In May, Brown’s Graduate School approved a joint proposal from the Library’s Center for Digital Scholarship (CDS) and the Cogut Institute for the Humanities to establish a doctoral advanced specialization certificate in Digital Humanities. Doctoral certificate programs allow PhD students to gain expertise in interdisciplinary areas that complement and expand upon their disciplinary training, both advancing students’ careers and promoting intellectual community across departments. Many graduate students have availed themselves of the training and learning opportunities provided by CDS, which serves as Brown University’s hub for faculty and students to develop and realize their ground-breaking scholarly ideas using the capabilities of the digital realm.
Establishing a certificate responds to the increasing interest of PhD students for more formal curricular recognition of their work to acquire methodological skills and theoretical knowledge in digital scholarship. It is also consistent with the Library’s goal to strengthen its role as a site for collaborative communities of scholars at Brown and build even closer linkages with campus teaching and research programs. Steven Lubar, CDS Faculty Director and Professor of American Studies and History; Ashley Champagne, Head of Digital Scholarship Project Planning; Tara Nummedal, Professor of History and Italian Studies; and Damien Maheit, Associate Director of the Cogut Institute developed the proposal in consultation with faculty and graduate students engaged in digital scholarship. Plans call for the certificate program to launch in the fall 2022 term.