The University of Sheffield's Humanities Research Institute with the support of the Network of Expert Centres and Centernet is delighted to announce its Call for Papers for a three-day conference to be held in Sheffield during 6th - 8th September 2012.

The Digital Humanities Congress is a new conference which will be held in Sheffield every two years. Its purpose is to promote the sharing of knowledge, ideas and techniques within the digital humanities.

Digital humanities is understood by Sheffield to mean the use of technology within arts, heritage and humanities research as both a method of inquiry and a means of dissemination. As such, proposals related to all disciplines within the arts, humanities and heritage domains are welcome.

The conference will take place at the University's new residential conference facility, The Edge.

Keynote Speakers

• Professor Andrew Prescott (Head of Department, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London)
• Professor Lorna Hughes (University of Wales Chair in Digital Collections at the National Library of Wales)
• Professor Philip Ethington (Professor of History and Political Science, University of Southern California and Co-Director of the USC Center for Transformative Scholarship)

Submitting a Proposal

We welcome proposals on all aspects of the digital humanities. For example, proposals might wish to focus on:

• New knowledge and insights within areas of humanities research which have arisen from the use of digital applications, techniques or methodologies. These proposals might focus on how specific research questions were solved.
• Case studies, best practice and evolving trends concerning the development of research resources, tools, frameworks and environments within the humanities, such as digital editions, mobile applications, virtual worlds, surface computing, web services and GIS.
• Technologies and techniques which bring value to humanities research, such as data mining, crowd-sourcing, linked data, text encoding, digitisation, ontology building, sentiment analysis, augmented reality, 3D visualisation and virtual worlds.
• Standards, best practice and case studies for data creation, data collection, development methodologies, usability testing, preservation, sustainability and accessibility.
• Issues and emerging trends within the technology and the information environment which do or might impact on humanities research. This might concern new technology, social trends, infrastructure, policy, funding, assessing value or pedagogy.

Proposals are welcome from academics, researchers, postgraduate students, professionals from within the cultural, heritage and information sectors, technologists and SMEs. Proposals are welcome from UK and international contributors.

Contributors can propose individual papers or sessions of three or more papers on a related theme.

Proposals for Individual Papers

Proposals for individual papers should include:

•     The name of the speaker
•     The speaker's institution
•     The title of the paper
•     An abstract of approximately 300 words

Individual papers will be to a maximum of 20 minutes duration. Each paper will then be allotted a further 10 minutes for questions.

Proposals for Sessions

Proposals for sessions should include:

•     The name of the session organiser and his/her institution
•     The names of the individual speakers and their institutions
•     The title of the session
•     An abstract of approximately 200 words which describes the theme that unifies the session
•     The titles of the session papers
•     Abstracts for each paper within the session of approximately 300 words

Sessions will consist of three or more papers on a related theme to a maximum of 60 minutes. Each session will then be allotted a further 30 minutes for questions.

Submission Process and Deadline

Proposals should be submitted in Microsoft Word or plain text format to the following email address: dhc2012[at]sheffield.ac.uk

The deadline for submissions is 30th April 2012. All proposers will be notified by 11th May 2012.

Discounted Registration

All successful proposers will be eligible for the early bird registration packages. Early bird registration will end on 31st May 2012.

• Discounted full residential package incl. registration and ensuite bed and breakfast accommodation: £230 (full price: £280)
• Discounted non-residential package: £119 (full price: £169)
• Student full residential package incl. registration and ensuite bed and breakfast accommodation: £200
• Student non-residential package: £100

Publication

All speakers will be invited to submit their paper for publication in the Humanities Research Institute's new online journal, Studies in the Digital Humanities.

Further Information

The conference website will provide access to delegate registration as well as further information about the programme and facilities: http://hridigital.shef.ac.uk/dhc2012

For enquiries about submitting a proposal, please contact Michael Pidd: m.pidd[at]sheffield.ac.uk

The Humanities Research Institute is one of the UK's leading centres for the digital humanities: http://hridigital.shef.ac.uk

The Network of Expert Centres is a collaboration of centres with expertise in digital arts and humanities research and scholarship, including practice-led research: http://www.arts-humanities.net

Centernet is an international network of digital humanities centres: http://digitalhumanities.org/centernet

http://www.shef.ac.uk/hri/dhc2012