Geograffe

I see you've found the thread since your initial post - I was hoping to get a list of quality programs/universities that ALSO have a dedicated, well-funded digital humanities center... exactly what you seem to be describing here. Unfortunately, I think some schools hire a few faculty members who specialize in digital history or quantitative literature research and immediately start promoting themselves as digital humanities hotspots. Googling your way around that can be a mess. All of the schools I've listed for people seeking careers in digital humanities: Stanford, Nebraska, Maryland, Illinois, Virginia... they're all pretty active and reputable. I would definitely add King's College London to that list, too (I was arrogantly developing a US-only list before, or I would have included it). In fact, many of these places have hosted the giant annual digital humanities conference, so perhaps that visibility is influencing my opinion. Which reminds me - Nebraska is hosting DH 2013 next week, even. Canadians are planning to make a big splash there. If your real aim is to acquire a PhD in digital humanities, though, that can be a little more tricky. In fact, I would NOT limit yourself only to universities that specifically offer a digital humanities degree. If you can get into something in English, history, classics, or something like that... and specialize in digital humanities research from there, you probably will end up in the same career position, as your skills and experience should match (roughly) that of a DH degree. In fact, "majoring" in something with emphasis in digital research might even improve academic job prospects: Humanities programs want to show that they are relevant and engaged in digital research with contemporary analytical tools, so they often want faculty who bring that to the table. Meanwhile, I would think digital humanities centers want a diverse and reputable group of researchers who have expert knowledge in various subjects. Anyway, I would love to live in either London or Victoria, so maybe your list is good enough already?

I like a lot of Angua's points, but actually I do not agree that Philly is the cheaper place to live. I suspect they're roughly the same overall, but food and utilities costs are almost certainly higher in Philadelphia. Google the cost of living in these places if that is important to you. They're both in the top 20 for your field, but Chicago appears to be the better program (always in the top 5) based on the rankings I've seen. And given social work's ties to sociology and the immense importance of "the Chicago School" in that field, I personally can't imagine that I would pass up that opportunity. That said, UPenn does carry that Ivy League brand. On the other hand, why choose a school based on its rating or prestige? If too few faculty members align with what you want to do specifically, you might not be happy there. Maybe this sounds ridiculous, but you may want to read the biographies of some professors (and maybe their publications, too) and see where you align. However, there is only one real official answer here... You need to make a list of pros and cons.

I'm trying to compile a list of top digital humanities programs and their research centers (in no particular order). There are a few that really stand out as leaders, and I will list them below, but I am wondering if anybody else has suggestions. This could be a really good resource for prospective graduate students in the field. University of Nebraska-Lincoln (CDRH) Michigan State University (MATRIX) University of Virginia (IATH) University of Maryland (MITH) Stanford University (CESTA/SHC) University of Illinois (I-CHASS/IPRH)