortcomings: on the one hand, the lack of teaching staff, on the other hand, the difficult accessibility of texts, and finally, the scarcity of modern critical texts adapted to teaching. For these three shortcomings, we thought of three solutions: (1) the possibilities of online training and MOOCs could solve the shortage of teaching staff; (2) repositories of Hispanic-Philippine literature and periodicals should be promoted and digital work with them should be facilitated; and (3) teaching materials should be created using modern methodologies that make it possible to describe the literary field in a quantitative and qualitative way. For this reason, we contacted the UNED, a university specialising in distance education, where we also knew specialists in Digital Humanities.