The Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH-EU) is proud to announce it has signed a Cooperating Partnership agreement with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London.
DARIAH is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) whose mission is to empower research communities with digital methods to create, connect and share knowledge about culture and society. In addition to having 22 Member states, DARIAH has also established a network of cooperating partners in non-member countries.
‘The School of Advanced Study is delighted to be joining DARIAH as a cooperating partner,’ said Jane Winters, Professor of Digital Humanities at the School. ‘We place enormous value on the collaborations and partnerships that DARIAH enables, and look forward to working with colleagues across Europe to enhance support for digital scholarship in the humanities. We very much welcome the opportunity to be part of the DARIAH community and to learn from and contribute to its innovative and exciting programme of activities.’
The School of Advanced Study: The UK’s National Centre for Humanities Research
The School of Advanced Study (SAS) at the University of London plays a unique role in the UK’s research landscape due to its national mission to promote and facilitate research in the humanities. Through its eight research institutes and its specialist hubs for digital humanities and public engagement, it is focused on developing collaborative and distinctive research in the humanities, and in equipping researchers to navigate and contribute to the UK’s research and innovation landscape. The School provides unique humanities research infrastructure, which is underpinned by the research of its academic staff that seeks to advance knowledge beyond disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
Supporting Digital Humanities Research across the UK
The Digital Humanities Research Hub (DHRH) is the centre of digital research at the School. Its multi-disciplinary team includes academics with strong connections to Classics, English, History, and Languages and Cultures, as well as practitioners and researchers from technical backgrounds. The Hub plays a central role in supporting the School’s national mission by promoting digital humanities scholarship across the UK and by providing infrastructure and support for the digital humanities community. The Hub supports national projects and initiatives, collaborates with partners across the UK and around the world, offers training and teaching in digital methods and approaches, and carries out its own interdisciplinary research and supervision. It also hosts a range of international research events exploring subjects including representations of AI, the ethics of 3D and cultural heritage, and hypertext and the humanities.
The Hub’s research strengths in born-digital archives, linked data, text analysis and encoding, and material culture are connected by a shared commitment to valuing digital cultural heritage in all its forms. The Hub seeks to promote an inclusive, open and responsible approach to digital humanities research, as demonstrated through its work to support environmentally responsible digital research practices, multilingual digital research, queer digital heritage and open scholarship.
Efforts to strengthen national, international and cross-sector collaborations underpin the School’s digital research activities. This is reflected in its current major initiatives:
- Hosting and managing the UK-Ireland Digital Humanities Association, in partnership with the universities of Exeter, Glasgow, King’s College London and Southampton in the UK, and Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and the University of Galway in Ireland. Formally launched in 2023, the Association seeks to nurture the capacity for excellent research and teaching in digital humanities, to establish more effective connections with sectors outside higher education, and to create new pathways for collaboration.
- Participation in the UK’s Towards a National Collection programme, through partnership in the Congruence Engine project led by the Science Museum Group. SAS leads on the digital humanities work package of this three-year research project that uses the latest digital techniques to connect industrial history collections across the UK.
- Leading on the project ‘Mapping the arts and humanities: uncovering hidden research infrastructure in the UK’, which seeks to captures the diversity of this critical infrastructure. The project has produced an interactive map to connect research activity more easily, and boost visibility for research centres and networks across the country.
Strengthening Digital Research Infrastructures with DARIAH
SAS has a shared commitment with DARIAH to strengthen the infrastructure and the provision of an evidence base to support investment in digital humanities research, particularly through the UK-Ireland DH Association. By joining as a cooperating partner SAS seeks to learn from DARIAH’s unparalleled knowledge and expertise in these areas, and to strengthen opportunities for international collaboration in ways that are mutually beneficial to the UK and Europe’s digital research infrastructures. As part of the School’s national mission to train the next generation of humanities researchers, staff are developing open training resources in digital humanities methods and approaches in areas including born-digital culture, 3D technologies and research software engineering. Following DARIAH’s lead in developing open teaching and training resources for the digital arts and humanities, the Hub is keen to contribute to the DARIAH-CAMPUS platform to make our resources more visible and accessible to international audiences.
The Hub’s staff have shared interests with a number of DARIAH Working Groups and are keen to share expertise, particularly in the areas of multilingual DH, linked data, ethical approaches to cultural heritage data and community engagement. The UK-Ireland DH Association has developed a number of reports on subjects including capacity enhancement, next generation careers, and diversity and inclusivity in DH which can contribute to wider European discussions in these areas. The Hub is also currently planning major events and publications with a focus on (born-)digital cultural heritage and welcomes collaborations with DARIAH members on these initiatives.
“As Director of DARIAH, I am thrilled with the co-operating partnership with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. The School’s Digital Humanities Research Hub, with its expertise in born-digital archives, linked data, and material culture, aligns seamlessly with DARIAH’s mission to empower research communities with digital methods. Together, we embark on a journey to strengthen digital research infrastructure, promote an inclusive and responsible approach to digital humanities, and contribute further to the vibrant DARIAH community. This partnership exemplifies the collaborative spirit that fuels groundbreaking research, and I look forward to the innovative endeavors that will undoubtedly emerge from our shared commitment to advancing knowledge and collaboration in the digital arts and humanities.” — Agiatis Benardou, Member of the Board of Directors of DARIAH.
SAS is delighted to be joining as a cooperative partner at the same time as their close collaborators at King’s College London, and following DARIAH’s existing partnership with Exeter University. Building on existing partnerships through the UK-Ireland DH Association, SAS will work in close collaboration with these partners to strengthen the integration of the UK’s digital humanities community within the DARIAH community.
For more information on the Cooperating Partners membership in DARIAH, their role, tasks and benefits, have a look at our detailed post here.
