University of Cambridge - Cambridge Digital Humanities

Digital Humanities

The Digital Humanities rethinks what humanities can be in an age of pervasive computation. DH makes use of innovative tools and methods for investigating both traditional and new forms of data and media, in addition to pursuing opportunities to interrogate and reflect on the knowledge and insight that 'the digital' affords.

By its nature, Digital Humanities is collaborative, encouraging mutually creative interaction between scholars across the humanities and social science disciplines, in computer science and maths, in museums, libraries and galleries, and with experts specializing in computing or digital technologies. Over the past twenty years, DH has acquired an increasingly central role in higher education and beyond because of its potential to transform people, practices and understanding.

Cambridge Digital Humanities

Cambridge Digital Humanities is committed to unlocking and augmenting the transformative powers of DH research. Established in 2017, CDH is the latest phase in a strategic process at the University of Cambridge that began with the foundation of the Digital Humanities Network in 2011. Cambridge Digital Humanities as a whole offers a dynamic framework to support the most advanced research in the field, and a creative space for exploring and exchanging new ideas. It thrives on the input and engagement of the diversse community that defines it, with the potential to create and shape knowledge and to influence the ways in which we view the world around us. CDH has four interlocking divisions: Research, Lab, Learning, and Network.

CDH Research

The foundation and focal point of Cambridge Digital Humanities. It supports, promotes, enables and spearheads a wide range of projects, programmes and other activities across the University, in addition to forging links with the external DH research community, funding bodies, and business and industry.

CDH Labs

Labs offers high-level project incubation advice and a tailored research support service, drawing upon the expertise of CDH Affiliates in the University Library and University Information Services, and a wealth of computational expertise distributed throughout a large number of Cambridge institutions.

CDH Learning

Delivers training in research methods and transferable skills to enable new and established researchers at all levels in order to create and exploit new practices of digital scholarship.

CDH Connect

Our network provides a sense of community and identity among those working in Digital Humanities and cognate fields at Cambridge. This includes co-organizing learning and research events for internal and external audiences including the recent CDH Open Series, the Distinguished Lecture Series and 'Searching Questions' symposia.

Learning

The CDH Learning Programme helps academic researchers develop skills to critically investigate, develop, exploit and expand new ways of doing humanities and social science research using digital technologies.

We work with individuals and also bring together interdisciplinary groups to investigate the possibilities of emerging technologies and techniques.

We work largely with academics and researchers from faculties, the University Libraries and University Museums. Our programme is open to all at Cambridge who wish to engage in digitally enabled research and explore digital epistemologies. We work with faculty at all levels, including early career researchers, and doctoral students. We also work with third sector groups, (NGO, community), arts and heritage and media arts groups and with institutions across the galleries, libraries, archives and museums sector.

Our goals are to:

• Expand knowledge of digital methods among University of Cambridge staff and students
• Facilitate the development of excellent critical practice in digital methods for research and teaching in the arts, social sciences and humanities
• Strengthen the relationship between innovation in research methods and teaching by building capacity among future generations of researchers

The CDH Core Programme components are delivered in a series of different formats. These are designed to help participants explore and practice key methods, tools and concepts relevant to humanities and social science research in the digital age, and to be responsive to emerging social, cultural and technical developments and priorities. They include:

• CDH Basics
• CDH Methods Workshops
• CDH Guided Projects
• CDH Reactor
• CDH Project Mentoring
• CDH Methods Fellows Workshops