Faculty of Humanities

Degree Programs

Master Minor Digital Humanities

The students will get to know different digital methods and their applications in the varying and ever-changing contexts of the humanities. The program focusses on theoretical positions, practical exercises as well as critical assessments of theory and implementation. With the help of the acquired skills, the students will be able to conduct their own research projects according to their specialization in the humanities. The acquired knowledge and the skill-set will allow for the active engagement in a variety of domains (from research to libraries, archives and museums but also in the public service sector).

Students of the MA Minor in Digital Humanities appreciate the active collaboration with students, scholars and scientists coming from different disciplines of the humanities like the social sciences, engineering and computer science. The program is to be completed in 4 semesters. The last semester focuses on the realisation and presentation of an individual project. The students are interested in working and developing digital skills and tools, and they like the learning environment of hands-on workshops and block courses as well as more theoretically based course types.

Basic information
Degree: -
Number of credits: 30 ECTS credits
Combination possibilities: see master's major
Duration: 4 semesters
Language: German and English, possibly French
Beginning studies: Fall or spring semester

Study content

The courses offered by the Digital Humanities do strongly orient themselves towards the needs of the different institutions of the faculty of the Humanities. This includes, among others, digitization of historical material, the processing of textual data, the analysis of imagery or the long-term storage of data elaborated in the context of humanities' projects.

In fixed intervals we organize the "Introduction to Digital Humanities" and the "Digital Humanities Lectures Series" as well as courses in "Data Literacy".

Our courses are also taking the most recent developments in Digital Humanities and all its' related field into account. Currently, we are interested in deep learning applications, digital text analysis and face questions towards ethical points of few, which often arise when discussing the usage of digital tools and techniques.

Program structure

The program consists of three different phases: the introduction, the consolidation and the completion. The introduction phase offers the students various courses to acquire a broad basic knowledge (Introduction to Digital Humanities, DH Lab, Introduction to programming). In the consolidation phase, the students visit the Digital Humanities Lecture Series and a seminar of their own choice. In a colloquium, the students will also get in touch with theoretical approaches used in the Digital Humanities and exercise their critical thinking towards these approaches. In the completion phase, the students are mainly working on their own research project and its' presentation which takes place at the end of the program.

Sample study plan for a 4-semester course of study
  Semester   Course type
   Credits
  1   Introduction to Digital Humanities
   3
    Lab
   4
  2   Introduction to programming
   3 (ungraded)
  Digital Humanities Lecture series   3
  3
   Seminar of choice
   3 (ungraded)
  Colloquium
   5
  4   Research project
   8
  Presentation of research project
   1
  Credits Master Minor Study program
   30

Deadlines

Requirements

Individual academic requirements

The following academic qualifications are required for admission to the Minor of Digital Humanities:

a) Bachelor's degree from a recognized Swiss university or an equivalent university degree in one of the branches offered by the faculty
b) completed minor study program of at least 60 ECTS in one of these branches of study
c) Bachelor's degree from a Swiss university or an equivalent degree in computer science or
d)

completed minor study program of at least 60 ECTS in computer science

Additional knowledge and skills not covered by the completed bachelor's degree program may have to be acquired for admission. These are defined individually in the form of conditions and/or requirements. The corresponding ECTS will be listed as extracurricular attainments on the diploma supplement.

Language requirements

Excellent knowledge of German and English (C1 according to the European Framework of Reference) is expected.

For questions regarding application and admission, please contact the Admissions Office.