Expand your course with digital humanities methods

The possibilities of digital humanities appeal most to students when they are introduced by their own teachers with applications in their own field. With this Small Grants program, the Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH) aims to promote the integration of digital humanities methods into the BA and MA courses taught in the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University.

Aim of this call

The aim of this call is to further integrate all aspects of digital humanities in the MA and BA courses taught in the Faculty of Humanities. We call on you to submit concrete plans to digitize your course. This can relate to the:

1. Use and management of digital corpora;
2. Development of your own digital data collections;
3. Assistance with coding and annotation with automatic methods;
4. Analysis and enrichment of data, via computational and/or statistical techniques;
5. Appropriate presentation of data and results, in visual and/or digital form.

Are you enthusiastic about the aim of the call, but unsure how (parts of) your course(s) could be modified? Please contact us for consultation.

Who can apply?

You can apply for a Small Grant if you are appointed as a lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor or professor with a minimum of 0.2 fte teaching load within the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University. Before you apply, the CDH expects that you have discussed your proposal with the BA or MA program coordinator and the education director responsible for the course, and the management coordinator of your department.

What can be applied for?

The CDH offers not only financial, but also technical and academic support and material costs:

• Financial contribution: The CDH can financially contribute 3 DCU (66.9 hours) per course. It might be possible that your own department is able to make an additional contribution, but this expressly cannot be claimed and it is not a condition or advantage for the approval of your CDH course enhancement proposal. Applicants should explore the possibilities within their departments themselves. Due to financial constraints, the CDH can support the adaptation of 1 course for each department per year.
• Technical support: The DH-IT team of the CDH offers technical support and consultation, in addition to the aforementioned DCU fee, or as a standalone contribution. Up to a maximum of 150 hours can be requested for e.g. upscaling, demos, pilots, preparation of example materials, or a small database or corpus update.
• Content-related support: Consultation on e.g. possible assignments, sources and methods can be requested prior to and during the adaptation process, by for example our affiliated members in all departments.
• Material budget: Expenses for e.g. sources, licenses or equipment that have a long-term usefulness. (Costs related to travel and accommodation for guest lecturers and similar costs typically covered by the research institutes are excluded.)

How to apply

Write a brief proposal on how you wish to change your course and how this adaptation will strengthen students’ skills in digital humanities, in connection with the intended learning outcomes of the course. There is no standard format, but please make sure to specify clearly which type of support is needed and why (see bullet points above): for example, DCUs to allow extra revision/preparation time, technical support, and/or consultation on possible assignments, sources, methods, etc. Your proposal should be between 300 and 700 words, written in English or Dutch. Please send your request to cdh@uu.nl, using the subject line ‘CDH Small Grants Proposal – DH course enhancement’.

Evaluation criteria

• Proposal quality: Including motivation and proposed changes;
• Effectiveness: Impact on digital literacy and students’ future employability;
• Feasibility: Practicality of the proposed changes;
• Long-term impact: Demonstrating the potential for a long-term influence.

Deadline

This is an ongoing call. The CDH can support the enhancement of 1 course for each department per year: grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Contact

Do you have questions about this call? Please send an email to cdh@uu.nl.