UK-Ireland Digital Humanities Research Network Workshop: 'Capacity enhancement in DH: training and beyond' 

15 December 2020   

The UK-Ireland Digital Humanities Association (PIs: Prof. Jane Winters and Dr. Michelle Doran) is a network funded by the AHRC and IRC that brings together different stakeholders in Digital Humanities and related fields to consider and interrogate critically the concepts of sustainability, inclusivity, training, advocacy and career progression, among other key questions. Institutions and individuals engaged with the network will work to propose ways in which the UK and Ireland can build a collaborative vision for the field, and create new and sustainable long-term partnerships in alignment with the international community.  

The objectives of the workshop, organised for the network by King's Digital Lab, are the following:  

• Contribute to developing pathways to sustained, effective and widespread capacity-building for DH researchers in the UK and Ireland across disciplines, institutions and career stages.  
• Contribute to define specific pathways for training highly interdisciplinary humanists who are able to work across multiple sectors, including and beyond academia.  
• Contribute to the broad inclusion of communities beyond individuals based in research-performing organisations, including cultural heritage institutions, the arts and creative industries, and interested citizen scientists.  
• Provide opportunities for individual researchers to develop their skills and networks, and to contribute to international debates about the future of the field.  
• Consider and interrogate critically the concepts of sustainability, inclusivity, training, advocacy and career progression.   

The workshop discussions and findings will contribute to a discussion paper outlining capacity gaps in UK and Ireland digital humanities, with reference to the European and global contexts, and training strategies that could be used by a future UK-Ireland DH Association to resolve them. 

To register and receive the link to the event, please visit the workshop's Eventbrite page.

Outline & Schedule 

9:30 - 10:00        Welcome to participants from the network PI (Jane Winters)  

10:00 - 10:45      Framing the problem (James Smithies)  

10:45 - 11:00      Questions and discussion (chaired by Lorna Hughes)  

11:00 - 11:15      Convenience break 

11:15 - 12:00      King’s Digital Lab Software Development Lifecycle (Arianna Ciula/Neil Jakeman)  

12:00–12:15       Questions and discussion (chaired by Charlotte Tupman)  

12:15 - 1:15       Convenience break 

1:15 - 1:35         Teaching: the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s, evolution and programmes (Paul Spence) 

1:35 - 1:55         Teaching: the University College Cork Digital Humanities department and programme (Orla Murphy) 

1:55 - 2:15         Capacity enhancement: The National Archives (UK) perspective (Pip Willcox) 

2:15 - 2:30         Questions and discussion (chaired by Michelle Doran) 

2:30 - 3:00        Training: National landscape and requirements for RSE training in the UK and Ireland (Dave De Roure and Orla Murphy)  

                          (introduced by Federico Nanni) 

3:00 - 3:15         Questions and discussion (chaired by Federico Nanni)  

3:15 - 3:30        Convenience break 

3:30 - 4:00        Creative industries provocation (Alex Morrison and Andy Cummins)  

                           (introduced by James Smithies) 

4:00 - 4:30         Discussion and next steps (chaired by Arianna Ciula)