About

Why Digital Humanities and Culture?

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. The ever-evolving developments in computing and their performative and analytical capacity have created an environment for a quantum leap in humanities research and practice. This M.Phil. in Digital Humanities and Culture provides the opportunity for students to engage in this new and dynamic area of research via the technologies, methodologies, and theories for digitally-mediated humanities.

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. The application of technology to humanistic enquiry also fosters a privileged (and much needed) perspective on how the experience of being human is marked by the technologies of the digital age, and how these technologies can themselves be rendered more humane.

Who is this course for?

The Trinity MPhil in Digital Humanities and Culture attracts students from a wide variety of backgrounds.  Many have taken a Bachelors, Masters or even a PhD in a humanities discipline, knowledge they want to enhance with a additional methodological layer.  Others are practitioners in the cultural heritage sector or creative industries, who would like to sharpen their approach to technology through the application of techniques and models from the digital humanities in their work.  The degree also attracts researchers with a background in computer science or software engineering, for whom the course can satisfy a desire to deepen their understanding of the users and use contexts of the software they create under the challenging conditions presented by cultural data and contexts.  This variety of perspectives within the student body makes for rich interactions and conversations.

How is the course structured?

Masters students will enrol in four core modules (two in each semester).  Two of these take a more theoretical approach, focussing in the Michaelmas term on the Theory and Practice of Digital Humanities and in Hilary term on Cultural-Technical Systems.  Concurrent with these two lecture and discussion–based modules, students will take two practical modules, Building Digital Humanities Projects and Digital Humanities Internships and Project Management.Students will also take two optional modules (one per term), selected from a range of options offered from across the relevant disciplines at Trinity. Finally, students will complete a research dissertation on a topic of their choice, receiving guidance from supervisors who are experts in their respective fields.

Diploma students will take the six taught modules (four core, two elective) as described above, but will not be required to complete a dissertation.

Postgraduate Certificate students will take three of core modules only: Theory and Practice of Digital Humanities, Cultural-Technical Systems and Building Digital Humanities Projects.

Digital Humanities Research at Trinity College Dublin

The students on the Masters in Digital Humanities and Culture will be encouraged to participate in the activities, projects and network of the Digital Humanities Centre at TCD.  Trinity is internationally recognised for its research in this field, and maintains a lively team of DH researchers, projects, partners and visitors. The DH Centre acts as a conduit between humanities research and researchers ay TCD and the nationally recognised Science Foundation Ireland ADAPT Centre (https://www.adaptcentre.ie/) for personalised and localised technology development, the DARIAH ERIC European Research Infrastructure for Arts and Humanities (www.dariah.eu), as well as a wide network of international research partners.  Details about current events and projects of DH@TCD can be found here: www.dh.tcd.ie.