Digital Humanities Summer Institute June 6-10, 2011

The Digital Humanities Summer Institute at the University of Victoria provides an ideal environment for discussing and learning about new computing technologies and how they are influencing teaching, research, dissemination, creation, and preservation in different disciplines, via a community-based approach.

During a week of intensive coursework, seminars, and lectures, participants share ideas and methods, and develop expertise in using advanced technologies. Every summer, the institute brings together faculty, staff, and students from the Arts, Humanities, Library, and Archives communities as well as independent scholars and participants from areas beyond.

Described by one participant as an event that "combines the best aspects of a skills workshop, international conference, and summer camp," the DHSI prides itself on its friendly, informal, and collegial atmosphere. We invite you to join the DHSI community in Victoria for a week of practice, learning, and connecting with (and making new) friends and colleagues.

DHSI makes its announcements via the DHSI e-mail list and DHInstitute on Twitter, as well as other venues.

DH Training Network: We're pleased that DHSI (2-6 June 2014), DH@Oxford (8-12 July 2013), DH@Leipzig (22 July - 2 August 2013), DHWI , DH@Switzerland (26-29 June 2013), MusicDH@EDIROM (23-27 September 2013), and the training groups at IDE and Brown are working together as a network of DH training institutes. Please see our partners' offerings!

• Register for a Course

  Registration for DHSI2014 will open soon!

• Apply for a Scholarship

  Tuition scholarship applications for DHSI2014 will be available soon!

• Great material, great location, lovely people.
• There is something here for everyone, no matter their background. I will be coming back next year.
• This is one of the most successful academic gatherings I know of. It’s the model for others to follow.
• During the week, I emailed a colleague and encouraged him to consider attending next year.
• The positive vibe here is really impressive: a welcoming environment for people at all levels. Thank you!
• The participants were knowledgeable, the workshop teachers were great, and the atmosphere was nice.
• I’m already using the information I gained in my TEI workshop!
• A great chance to get feedback on ideas from a number of different people with varying levels of expertise and experience; a very supportive environment to try out ideas.
• The instructors were incredibly knowledgeable, appreciative and always willing to help.
• I loved the project-focus of the workshop; it really helped me realise what I want to do...
• I feel a lot more confident about my encoding abilities now.
• As a beginner, I was able to network with more advanced learners who [provided] feedback and support, even after the workshop ended.
• Very knowledgeable and helpful instructors; [They were] wonderful to work with.
• I enjoyed the convivial atmosphere set by Ray and his team...
• The best part was teamwork – shared knowledge, friendly presentations, speakers.
• Dynamic instruction, lots of information, good-sized class for individual attention.
• I’ll be back myself next year – and even on an annual basis.
• I really liked the group’s dynamic – so welcoming of professors, professionals and graduate students. The networking opportunities were great.
• Great learning environment. Instructors, organizers, students were all very encouraging and supportive.
• Great people and vibe! UVic is a great location with excellent facilities and campus. Good mix of work and play.
• It’s very, very hard to be an early-career scholar in the humanities at the moment – no jobs, no funding, no morale – and coming to DHSI has been like rainfall in the desert.
• It was a fun, fast paced environment . . . one of the best learning experiences of my life.
• The best thing about DHSI is the open and helpful energy. . . . I left wanting to know more.
• The DHSI is an excellent opportunity to get a feel for the DH landscape and learn about the kinds of projects other people are doing.
• What sets [the DHSI] apart is the energy of presenters, instructors, organizers which quickly rubs off on participants.
• The class was useful but as important are the connections I’ve made with so many great people doing exciting work.
• I loved how welcoming everyone was, how easy it was to network... I felt as though I was really in the right group.
• The combination of people-meeting/networking and the very high quality instruction in the class was outstanding. I will definitely work to be here again next year.
• The opportunities to network, learn new things, get stuff done are wonderful.
• DHSI provides excellent and badly-needed opportunities to learn essential skills.
• There are few settings in which to learn DH skills that are [as] open and friendly and collaborative.
• I have already recommended this to two grad student friends – I think it’s important to start at the DHSI early on in your scholarly career.
• I learned an incredible amount of new information from many inspiring people. I will be back and I will bring others with me!
• I’ve already recommended DHSI to friends who don’t know the potential of applying digital technologies and methodology to their work.
• Both the courses and the colloquium generated dialogue regarding past, current and future issues that anyone in academia with a pulse should be aware of.
• Awesome first experience. Now looking for projects to give me an excuse to come back next year.
• Thank you for an amazing week! I haven’t been so thoroughly satisfied with a learning experience in a long time!
• I had a wonderful time at DHSI and I'm excited for next year!
• I loved it (even more than last year)!
• My overall experience is positive because of the opportunity to study with a leading figure in the field and the opportunity to network.
• My participation to the DHSI has been a new and wonderful experience. I am now more confident with my own ideas and could also find out new approaches to my own going research. Thanks a lot!
• Thank you SOOOO much for all your experience, organization, camaraderie and good cheer. Can't wait to come back next year!
• This was a wonderful week, as always. What you do here makes this community possible. Thanks!
• It's been intense! Long but meaningful days. This was my first DHSI, and I look forward to attending more of them!
• Overall, an excellent experience--very enriching! I feel that I have a much better sense of what's going on at the cutting edge of humanities research now.
• Fantastic - I learned, I presented, I networked and I want to come back again!
• The vibe of openness, OK to experiment (and fail), the friendliness. I just love it. Thanks for working so hard to build this incredible community ... truly this is DH. What I always wanted from academia. Finally found it.
• I've learned so much in such a short time and i've met so many others working in my field!
• The courses are interesting, empowering and useful. The atmosphere is lighthearted and motivating.
• GREAT learning atmosphere, great people and lots of valuable information!
• It strikes me as an essential introduction to key methodologies.
• A great oppourtunity to learn and network.
• It fosters a great community of people passionate about DH and learning about DH.
• I learned so much, not only in my course, but through conversations with others.
• It's so positive, forward-thinking - it makes the humanities crackle with new possibilities.
• This the future of academic scholarship.
• The collegial environment and the opportunity to network and learn from others about DH work was valuable.
• I don't know how I would be able to learn these skills without it, nor would I be inspired by so many other people's work.
• I can think of no other opportunity that exists to immerse oneself in learning a new skill and the DH community.
• DHSI has been the most useful opportunity I've had over the last few years.
• A very positive, collaborative learning environment.
• Well-run, engaging, diverse.
• Great opportunities and atmosphere for learning
• Not only are the courses valuable, this group is welcoming. After a few years getting my toes wet, I'm ready to declare, I'm a digital humanist!
• (It was also just a heck of a lot of fun.)
• Changed my life and its direction! Great way to meet like-minded individuals and learn from each other's experiences.
• DHSI is the best workshop/conference/professional event I go to each year.
• Organized so well and in such intelligent ways.
• Amazing opportunity to meet and work with a supportive bunch of concerned and thoughtful academics.
• Brilliant instructors, incredibly interesting class. I've been giddy all week.
• THANK YOU
• Great work, really helpful and well run.
• Loved it! There are so many projects I want to do now.
• Collegial approach, accomodation for individual differences.
• Top rate instructors - who were also very nice people.
• Fantastic instructors!
• Collaborative environment, dissemination of a wide array of resources and tips, and contagious enthusiasm of the instructors.
• DHSI = Opting into a holistic community of learning.
• Leaving tired and happy!
• Already looking forward to next year.
• I felt very welcome, and learned a great deal.
• Grateful for the openness, humor & huge brain power.
• DHSI gets better and better every year. Gotta say it: love you guys.
• The presentation style was informative, engaging and very entertaining-a rare combination!
• The instructors were phenomenal: engaging, immensely knowledgeable and able, somehow, to provide completely lucid and straightforward explanations of complex concepts in a non-intimidating way.
• Organization, pace, content ... the relaxed humour of the instructors: fabulous.
• UVIC is a perfect setting, the campus is gorgeous, the people are fantastic, and the sense of collegiality is outstanding.
• ... the quality of the syllabus and instruction, the welcoming environment produced by the DHSI community, and the importance of obtaining the sorts of skills and critical thinking on offer ...
• Fabulous to focus on one topic for a full week, and get hands-on experience, not just listen to lectures.
• I loved every minute, and can't wait to come back next year.
• Great place to meet people, learn from others, share. DHSI leads one to create his/her own program.
• DHSI has been everything it was advertised to be: a warm community of scholars and practitioners, a great learning experience and networking opportunity, and a lot of fun.
• An excellent experience overall; top notch from start to finish.
• I think it's an amazing community to be a part of.
• It's clear that scholarship is moving in this direction ....
• DHSI provides a unique opportunity to train intensively; network with established and emerging scholars; to learn innovative software; and to be in a uniquely collegial environment.
• Amazing opportunity to meet and work with a supportive bunch of concerned and thoughtful academics.
• DHSI, for many reasons, cannot be beat.
• It is organized so well and in such intelligent ways.
• GREAT! I'm happily exhausted.
• It was an overall excellent experience: scholarly yet informal, collegial, well-organized. I found my week at DHSI to be much more rewarding than than the typical academic conference experience.
• VERY friendly and welcoming.
• The DHSI experience motivates me to upgrade my skills, and to see what I need to do to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the humanities. I am always very impressed with the institute.
• DHSI deepens my understanding of the importance of digital tools to humanities scholarship and broadens my network of scholars.
• AWESOME. As always.
• Terrific event. I'm impressed by the organization, the collective ethos, the range of classes and work. I wish I could take every class!
• Very positive, very engaging, very productive.
• A fantastic experience. The quality of instructors, of presenters, or the organizers, and of the students, are simply tremendous.
• The overwhelming abundance of intellectual verve has already changed my research directions for the near future.
• Without a doubt the highlight of my year, and hopefully of many years to come!

The institute takes place on the University of Victoria campus, and is hosted by the University of Victoria's Electronic Textual Cultures Lab in the Faculty of Humanities. Please see our archive for our offerings since 2001.

The DHSI is sponsored by the University of Victoria and its Library, the University of British Columbia Library, the College of Arts at University of Guelph, Texas A&M University, the Centre for Digital Humanities in the Department of English at Ryerson University, the Faculty of Arts at University of Waterloo, the Brittain Fellowship at Georgia Tech, the Simpson Center for the Humanities at University of Washington, the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology/Faculty of Letters at University of Tokyo, English, North Carolina State U, the Digital Humanities Center for Japanese Arts and Culture, Ritsumeikan U, Vancouver Island University (Office of the Provost and VP), Hamilton College DHi, the Simon Fraser University Library, the Editing Modernism in Canada (EMiC) project, Modernist Versions Project (MVP), NINES, the Cultural Evolution of Religion Research Consortium, and the Implementing New Knowledge Environments (INKE) project. DHSI's organisational sponsors include the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organisations (ADHO), the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS), the Canadian Society for Digital Humanities / Société canadienne des humanités numériques (CSDH/SCHN), the Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH), the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP), the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and others.