First Steps in Coding with Python

Description

Convenor: Dr Estara Arrant (Cambridge University Library)

This session is aimed at researchers who have never done any coding before. We will explore basic principles and approaches to navigating and working with code, using the popular programming language Python. Participants will use the Jupyter Notebooks platform to learn how to analyse texts. This will provide participants with a working foundation in the fundamentals of coding in Humanities research. The software we will use is free to download and compatible with most computers, and we will provide support in installation and setup before the class.

Target audience: CDH Methods sessions are open to the University of Cambridge staff and graduate students who want to learn and apply digital methods and use digital tools in their research, these sessions may be of particular interest to:

• PhD students in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Early Career Researchers in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Other Cambridge students and staff welcome

About the convenor: Estara is a Postdoctoral Research Associate based at the Cambridge University Library in the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit. She works on the ERC-funded project TEXTEVOLVE: A New Approach to the Evolution of Texts Based on the Manuscripts of the Targums, where she analyses the history of Aramaic translations of the Bible using bioinformatic methods and algorithms.

Dr Arrant is a linguist of Semitic languages, data scientist, palaeographer, and Middle Eastern studies scholar. She uses data science, applied mathematics, and computational tools to help solve long-standing problems and create new tools to further the linguistic, religious, and historical study of Middle Eastern languages and cultures.