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64429-01 - Lecture with practical courses: Introduction to Python for Humanities and Social Sciences (4 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Rosa Lavelle-Hill (rosa.lavelle-hill@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In this course, you'll learn the fundamentals of the Python programming language, along with programming best practices. You’ll learn to represent and store data using Python data types and variables and use conditionals and loops to control the flow of your programs. You’ll harness the power of complex data structures like lists, sets, dictionaries, and tuples to store collections of related data. You’ll define and implement your custom functions, test their accuracy, and handle errors. Lastly, you’ll learn to use modules in the Python Standard Library and other third-party libraries, as well as object-oriented programming with Python. In the exercise sessions, you will receive exercises about the topic of the day's lecture. You will be working on the exercises during the session and will receive guidance and feedback. |
| Learning objectives | By the end of this course, students will know both fundamental programming concepts and the Python programming language. Students will be able to develop their own Python code to automatically solve complex real world problems. This course is dedicated to core Python skills that will give you a solid base and allow you to pursue any further direction: using Python in academic and research projects, in data science, or a career as a developer. This course will prepare you for the successive "Advanced Python for the Humanities" course offered in the spring semesters. |
| Bibliography | - Learning Python, 5th Edition, Mark Lutz, published by O'Reilly Media, Inc. 2013 - Introducing Python, 2nd Edition, Bill Lubanovic, published by O'Reilly Media, Inc. 2019. - Learn Python Programming - Third Edition, Fabrizio Romano, Heinrich Kruger, published by Packt Publishing, 2021. |
| Comments | This course has a learning-by-doing format. Students must bring their own laptops to the course. Only three absences are permitted; medical attestation is required for further absences! |
| Admission requirements | The course is capped at 33 students. If enrollment exceeds this limit, priority will be given to Digital Humanities students. |
| Course application | No prior programming knowledge is required. Participation in both lecture and exercise sessions is mandatory. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 10.15-14.00 | -- Anfrage zentraler Raum für Lehre- |
Dates
| Modules |
General Electives in Business and Economics: Additional Courses (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) General Electives in Business and Technology: Additional Courses (Master's Studies: Business and Technology) Modul: Erweiterung Methodenkenntnisse MA (Master's degree subject: Science of Religion) Modul: Humanities and Social Science Coding (Master's degree subject: Digital Humanities) Modul: Kulturtechnische Dimensionen (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) Modul: Transfer: Digital History (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Module: Research and Extension (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Societal Approaches (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | The final evaluation will be based on the solutions submitted for the weekly exercises. To pass the course, you may fail no more than three exercises and have no more than three absences. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Digital Humanities Lab |