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Education Master's and PhD degree programmes Communication and Information Studies Digital Humanities
Header image Digital Humanities

Digital Humanities

Do you want to be at the forefront of the digital turn in the humanities? The current information revolution opens up exciting perspectives for research and its applications in society.

This Master's track equips you to look at culture, language, history or philosophy through the lens of digital methods.

We are witnessing many exciting new trends in information technology. The vast amount of digital data that is available nowadays opens up new research questions and opportunities for real life applications. This Digital Humanities track offers a systematic way to incorporate information technology in humanities research.
It trains students with a humanities background for the growing number of research and other job opportunities that require processing of digital information. It reflects on the underlying theory and the impacts on our culture and society. It offers courses for collecting, analyzing and visualizing humanities data. Finally, you will be skilled to work with professional databases, programming scripts, and statistical tools.

Students who graduated successfully from this programme were able to integrate a humanities perspective with computational methods. For instance, the thesis “Tracing Joyce’s notes for Ulysses” (2017) employed automation strategies for the digital representation and for source-tracing of Joyce’s notebooks. Another example is the thesis “Visualizing trade” (2018), in which an analysis of the Baltic trade in the 18th century was done by using visualization applications on the Sound Toll registers. By exploring visualization as a tool, the student was able to implement a Digital Humanities approach to a historical problem not just to identify patterns and analyze them, but also suggesting new interpretations.

Facts & Figures
Degree
MA in Communication & Information Studies
Course type
Master
Duration
12 months (60 ECTS)
Croho code
66826
Language of instruction
English
Start
September
Faculty
Arts
Why study this programme in Groningen?
  • It is the only Digital Humanities Master in the Netherlands
  • You learn how to program and how to combine theory and skills in using digital tools
  • You get acquainted with new developments in digitisation and datafication in culture and society
  • You enter a multidisciplinary programme which offers opportunities for building on your humanities domain of expertise
  • It will give you a head start on the job market
Programme
Semesters
CoursesCourse Catalog >1a1b2a2b
Coding for Humanities (5 EC)
Database Design (5 EC)
Understanding Digital Humanities (5 EC)
Work Placement DH (10 EC, optional)
Collecting Data (5 EC)
Data in Society (5 EC)
Digital Humanities: Tools and Methods (5 EC)
Analyzing Data (5 EC)
Software and Data as Culture (5 EC)
Thesis Lab (5 EC)
MA Thesis (15 EC)

Curriculum

The courses in the programme are organised according to three specializations: theory (Understanding Digital Humanities; Data in Society; Software and Data as Culture), data processing (Collecting Data, Analyzing Data, Digital Humanities: Tools and Methods) and skills (Database Design, Coding for Humanities, Thesis Preparation).

Study abroad

  • Study abroad is unaccommodated

Study abroad is not an option for this programme

Entry requirements

Transfer options

Transferring from...

Study programmeOrganizationTransition
Arts and Culture StudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
American StudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
ArchaeologyAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Communication and Information StudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Film and Literary StudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
History (part-time)All Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Arts, Culture and MediaAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Art HistoryAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Media StudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
MuziekwetenschapAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Taal- en CultuurstudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
LinguisticsAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Theatre StudiesAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
TheologyAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
PhilosophyAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Engelse Taal en CultuurAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
English Language and CultureAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
English Language and CultureAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Study programmeOrganizationTransition
American StudiesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
ArchaeologyUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Art HistoryUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Arts, Culture and MediaUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
History (part-time)University of GroningenNo additional requirements
Classics (part-time)University of GroningenNo additional requirements
Communication and Information StudiesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Dutch Language and CultureUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
English Language and CultureUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
European Languages and CulturesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Information ScienceUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
International Relations and International OrganizationUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Media StudiesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Minorities & MultilingualismUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Middle Eastern StudiesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
LinguisticsUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Religious StudiesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
TheologyUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
PhilosophyUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Philosophy of a specific disciplineUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Liberal Arts and SciencesUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Prospective students from the University of Groningen with a Bachelor's degree in Arts, from the Faculty of Arts, Philosophy or Religion, Culture and Society are directly admissible to this Master's programme. Students with a Bachelor's degree in Arts from another Dutch Research university are also directly admissible to this Master's track.

language test

Additional requirements English: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 100 (with a minimum of 25 on all items), or IELTS 7.0 (with a minimum of 6.5 on all items). Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 185.

other admission requirements

University of Groningen students are encouraged to take the Minor Digital Humanities during their Bachelor's.

Registration procedure

Note: it's not possible to start in February. For more information, please contact the study advisor.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Prospective students from a non-Dutch Research university need to have obtained a minimum of 120 ECTS of courses in the humanities to apply for this Master's track. These courses need to be roughly equivalent in their content to courses that can be completed at the UG (at the Faculty's of Arts, Philosophy and Religion, Culture and Society. In our digital study guide Ocasys (https://ocasys.rug.nl/current) you are able to find courses belonging to these programmes at the UG, so you can match these and their learning outcomes with the courses you have taken during your Bachelor's degree.

language test

Additional requirements English: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 100 (with a minimum of 25 on all items), or IELTS 7.0 (with a minimum of 6.5 on all items). Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 185.

other admission requirements

University of Groningen students are encouraged to take the Minor Digital Humanities during their Bachelor's.

Registration procedure

Note: it's not possible to start in February. For more information, please contact the study advisor.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025
Tuition fees
NationalityYearFeeProgramme form
EU/EEA2024-2025€ 2530full-time
non-EU/EEA2024-2025€ 18700full-time

Practical information for:

After your studies

Job prospects

Career prospects

  • Digital curator
  • Cultural designer
  • Information architect
  • Metadata analyst
Research

Research

The Digital Humanities masters' programme benefits from a strong relationship between teaching and research, and students are encouraged to join an active research project for the writing of their thesis. A good example of this embedding is the thesis 'Effectively Classifying Texts Affectively', which was written in the context of a research project on the role of Spotify in the music industry.

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Master's Weekdiverse locatiesMore information

Contact

  • Ask Your Question Here (please fill in this contact form, we will answer you as soon as possible.)
  • Sjors van Ooij (Studieadviseur)
    Email: studieadviseurik rug.nl
  • Albert Everaarts (Studieadviseur )
    Email: studieadviseurik rug.nl
    Telephone: 050-363 5809
  • Henry Hornung (Student Ambassador)
  • Admission Office (Contact form)
    Telephone: +31-(0)50 363 8976

NL Scholarships

The University of Groningen offers NL Scholarships to international students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who want to do their master’s in the Netherlands. Read more on the NL Scholarships and on how to apply.
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