MA in Digital Humanities

The MA in Digital Humanities at Maynooth University is the oldest Masters in Digital Humanities in Ireland and one of the oldest in the world. Nevertheless, we don’t rest on our laurels. Our MA in DH has changed with the times. Our students have flexibility in tailoring their study programme to their career goals.

This course builds on the ethos of Maker Culture combined with modern tools and methodologies that provide students with the necessary creative, technological, digital, entrepreneurial, and management skills to respond to a competitive economy  that requires an agile, adaptable, and creative workforce.

Consider Cultural Heritage through the lenses of 3D data as you learn how to reconstruct buildings and landscapes in three-dimensions to understand how spaces functioned in the past and how architecture and light influenced people’s everyday lives. Recreate ancient temples replacing the ruins we see today with the frescoes, mosaics, and sculptures as they might have been experienced by the people who built and used them. Understand how ancient people oriented structures like Newgrange to capture the solstice or how light shining through stained glass windows in medieval churches at dusk create a sense of otherworldliness.

Just as in 1854 John Snow used the latest ‘technology’ to pinpoint the source that caused an outbreak of cholera in London to a contaminated water pump by analysing the geographic location of deaths, learn how to use Geographic Information Systems to analyse thousands of points of data to understand contemporary crime patterns or networks of correspondents during the Easter Rising in Ireland.

Develop the skills to be part of the vast migration of our cultural heritage from analogue to digital form. Understand how the World Wide Web has helped usurp the predominance of text, ushering in a multimodal information space in which images have taken on a dominance not seen since the middle ages. Learn what technologies drive the Web and how to model information.

Modules meld theory with practice, and students have opportunities of working on research projects, as well as team-based projects within specific modules. Past class projects have included The Woodman Diary and the 3D Science and Ecclesiology.

Our Internship/Practicum module provides an opportunity for students to delve deeply into a research area in the role of consultant at one of our projects or one of our many partners. Check out our partner page to see some of the cultural institutions, SMEs and university projects where our  students have carried out their internships and start thinking now about where you might like to intern!

Students in our course also utilise a professional blog during the academic year, developing an impressive portfolio of work. The MA in Digital Humanities (DH) has an excellent record of graduating students finding relevant work in a variety of sectors, including software companies, cultural heritage institutions, and the public sector. Positions include web coordinators, software developers, research assistants, library and archive managers, and systems developers.

Interested in learning more? Watch the video below, check out our module descriptors and get in touch with us at DHMaynooth@mu.ie. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Students complete 90 ECTS for the MA in Digital Humanities or 60 ECTS for the Diploma in Digital Humanities.

Apply today - Application Deadline 30th June 2018

Please note: If you are a non-EU student interested in applying we would encourage you to get in touch with us and start the application process as early as possible. This is will give enough time to the international office to assess your qualifications and to you to obtain a VISA.