M. Phil in Digital Humanities and Culture
M.Phil. in Digital Humanities and Culture (1yr/Ft) -course code 693
M.Phil. in Digital Humanities and Culture (2yrs/Pt) -course code 692
Course Director: Dr Susan Schreibman
Students intending to apply for this course should submit online at http://www.pac.ie/tcd
Duration: One year, full-time ; Two years, part time
Closing Date: The closing date was 27th May 2011. Late applications, however, will be accepted until all places are filled.
This new course will admit its first intake in September 2011. Applications are accepted from all disciplines of the humanities.
Fees and Bursaries: This MPhil is funded by the HEA Graduate Skills Conversion Programme. Fees for 2011-2012 for EU students are €2,750 (both full time and part time).
Three bursaries will be available for 2011-2012. In support of this new MPhil,. The the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the National Library of Ireland are this year offering a limited number of bursaries (valued at €3,333 each) to be set against fees.
Successful EU applicants to the programme who accept the offer of a place will then be considered for the award of a bursary. Those chosen for the award will be required to confirm that they will do their internship module in the National Library.
What is Digital Humanities? Digital Humanities is a field of study, research, and invention at the intersection of humanities, computing, and information management. It is methodological by nature and multidisciplinary in scope involving the investigation, analysis, synthesis, and presentation of information in electronic form.
Digital humanists do not only create digital artefacts, but study how these media affect and are transforming the disciplines in which they are used. The computational tools and methods used in Digital Humanities cut across disciplinary practice to provide shared focal points, such as the preservation and curation of digital data, the aesthetics of the digital (from individual objects to entire worlds), as well as the creation of the born-digital.
Why Take this Course? This M.Phil. provides a platform for a technically innovative research path within the humanities giving students the opportunity to engage with a new and dynamic area of research. It provides them with the technologies, methodologies, and theories for digitally-mediated humanities providing a framework for new and bold research questions to be asked that would have been all but inconceivable a generation ago.
Course Outcomes: Those who complete this course will have highly specialised IT skills combined with an advanced understanding of how these skills can be applied to a wide variety of digital objects (text, image, audio, and video). It will also provide students with the theories and perspectives central to the field, including the aesthetics implicit in digital creation and migration, best practice in terms of the standards used for a number of data formats, as well as the growing concerns of digital curation and preservation. Through the internship programme students will get real world experience working with cultural heritage partners or digital humanities projects. Moreover, several modules will integrate content from these partners in their learning outcomes, providing opportunities for students to engage with cutting-edge issues and technologies.
What’s on the course? This MPhil consists of four core modules and two optional modules. There is also a dissertation module in which a research topic is chosen in agreement with your supervisor. Please click here for more details on options.
Core modules:
- Theory and Practice of Digital Humanities (Michaelmas Term)
- Web Technologies (Michaelmas Term)
- From Metadata to Linked Data (Hilary Term)
- Internship at cultural heritage institution, library, or project (Hilary Term)
Optional modules (for the 2011-2012 academic year):
- Cyberculture/Popular Culture (Michaelmas Term)
- War and Society in Seventeenth-Century Ireland (Michaelmas Term)
- Digital Scholarly Editing (Hilary Term)
- History of the Book: Texts, Contexts, and Cultures (Hilary Term)
- Programming for Digital Media (Full year module)
- Contextual Media (Full year module)
How is it taught and examined? The taught component of the course begins in September and ends in April. Contact hours depend on the modules you take. Theory-based modules meet for two hours a week (such as ‘Theory and Practice of Digital Humanities’ and ‘Cyberculture/Popular Culture’); practice based modules (such as ‘Web Technologies’ and ‘Digital Scholarly Editing’) typically meet for three hours a week to include lab time. Modules are assessed through a combination of essays, in-class presentations, assignments, and projects (either individual or group), depending on the module. There are no examinations. The supervised dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words is submitted by 31 August. All students are required to have their own laptops for this MPhil.
What qualifications do I need to apply? You should have a good honors degree (at least an upper second, or a GPA of at least 3.3 in any of the disciplines of the humanities). A critical writing sample is also required (3,000-5,000 words). For those shortlisted for the course, there will also be an interview. Applications are also welcome from professionals in the library and cultural heritage sectors. Those already in employment may opt to take the degree over two years: the first year all coursework is taken and the second year the dissertation is written.
How do I apply?
Application is made through the Postgraduate Applications System (PAC) and not the School of English. Students wishing to find out more about the application process should follow this link to the college's Graduate Studies page and follow the instructions listed there. Please consult this page and the Graduate Studies link provided above (in particular those pages pertaining to applicants for taught Masters) before emailing a course director as many of the FAQs regarding fees, deadline and applications procedures are answered there. The course director can be contacted by writing to Susan Schreibman at the School of English Trinity College Dublin or by emailing schreibs[at]tcd.ie
Course Fees
The MPhil in Digital Humanities and Culture is currently funded by the HEA Graduate Skills Conversion Programme. Fees for 2011-2012 for EU students are €2,750 (both the full time and part time options).
*Prospective students should note that both the option and core course seminars offered may change from one academic year to the next.
Course Administrator:
Elaine Maddock
Executive Officer
MPhil in Digital Humanities and Literature
School of English
Trinity College
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 1 896 2301
Fax: +353 1 671 7114
Email: maddocke[at]tcd.ie
Co-funded under the National Development Plan 2009 (Graduate Skills Conversion Programme) for EU fee paying students