PRIVACY Scholar Anni Haahr Henriksen Wins Digital Humanities Scholarship

The prestigious Renaissance Society of America (RSA) has awarded one of our PRIVACY scholars, miss Anni Haahr Henriksen, with a scholarship to study the Digital Humanities at the University of Victoria Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) in June 2020. We have asked Anni a few questions about what the scholarship entails.

‘Approaching my sources with DH tools open up for completely new avenues. It is rather amazing, really. Almost like going back to a well-known source and finding that you have been looking at it through a tiny tunnel’

What can you tell us about the scholarship?

Well, the RSA DHSI scholarship is an opportunity for historians working on the Renaissance to learn about the research tools that are developing within the Digital Humanities (DH). The DHSI is internationally known for its excellence and students and researchers gather every summer to learn about the latest developments within DH.

Which course will you be taking?

The course I’ll be taking is called Introduction to Computation for Literary Students. I am very excited about this course, because it will give me a better understanding of corpus linguistics while at the same time giving me a broad introduction to a range of relevant tools, which in turn will enable me to make an informed choice about my digital methodology in accumulating and processing my data. And, as equally important, this course will instruct me in the codes of conduct for responsibly and transparently sharing my data.

Do you have a particular project that you will be using this for?

Absolutely! I am working on a terminology project as part of my PhD in which I aim to trace the emerging vocabulary of expressing notions of privacy in Elizabethan England. As said, the approach I use is terminological, a form of corpus linguistics, and my corpus extends across the Edwardian, Marian and Elizabethan periods, consisting of Acts of Parliament, proclamations and sermons. Such masses of information necessitate knowledge and use of the latest tools and technologies developing within the Digital Humanities. So the course I’ll be taking at the DHSI is really perfect for what I need.

Approacing my sources with DH tools open up for completely new avenues. It is rather amazing, really. Almost like going back to a well-known source and finding that you have been looking at it through a tiny tunnel. The skills and understanding that I acquire at the DHSI will help me broaden that tunnel considerably and hopefully bring new insights into Elizabethan ideas about privacy.