Digital humanities

Research in the digital humanities at the Department of ALM focuses on how the organisation and analysis of digital information can be facilitated, performed, and critically explored by the application of computational methods and tools, particularly AI and machine learning. Our research is primarily concerned with archives, libraries, museums, and the heritage sector but also includes analysis of data and information across a wide variety of domains. Digital humanities research at the department ranges from historical studies to the analysis of contemporary digital culture.

Another important area of digital humanities research at the department is how digitisation in the ALM sector and beyond functions as a knowledge producing enterprise, how different stakeholders engage with digital and digitised heritage, and what epistemological implications digitalization carries for humanities and social science research. Research at the department also explores the interplay between digital cultural heritage and its makers, users, and diverse stakeholders. For instance, our research addresses the possibilities and challenges that participation and crowdsourcing of cultural heritage data and metadata present for ALM institutions.

Another strand of ongoing digital humanities research concentrates on collective memory-making and knowledge production in online and offline environments and its underpinning social practices and technological premises. This research takes an interest in the ethical, epistemological and ontological problems of merging community heritage with institutional collections in the archive, library, and museum sector and the implications that arise with the use of computational methods and tools.

The Centre for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences
The Department of ALM hosts the Centre for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences [link “Centre for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences” to https://www.uu.se/en/centre/digital-humanities-and-social-sciences] (CDHU) a research development and support unit dedicated to digital Humanities and Social Sciences. CDHU was initiated 1 January 2021, and expands upon the activities of the Forum for Digital Humanities (2015–2017) and the Research network DH Uppsala (2018–2020). CDHU coordinates the digital transformation of Humanities and Social Sciences across Uppsala University. CDHU’s mission is threefold and cover:

• Research initiation and support (including application support and activities, seminars, and larger events)
• Skills training and education (workshops, courses and other support from MA level to researchers)
• Digital infrastructure to technically support research in the humanities and social sciences

The Centre for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences provides a socio-technical infrastructure supporting research and education at the HumSam domain. The research engineers, coordinators, and staff at CDHU work together offering consultation, practical, and technical support for world-class research that integrates digital methods and tools. Our staff can support different stages of the research process—from research design to obtaining data, statistical analysis, applied Artificial Intelligence (AI), data visualisation, and more. The Research Engineers at CDHU have expertise in a variety of technical skills and knowledge sets, such as coding and data science, AI and machine learning, GIS, sustainable research implementation, and natural language processing. The Centre is further an interface for local digital research infrastructures such as the centre for supercomputing at Uppsala University (Uppmax) and the Central IT Unit at Uppsala University.

The Master’s Programme in Digital Humanities
Harnessing the strengths of our active research environment in the digital humanities, the Department of ALM offers a two-year international master’s programme in digital humanities. This is a research-led programme that has strong ties to the digital humanities scholarship at the department. See the programme page Master's Programme in Digital Humanities for more information about programme course content, learning experiences, possible career tracks, and application requirements and instructions.