M.A. in Digital Texts and Culture

The requirements listed on this page are subject to change.

Students who pursue a two-year research-intensive M.A. in Digital Studies of Language, Culture, and History will specialize in one of the following four areas and will do a thesis project in that area under the supervision of a faculty advisor:

In their first year, students will take the six core courses required for the one-year M.A. plus three courses related to their specialization. In their second year, students will take eight additional courses related to their specialization and a thesis-preparation course, for a total of 18 courses.

Required Courses for the M.A. in Digital Texts and Culture

For the M.A. specialization in Digital Texts and Culture, students must take the following four courses:

    • DIGS 30009, Machine Learning for the Humanities (Autumn)
    • DIGS 30031, Digital Texts I: Corpus Building and Corpus Statistics (Winter)
    • DIGS 30032, Digital Texts II: Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning (Spring)
    • DIGS 30035, Introduction to Cultural Analytics (Spring, if offered) 

In addition, students will take five courses in literary or textual studies, art history, musicology, languages, linguistics, or computational methods that are chosen in consultation with their faculty advisor, plus two courses on any subject of interest. These courses may be taken in any department or program of the University of Chicago; however, some courses may have enrollment restrictions or prerequisites that prevent Digital Studies M.A. students from taking them.

Students will normally register for DIGS 30008, Thesis Preparation, as one of their three courses in the Spring Quarter of their second year. This entails regular meetings with the faculty advisor and the Forum staff advisor(s) and is intended to give students additional time to complete the thesis project. However, the Associate Director of Curriculum and Instruction of the Forum for Digital Culture may grant permission to substitute another course instead of DIGS 30008, as long as it does not hinder the completion of the thesis project.

Typical Schedule of Courses

Here is a typical schedule of courses for the two-year M.A. specialization in Digital Texts and Culture:

Year One Autumn Quarter

    • DIGS 30001, Introduction to Computer Programming Using Python
    • DIGS 30003, Data Management for the Humanities
    • DIGS 30007, History and Theory of Computing for the Humanities

Year One Winter Quarter

    • DIGS 30002, Introduction to Statistics Using Python
    • DIGS 30005, Data Publication for the Humanities
    • DIGS 30031, Digital Texts I: Corpus Building and Corpus Statistics

Year One Spring Quarter

    • DIGS 30004, Data Visualization for the Humanities
    • DIGS 30032, Digital Texts II: Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning
    • DIGS 30035, Introduction to Cultural Analytics (if offered)

Year Two Autumn Quarter

    • DIGS 30009, Machine Learning for the Humanities
    • Two courses in literary or textual studies, languages, linguistics, or computational methods

Year Two Winter Quarter

    • Two courses in literary or textual studies, languages, linguistics, or computational methods
    • One course on any subject of interest

Year Two Spring Quarter

    • DIGS 30008, Thesis Preparation
    • One course in literary or textual studies, languages, linguistics, or computational methods
    • One course on any subject of interest

Faculty Committee

The following faculty members oversee the M.A. specialization in Digital Texts and Culture:

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