Overview
Key digital developments, such as increasing volumes of available data, the automation of data collection, and the critical adoption of digital and computational methods across the humanities and social sciences have had profound effects not only on academic research but also on what qualifies as knowledge.
This course offers an introduction to digital methods and practical experience of how to use a range of digital tools, techniques, and software to study culture and society. You will explore how digital methods and methodologies have shifted and changed over time, including their affordances and limitations.
You will be introduced to state-of-the-art approaches (visual methods, geospatial methods, text mining, data visualisation, creative AI methods and sensing methods) and have a chance to apply them to create, analyse, and question data. You will also explore the usefulness of digital methods for their own research projects as well as the methods’ ethical and open-science implications.
The Digital Methods course was genuinely transformative - I’ve learned so much in five days, and I’m so excited to apply my new skills to my research.
Meet Your Course Leads
The course is taught by the core team of the Centre for Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media based in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
Dr. Luca Scholz is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities and History. He is interested in analysing and questioning data in historical and humanistic inquiry.
Dr. Giulia Grisot is a Lecturer in Digital Humanities, Art History and Cultural Practices.
Dr. Ashley Mattheis is a Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture.
Dr. Łukasz Szulc is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture and co-director of the Centre for Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media at the University of Manchester. He specializes in critical and cultural studies of digital media at the intersections of gender, sexuality and transnationalism, currently working on dating apps and dating cultures.
Dr. Sam Hind is a Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture. His research interests include navigational technologies, sensing and the sensor society, AI and machine learning practices, automotive cultures, and mobile play.
Course Aims
This course's aim is to introduce participants to several key digital methods and support you to critically reflect on their affordances and limitations.
By the end of the course, the participants should be able to:
- Analyse and critique how digital methods and methodologies are used to generate and question knowledge
- Assess and evaluate a range of digital technologies for particular research questions
- Apply a range of digital tools to offer novel perspectives on important cultural and social issues
- Compare and contrast different digital research methods, their advantages and limitations
- Critically reflect on the ethical and open-science implications of using digital methods
Who is most likely to benefit from attending this course?
This is an introductory course that is aimed at PhD students and Early Career Researchers as well as other more experienced researchers in humanities and social sciences or working in industry who would like to expand their methodological toolkit to include digital methods.
Is there any preparatory work or pre-requisites?
Course Timetable
This course will take place in-person Monday 30 June - Friday 4 July.
Costs
- Full price: £900
- PGR/reduced rate: £600
As well as PGRs, reduced fees are also available to those working within the voluntary, charity and community sector. We also have two bursary options available for those entitled to reduced fees. Please view more information on our page here to find out your eligibility and how to apply.
Book Your Place
Please purchase via our online store below before 15 June (payment by card only). If you any issues while purchasing, please get in touch with methods@manchester.ac.uk.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on methods@manchester.ac.uk
Credits:
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