Train in cutting-edge methods with leading experts from Lancaster University’s internationally renowned Digital Humanities Centre. We combine specialisms in the spatial humanities, corpus linguistics and natural language processing (NLP) with expertise across the broader humanities.
What is ‘data’ in the humanities? How are digital sources created? What are the advantages and limitations of material in digital form? As well as changing the way we live and work, the digital world is also transforming the way we study the humanities.Our MA in Digital Humanities will prepare you to work in this new world of data.
Why Lancaster?
Learn the latest techniques from Lancaster’s internationally recognised experts in Digital Humanities
Study in a faculty that specialises in the application of data science and artificial intelligence techniques in humanities research
Get involved in international projects with places such as the United States, France, Mexico, Brazil, and India
Collaborate with your peers in our Digital Scholarship Lab, a state-of-the-art research space with specialist software and equipment
Develop skills that will open doors to exciting professional roles or PhD study
A global leader in the field
Digital methods are changing the ways in which humanities scholarship works across the UK and internationally, including how heritage organisations share and preserve collections, and how we publish research. AI is turbo-charging this in ways that are still developing. You will explore these shifts and others to analyse implications, positive and negative, for our disciplines, for libraries and archives, and for society.
Our academic team at Lancaster have tackled big research questions such as:
How can AI be used to better understand the Holocaust?
How can we read a million maps?
How can Shakespeare's corpus be visualised?
What can billions of words extracted from nineteenth-century newspapers and legal testimonies tell us about life in Victorian Britain?
What changes can we identify at a landscape scale during the formation of the Aztec Empire?
Our MA in Digital Humanities is taught by our internationally recognised tutors who have a wide range of subject knowledge from across the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and beyond. You can draw on their expertise and develop your degree in a way that suits your interests and career prospects.
Digital skills and contexts
Without assuming anything other than a conventional ability to work with computers, you will develop digital skills tailored to working with digitised humanities sources. As you acquire the technical competencies required to work with digital sources, you will place these methods in the context of key debates around the history, ethics and cultures of today’s digitised world.
Computational skills can be used to study societies and cultures of the past, present and future. On this course, you will develop your understanding of how digital technologies affect the humanities and broader society
Drawing on innovative research at Lancaster and further afield, you will learn the most up-to-date skills and most recent knowledge across a wide range of methods including:
Artificial Intelligence
Computational Linguistics
Geographic Information Science
Computer Vision
Data Visualization
These skills can be applied to a range of disciplines from across the humanities including History, Literary Studies, Media Studies, Linguistics and many more.
A digital community
The MA in Digital Humanities is firmly embedded in Lancaster’s Centre for Digital Humanities. In this thriving community you will have access to a range of seminars and other events as well as opportunities to co-design new initiatives with students and staff. You will learn about developments in Digital Humanities at Lancaster and beyond and can meet and chat to PhD students and staff working in this exciting field. We also have access to the Digital Scholarship Lab in the Library where many events are held.
This MA equips you with a valuable set of transferable skills. You’ll be able to apply your newly acquired skills in the private and public sectors or continue into academia on research projects.
We prepare our graduates for success in many fascinating careers including roles in:
Cultural heritage management, including spatial analysis
Libraries, galleries, museums and archives, in particular digital collection development and curation
Research infrastructure
Technology industries
Creative industries
The Civil Service
You will be in a strong position to further their studies at doctorate level if you wish.
Careers and employability support
Our degrees open up an extremely wide array of career pathways in businesses and organisations, large and small, in the UK and overseas. Our specialist Employability team is ready to support you, whether you are starting out your career after leaving higher education or returning to university to open up new career options.
We provide individual employability advice, application support, career events, development opportunities and resources to help you plan and achieve your career goals. We also run a paid internship scheme specifically for arts, humanities and social sciences students.
The Lancaster Award is available to all postgraduate taught students and recognises work experience, volunteering and personal development alongside your studies. Developed with employers, it helps you reflect on key skills, boost your CV and articulate your strengths with confidence.
Whether you have a clear idea of your potential career path or need some help considering the options, our friendly team is on hand.
Find out more about Lancaster’s careers events, extensive resources and personal support for Careers and Employability
Entry requirements
Academic requirements
2:2 Hons degree (UK or equivalent) in any humanities discipline or related subjects, such as Library Science, or Journalism, for example.
English language requirements
We require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test.
If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, complete our enquiry form and one of the team will get back to you.
Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored pre-master's pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University master's degrees. Visit INTO Lancaster University for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.
Course structure
We continually review and enhance our curriculum to ensure we are delivering the best possible learning experience, and to make sure that the subject knowledge and transferable skills you develop will prepare you for your future. The University will make every reasonable effort to offer programmes and modules as advertised. In some cases, changes may be necessary and may result in new modules or some modules and combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
Core
core modules accordion
Although keyword searches are a common gateway to analysing digitised and digital collections, many new, innovative approaches are being developed that enable humanities researchers to ask questions of their sources.
In this module, you will learn basic methods for analysing text, images, and other types of data in a variety of computational environments, from common desktop- or browser-based software to Jupyter notebooks or RStudio. With origins in linguistics, statistics, computer science, geography and more, these methods have been adapted and reimagined for scholarship in history, literature, and other humanities disciplines. As you refine your analytical skills, you will explore how these methods move between disciplines, the role of the humanities in methodological innovation, and how the emergence of AI is changing this methodological landscape.
This will be a piece of independent study on a relevant topic as agreed with your supervisor. The dissertation provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge, understanding, research skills and techniques of presentation developed in the taught modules of the MA degree scheme.
The general approach will be for you to conduct a piece of original research using the approaches that you have learned in the taught modules, applying them either to a research topic based in any humanities subject – including history, literary studies, media studies and many more – or to a more technical area such as AI or information studies.
The results from digital methods will often be very different from the evidence humanities researchers collected and synthesised before digital interventions began to change our working practices. How do we work with big data? What is the relationship between quantitative and qualitative results? How do we combine more traditional forms of close with the types of distant reading often produced by digital methods?
This module prepares you to select appropriate methods for your sources, frame research questions that are answerable with digital methods, and distil results into significant claims. You will explore claim-making across different disciplines and how scholars make successful arguments at the intersection of traditional humanities disciplines and DH. You will thus develop skills essential to conducting larger studies, including developing a dissertation proposal.
Humanities researchers interact with sources in ways that were unimaginable a generation ago – photographing archival documents, searching full-text collections online, and automatically transcribing text from document images. But what ideas, methods, standards, and tools enable these tasks?
This module prepares you to access, create, curate, structure, enrich, store, and share historical materials such as books, newspapers, official publications, letters, maps and photographs – exploring opportunities and challenges when these are undertaken by individuals compared to organisations.
Along the way, you will review the history of digitisation and discuss key debates around the politics, economics, and cultures of digitisation around the world. This in-depth exploration of how and why sources are converted into machine-readable collections prepares you to make critically informed decisions about your own research and in future professional engagements with digital collections.
This module prepares you to situate your research and career ambitions in the multicultural and multimodal world of digital humanities (DH) research internationally.
How does DH in the UK relate to DH elsewhere in the world? What role do libraries, archives, museums, and heritage organisations within and beyond the UK play in shaping research? How does DH relate to research across the range of humanities disciplines, and also beyond the humanities to fields such as natural language processing, artificial intelligence, information studies, and others?
Forward looking, this module creates a space for you to explore cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and put it into conversation with your own interests and current scholarly and public debates.
Optional
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In this module, you will progress from the fundamentals of historical research to the expert skills needed for your master's dissertation and for further research. You will develop the techniques used by professional historians, not only in undertaking research, but also in guiding research through peer review towards publication.
The module will follow the key steps in the production and dissemination of historical research, examining such topics as:
Working with archival sources
The nature of your field and identifying the key players in it
Devising and honing your research questions
The requirements for academic writing
Offering and responding to peer review
Presenting the strengths and weaknesses of research to specialist audiences in formats such as book reviews
The dilemmas posed by artificial intelligence
Through a series of workshops, lecturers draw on their own experiences and yours to guide you through the processes of research, writing and dissemination.
Heritage is a complex concept. It is a way of describing things, places and practices that bring people together. It can also set people apart. In this module, we interrogate these aspects of heritage and examine different contexts and spaces in which heritage is created, claimed, mediated and debated.
You will engage with critical analyses of heritage practices and consider the workings of heritage groups and institutions. Questions we explore may include:
Where does heritage come from?
How is it created and defined?
What is national/world heritage?
What risks are involved in the documentation, preservation and promotion of heritage?
How/why has the presentation of heritage changed over time?
In thinking through these and other questions, you will have the chance to deepen your understanding of the means through which the historical temper is cultivated in public institutions and spaces.
Gain a strong understanding of contemporary methodological issues by examining various critical methods through practical techniques and case studies related to media analysis.
You will explore different research practices, including:
Textual and discourse analysis
Visual analysis
Ethnography
Participatory approaches
You will focus on how who we are, how we differ and the power we hold shape our experiences in today’s hyper-complex media and cultural environment. You will draw on recent examples of media and cultural research at Lancaster University and examine their theoretical and practical implications.
By the end of this module, you will have a good understanding of the key elements in planning and carrying out independent research projects.
In this module, you’ll gain an accessible and critical introduction to using numeric evidence in social research.
You will study the basics of quantitative research design, including:
How to work with large-scale datasets
Design surveys
Understanding population level assumptions
Interpret statistical outputs
In this module, you will understand key statistical techniques and ask thoughtful questions about the power and politics of data. The module emphasises a critical, reflexive approach that recognises that data is never neutral and that all research involves choices. You’ll also learn to check if data is fair, by looking at how it was collected and whether it is truly represents people.
You don’t need a strong background in maths to take this module. We’ll help you understand key statistical techniques and ask thoughtful questions about the power and politics of data. You’ll gain practical and critical skills essential for any well-rounded researcher.
What ethical and political questions can we ask about ‘smart’ digital infrastructures that are typically overlooked by engineers and tech corporations? How can we approach the social connections forged by ‘smart’ digital infrastructures?
In this module, you will consider the forms of power and control underpinning algorithmic cultures and data. You will explore the progression of technology and how it has made the relationship between the digital and non-digital more complex.
You will consider how technology doesn’t always work as planned, whether it affects people differently or leads to unexpected consequences, such as:
The messiness of datafication
Algorithmic culture tied up with affective contagion
Unpredictable ecosystems
Electronic waste straddling the planet
Language and other forms of communication are instrumental in defining social issues, identities and relations. This module presents the latest topics and methodological developments in Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) – a field that aims to identify and expose the precise semiotic means by which power and inequality are enacted and challenged through discourse.
You will be introduced to foundational ideas concerning the relationship between texts, discourse practice and society, as well as a range of analytical frameworks employed in contemporary CDS to deconstruct texts and reveal their ideological and persuasive properties. Reflecting changes in the political and media landscape, you will explore communicative modes beyond language, including gestures and images.
Through practical textual analysis, you will use the tools of CDS to consider some of the most pressing issues currently facing society, such as right-wing populism, the right to political protest and the role of digital activism in effecting social change.
In this module, you will focus on crucial feminist interventions in cultural production and cultural studies. You will explore the intersections of feminism media and culture while critically examining how gender identities and inequalities are constructed through various forms of media.
You will think about media as a global practice and address issues such as:
Class
Race
Sexuality
Disability
This module explores how feminist cultural theory connects with everyday culture by studying sources from popular media such as art, public culture and policy.
How can your research make a difference to the world? In this module, you will learn to bridge the gap between scholarly research and societal impact, developing the skills to contribute to policy debates and shape public understanding of the past.
Through task-based workshop activities, you will address the many faces of public history, including topics such as:
Museum exhibitions
Creative writing and historical fiction
History podcasting
Content creation
Trade publishing
Video games
Television and film consultancy
Policy papers
Courtroom advocacy
Moreover, you will develop a broader understanding of the place of history in the public sphere, for instance by reflecting on how to identify social problems that can be addressed through historical research, or by learning how to approach policymakers with research-based solutions. You will also develop the skills to reach varied audiences, deploying different styles of writing and diverse forms of communication.
In this module you’ll gain a range of practical skills that are required to lead the development and implementation of innovative solutions to global challenges within education, academia, business and society. You will participate in workshops and work in self-directed Action Learning Sets which meet independently on a regular basis outside of the classroom.
Applying a critical, decolonial lens, you will reflect on your own position, prior learning and experience and connect these with ideas of leadership (and leadership ethics) in a range of contexts.
Our focus is a humanities-led approach to leadership, grounded in critical, creative and collaborative skills. You’ll be encouraged to take a holistic approach to the role of leadership in society, and humanistic thinking.
As well as theories of leadership and followership, you will learn skills for leadership and collaboration, which may include:
Project and self-management
Entrepreneurship
Research and information literacy
Communication
Partnership building
The teaching and learning are designed to be flexible and prioritise self-directed study, enabling you to develop your own unique set of leadership skills and traits which will prepare you for a wide range of leadership roles, further study or a range of careers.
This module introduces you to key themes of innovation and production in global media. You will focus on the analysis of power in relation to media, while exploring new and emerging forms of social and technological innovation.
You will examine the interplay between power structures, such as global and local inequalities and modes of (dis)engagement in global media. You will ask critical questions about what is at stake in media innovation, from ecological damage to global inequalities in media use.
In this module, you will read and discuss recent and formative writings in global media studies and develop an understanding of key concepts, such as:
Media cultures
Industries
Practices
This module helps to support students to become future media leaders by honing your critical thinking skills.
Study a language formally in a way that will support your learning. You can enrol either as a beginner or as a more advanced student where you will build on existing knowledge.
In the seminars and workshops, as well as through a series of optional drop-ins offered later in the module, you’ll get the tools you need to approach materials which are relevant to your own academic and work interests.
You will be given opportunities to practise in your chosen target language, building on materials posted on the learning space (flipped classroom videos, self-study links) as well as other events organised for the community of linguists and language learners in the University, such as our weekly lunch clubs.
On this module you will develop transferable communicative skills and reflect on cultural and linguistic challenges which are relevant to your postgraduate studies and beyond.
You may use these skills to research matters relating to intercultural and/or interlinguistic issues, work with archives, develop an international research network, or simply add them to your CV.
In this module, you will examine the methodological and ethical considerations involved in researching environmental issues through a social and cultural lens.
You will address ecological challenges through ideas and methods, such as:
Research design
Ethical frameworks
The role of social sciences in interdisciplinary environmental research
Qualitative approaches
Reflexive practices
Culturally grounded methods
Case studies
You’ll explore decolonising methodologies and show how power shapes who gets heard and whose knowledge counts. You will learn to evaluate, select and apply appropriate methods in your own work, leading to the production of a project presentation.
What is ‘modern’ about modern history? What are the social, cultural, and political transformations that brought about ‘modernity’? And how is the experience of living in an age of modernity different from pre-modernity? This module explores some of the most influential theories and approaches that will help you answer these questions.
Through a series of case studies, you will examine how capitalism, colonialism, secularisation, urbanisation, and technology have reshaped people’s identities, remoulded institutions, and fashioned new ideologies. You will investigate the key features of mass society, from advertising and propaganda to cinema-going and commuting. And you will learn how modernity is also about the accommodations made between the old and the new, the personal and the impersonal. Finally, the module asks whether we are now ‘postmodern’ – and if so, what this means – or whether contemporary society is still part of the modern era.
Fees and funding
We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2026/27
entry fees have not yet been set.
Additional fees and funding information accordion
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2025, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
Application fees for 2025
For most taught postgraduate programmes starting in 2025 you must pay a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
Application fees for 2026
There is no application fee if you are applying for postgraduate study starting in 2026.
Paying a deposit
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, tuition fees are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
Details of our scholarships and bursaries for 2026-entry study are not yet available, but you can use our opportunities for 2025-entry applicants as guidance.
The information on this site relates primarily to the stated entry year and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
Our Students’ Charter
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. Find out more about our Charter and student policies.
