Syllabus

Course facts, aims, learning outcomes, run of show, and assessment.

Course facts

Item Value
Course [PROJM] Github as a project management tool
Number and semester 526141, HS2026
Type Workshop, Digital Humanities
Lecturer Dr. Moritz Mähr, University of Bern, Walter Benjamin Kolleg
Date Friday, 16 October 2026, 09:00–13:00
Room Seminarraum F 001, Hörraumgebäude Unitobler
Credits 0.5 ECTS
Grading Passed or failed
Optional course Recognition as an optional course is possible

Registration and the detailed view: KSL course entry.

Aims

The course description in KSL reads:

GitHub is not only a powerful tool for versioning and code development, but can also be efficiently used to manage and document on-going projects. In this course, you will get an introduction to the different project management approaches, combined with best practices utilizing GitHub for such tasks.

Some GitHub experience and minimal command-line knowledge help, for example from the course “Introduction to DH”. The course “Introduction to Project Management” is a plus, not a requirement. Each exercise has a browser route and a command-line route; see Choose your route. If GitHub is new to you, read the cheat sheet first.

Learning outcomes

The instructor designed these outcomes. The workshop teaches a small set of GitHub features that carries most of the practical value for project management: teach less, but make what is taught usable (D-014).

After the core exercises X1–X4, you can:

  1. distinguish a repository, Issues, a Project, and a pull request, and say what each one does for a thesis;
  2. derive a sourced Issue from a requirement that applies to you;
  3. organise Issues as epics and sub-issues, with milestones, one dependency, and the views Backlog, Board, and Roadmap;
  4. complete an Issue through a documentation pull request;
  5. state what GitHub cannot guarantee: quality, deadline compliance, confidentiality, and long-term preservation.

The optional extensions add two outcomes. After X5, you can decide what you can publish, and distinguish a release from a deposit. After X6, you can re-plan after a delay without moving an official deadline, and record the decision.

Scenario

You plan, conduct, document, and share a fictional master’s thesis in one GitHub repository and one GitHub Project. The thesis asks how the landscape of Swiss periodicals changed between 1830 and 1960 by language, place, and subject. It uses 30 synthetic records. The fictional registration date is 2026-12-01; the fictional submission date is 2027-06-01. Nothing in the exercise is real research data.

Run of show

Time Activity Result
09:00–09:15 Frame the thesis workflow Know the four steps of the core workflow and the limits of the tool.
09:15–09:45 X1 Create the repository A repository with a README and a checked visibility.
09:45–10:25 X2 Turn requirements into work Two epics with their sub-issues, one of them derived from a requirement.
10:25–10:35 Break —
10:35–11:20 X3 Configure the Project A Project with the views Backlog, Board, and Roadmap, and one dependency.
11:20–12:00 X4 Complete one documentation task One Issue closed by a merged pull request.
12:00–12:10 Break —
12:10–12:45 Consolidate and extend A working core workflow. Optional: X5 or X6.
12:45–13:00 Transfer to a private thesis and closing reflection One next step for your own thesis.

The session lasts 240 minutes, including two breaks of 10 minutes each. The block “Consolidate and extend” is time for questions and problems. If your core workflow works, use the block for an optional extension.

NoteRevised after the session

The session on 16 October 2026 followed version 0.1.0 of this course, with all six exercises in the run of show. Six exercises did not fit into four hours. This run of show applies to the next session (D-014).

Core workflow and optional extensions

The core exercises X1–X4 build one complete project-management workflow. Each exercise adds one step:

Step Exercise What it does for the thesis
Repository X1 One shared place for the documentation, the data, and their history
Issues X2 Requirements become tasks that you can act on
Project X3 The tasks are organised, prioritised, and tracked over time
Pull request X4 The work is documented, reviewed, and completed

Some steps in X1–X4 start with Optional:. You can skip them, and the core workflow still works.

The optional extensions are self-paced. Start one in the block “Consolidate and extend”, or after the session. Both use the Issues from X2, and they do not depend on each other.

Extension Topic When it helps
X5 Prepare a reusable output Data documentation, citation, rights, and a release Before you publish data or text
X6 React to a delay and a restriction Re-planning and a decision record When an event changes your plan

You can work alone, in a pair, or on the private path. See Setup.

Assessment

The course is graded passed or failed. The instructor set the pass rule: you pass when you attend the full session (D-014). The pass rule requires no exercise result. The exercises are for your learning, not for an assessment.

Closing reflection (12:45–13:00)

The session ends with a short, informal reflection in pairs or in the group. Nobody grades it. With your repository open, think about these questions:

  1. Which step of the core workflow will you use for your own thesis first?
  2. Which rule applies to your thesis, and where is its source?
  3. What stays private in your thesis, and why?

Sources

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