PhD in Digital Humanities

The PhD in Digital Humanities, run by Cambridge Digital Humanities and based in the Faculty of English, is a research-intensive programme that aims to enable students to engage at doctoral level with projects demanding the use, production and critique of digital methods, tools, approaches, and critical/theoretical orientations. The programme expands the humanities offering at research postgraduate level at Cambridge by offering a route for cross-disciplinary engagement, responding to the growth of the field of Digital Humanities as a research area. 

The programme is designed to enable students to develop the critical literacy and practical skills and knowledge to understand and engage with digital futures, digital research, and digital cultures, as questions arise around the ethics of automation, algorithmic analysis, privacy/surveillance, virtual cultures, data sharing, intelligent agency and creativity, archival justice and digital histories, and around collections and heritage issues. Through supervisions and technical support from a research software engineer, contextualised by a research culture including guest seminars, lectures and practice-driven workshops, Cambridge Digital Humanities provides the conditions for original PhD research in Digital Humanities or in other arts and humanities/social science disciplines that make a significant intervention into shaping the field. 

The course aims to:

• enable students to engage at doctoral level with projects that require the use and generation of digital methods, tools, approaches, and/or of critical/theoretical orientations;
• expand the humanities offering at research postgraduate level at Cambridge by providing a cross-disciplinary route for engagement, responding to the growth of the field of Digital Humanities as a research area;
• enable humanities and social science-trained students to develop critical literacy and practical skills and knowledge to understand and engage with digital materials and methods for the study of matters relevant to the humanities;
• provide the conditions to enable the production of original PhD research in Digital Humanities or other arts and humanities/social science disciplines that make a significant intervention into shaping the field; and
• respond to the need for the humanities to grapple with emerging forms, practices, and social formations shaped in a digital age.

The course will benefit:

• students with relevant MPhils who want to engage with the field of Digital Humanities, enabling them to hone critical and methodological skills, develop new approaches, test them out, and specialise;
• students locating themselves in other home disciplines who wish to develop advanced projects including Digital Humanities approaches and orientations; and 
• students entering into or returning to other careers in GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), creative industries, digital media industries, and media arts by giving them the advanced critical perspectives, practical digital literacies, and methodological insights to pursue these pathways.

Learning Outcomes

This course will equip students with: 

• the ability to create and interpret new knowledge in Digital Humanities, through original research or other advanced scholarship, of a quality to satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of the discipline, and merit publication;
• a systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge which is at the forefront of Digital Humanities or related areas of research and practice;
• the general ability to conceptualise, design, and implement a research project for the generation of new knowledge, applications, or understanding in Digital Humanities, and to adjust the project design in the light of unforeseen problems;
• a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry in Digital Humanities;
• the ability to make informed judgments on complex issues, often in the absence of complete data, and be able to communicate their ideas and conclusions clearly and effectively to specialist and non-specialist audiences; and
• the ability to contribute substantially to the development of new techniques, ideas, or approaches in Digital Humanities, and to engage with the wider research community.

Continuing

Open Days

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details.

See further the Postgraduate Admissions Events pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.