Navigating Digital Humanities Careers Beyond the Ivory Tower

Jeanelle Horcasitas, Lisa Tagliaferri, Kalle Westerling, Editors

Deadline for 500-word abstracts, including proposed title and short bio: March 15, 2026

Part of the Debates in the Digital Humanities Series
A book series from the University of Minnesota Press
Matthew K. Gold and Lauren F. Klein, Series Editors

The digital humanities, as a discipline, has long claimed a place at the intersection of traditional humanities scholarship and the digital world. Despite its wide-ranging applications, however, the conversation around digital humanities (DH) careers is often limited to academic positions. However, as the academic landscape shifts and other industries evolve, a reevaluation of what constitutes a fulfilling and impactful career for DH scholars is timely and imperative.

Navigating Digital Humanities Careers Beyond the Ivory Tower emerges from this critical juncture in the humanities, where the decline in tenure-track positions and the rise of part-time and contingent roles necessitate explorations of the extensive career paths that are both meaningful and viable for DH scholars. Synthesizing recent advice-oriented monographs such as Katina Rogers's Putting the Humanities PhD to Work (Duke 2020) and recent works on digital humanities pedagogy and infrastructure with What We Teach When We Teach DH (Minnesota 2025) and Digital Futures of Graduate Study in the Humanities (Minnesota 2024), this edited collection aims to extend the discussion and offer debate about academic preparation for multiple pathways, career transitions, and the broad impact of DH work.

This volume will focus on the future of DH and the humanities more broadly, including emerging trends, potential for interdisciplinary collaboration, and inquiry on the possible futures of DH, professionalization and education. Through both theory and praxis, the collection challenges what success means within DH; discussing a more expansive view that considers impactful work across diverse sectors.This edited collection will also grapple with current economic uncertainties and changes impacting the humanities and higher education overall, particularly given U.S. President Trump’s recent executive orders to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and dismantle the federal Department of Education agency.

Our hope is that Navigating Digital Humanities Careers Beyond the Ivory Tower can be a call to action for scholars, educators, and institutions to seriously consider the future for DH and its professionals. We also hope that it can serve as a resource and catalyst for the DH community, offering a full view of how career success is conceptualized and achieved in the digital age.

The editors of this volume welcome contributions that not only address the current needs and gaps in the discussion around DH careers but also offer forward-looking insights into the evolving landscape of the field and beyond.

Please refer to the proposed themes and topics for this volume. We invite contributions that do the following:

Redefining Professional Success in Digital Humanities: Challenge the traditional academic career trajectory, presenting a more nuanced understanding of professional success for DH scholars. Expand definitions of success to include diverse roles in industry, non-profits, government, and beyond.
Transdisciplinarity and Application of DH Skills: Highlight the versatility and applicability of DH skills across various sectors, emphasizing how these competencies can bridge the gap between humanities and technology.
Ethical Considerations in DH Careers: Address the ethical dimensions of digital humanities work, especially as it intersects with technology and society.
Impact Beyond Academia: Explore the potential of DH skills and methodologies to contribute to society, culture and technological innovation. They may highlight projects and initiatives where DH scholars have made significant impacts beyond the confines of academia.
Supporting Underrepresented Scholars in New Career Paths: Recognize the unique challenges faced by underrepresented groups in DH and provide guidance and support for navigating the academic and professional landscape.
The Future of the Humanities — Trends and Collaborations: Examine emerging trends within the digital humanities and potential areas for interdisciplinary collaboration. They will anticipate how these developments might influence future career paths and opportunities for DH scholars, encouraging adaptability and continuous learning.
DH Scholars and Entrepreneurs and Innovators: Highlight the entrepreneurial potential within the DH community and showcase how scholars can leverage their skills to create new ventures or innovate within existing organizations.

We welcome various forms of writing and genres, including articles, blog-length pieces, and from single- and multi-author collaborations. We also invite contributions with critical analyses or reflections (1500-2500 words including citations) that help readers from other fields grasp the arguments embedded within those documents.

Length: Articles should not exceed 5,000–8,000 words and may be accompanied by a limited number of print-quality images, graphs, and illustrations.

Abstracts: Abstracts of no more than 500 words. They should be emailed to all three editors by March 15, 2026. Decisions will be conveyed by April 15, 2026. Authors will be requested to submit the finished articles, with all visuals and other material, within three months of acceptance.

Please send your work to: jeanelle.horcasitas@gmail.com, kallewesterling@gmail.com, and lisa.tagliaferri@gmail.com ,

Review and peer review: All articles will be reviewed by the editors and the publisher’s peer reviewer. In addition, in accordance with the practice of the Debates in the Digital Humanities series, the peer review process will ask each contributor to comment on at least two articles.

Tentative Deadlines:

March 15, 2026 - Abstracts (500 words) and a short bio due (including in the abstract a projected length for the final contribution)
April 15, 2026 - Decisions on acceptance of abstracts
July 6, 2026 - Full submissions (essays or other kinds of contributions)
July 6, 2026–October 9, 2026 - Peer-to-peer reviewing and editors’ reviewing
October 30, 2026 - Revised submissions by October 30, 2026
December 11, 2026 - Final editors’ review December 11, 2026
February 28, 2027 - Final revisions by authors expected
April 9, 2027 - Submission of volume to U. Minnesota Press