UK-IE DH 2026: UK-Ireland Digital Humanities Association Annual Event 2026 University of Southampton & Online Southampton, UK, June 15-16, 2026

Conference website	https://digitalhumanities-uk-ie.org/2026-annual-event/
Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ukie2026
Submission deadline	January 30, 2026

The UK-Ireland Digital Humanities Association is pleased to announce the call for proposals for the 2026 Annual Event, to be held at the University of Southampton from 15-16 June with selected sessions streamed online. The theme for this year’s event is Sustainability.

Key Information:

• Information session: 16 December 2025, 4-5pm (further details to be shared)
• Abstract submission deadline: 30 January 2026
• Expressions of interest for peer review deadline: 2 February 2026
• Notification of acceptance for proposals: 16 March 2026
• Conference dates: 15-16 June 2026
• Location: University of Southampton, England, UK

The last decade has seen an expansion of how we understand sustainability working across the arts and humanities. In addition to longstanding issues in digital humanities and cultural heritage in sustaining infrastructures, research teams and projects, other vital societal issues have emerged including digital preservation, climate justice and ethical computing. These pose important considerations for digital humanities and digital cultural heritage research and practice, which the DHA has promoted through community interest groups, governance working groups and other activities. As this year’s host, the University of Southampton is well positioned to support creative and critical conversations about sustainability, since it hosts a network of institutes investigating digital and computational practices, including the Software Sustainability Institute and conference co-organisers the Digital Humanities Hub.

This year’s event invites contributors to reflect on the theme of Sustainability, in its broadest conceptualisation. We encourage contributions addressing practices, methods and theories that promote sustainability, from researchers and practitioners in digital humanities and digital cultural heritage. Our aim is to promote interdisciplinary conversations about these critical issues, and to foreground these as an opportunity to share and create best practice. Since issues of sustainability require grassroots, community responses, we are interested in fostering broader understandings of digital methods, practices and technologies that enable critical reflections about how sustainability in digital humanities and digital cultural heritage intersects with broader social justice perspectives.

The Association is working to develop an approach to sustainability that supports partnerships, networking and creative practice across the humanities, cultural heritage and cultural & creative industries. As such, we especially encourage submissions from interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral teams - where research software engineers, computer and data scientists, cultural heritage professionals, community representatives, designers, artists and other practitioners form a key part of the research team. We welcome contributions that reflect on positive collaboration strategies and outcomes. At the same time, we invite submissions that consider both the challenges and affordances of sustainability in digital humanities, for example in terms of languages, outcome expectations and working cultures. 

We invite all those using digital methods and strategies in the arts, humanities, cultural heritage sector and creative & cultural industries to submit a proposal. We particularly welcome proposals from students and early-career researchers and professionals.

In addition to proposals in any of the formats outlined below, we also encourage submissions that take a creative-critical approach or don’t fit in ‘traditional’ conference formats. This includes proposals that make use of eXtended reality (XR), virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR). We would also welcome workshops and tutorials that promote conversations and practices around repair culture and climate literacy. While we are keen to support proposals that are creative and collaborative in scope, please be mindful of limited resources and support to manage logistics and troubleshooting. We will be hosting a Q&A session, and if you are interested in proposing a creative submission, we strongly encourage you to attend. If you are unable to attend, please reach out to the conference local organiser (Kristen Schuster, k.m.schuster@soton.ac.uk). 

The event will also provide an opportunity for researchers, professionals, practitioners and students from Ireland and the United Kingdom to deepen existing relationships and create new pathways for collaboration. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the Community Interest Groups. 

The Association plans to award a number of bursaries to support in-person attendance at the Annual Event. The bursaries are to make the event more accessible to those who would otherwise be unable to attend, with preference given to those who will be presenting at the event. Affordable accommodation will also be available to attendees. Further details will be announced.

We are also keen to hear from colleagues who are interested in contributing to peer review. We welcome expressions of interest from those who are new to peer review, as well as from experienced reviewers. Guidelines and support will be provided. If you are interested in contributing, please send a short expression of interest giving your name and experience to uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk by 2 February.

The programme will be announced and registration for both in-person and online attendees will open in the coming months.

Formats

For the Annual Event, we welcome five types of proposals: talks, panel or roundtable sessions, posters or demos, workshops or tutorials, and provocations or pitches. We also welcome proposals for sessions that don’t fit neatly into a traditional format. Please indicate which category of presentation you are submitting in your proposal. Proposals should adhere to the word count indicated and be submitted in PDF format via EasyChair. References and/or bibliography are excluded from the word counts. 

1. Talks (200 - 300 words)

• Talks are traditional presentations, often with slides or similar, lasting 20 minutes. 
• Submissions will be grouped with others on similar subjects or themes to form a complete session. There will be time allotted at the end of each session for questions and discussion.

2. Panel or roundtable session (300 - 500 words, plus 150 words per presentation)

• We welcome either panels with 3-4 presentations or roundtable discussions where a small group of panellists discuss a specific theme. Both panels and roundtables should last 75 minutes. 
• The proposal should have 300-500 words explaining the session topic, as well as 150 words describing each presentation. If proposing a roundtable, please instead include a brief biography for each participant. 

3. Poster/Demo (200 - 300 words)

• We welcome proposals for posters or demos. These can take the form of traditional printed posters, digital-only posters, digital tool showcases or software demonstrations. Please indicate the form your presentation will take in your submission and whether you would like to do a short 1- or 2-minute introduction at the start of the poster/demo session.
• If you propose a tool showcase or software demonstration, please include details of the technical equipment required. There will be some desktop computers (likely PCs, with internet connection) available for use in the venue, but participants will be expected to provide any other equipment for their proposed demonstration.
• If you propose a demonstration that involves virtual reality (VR) headsets, treadmill or similar technology that would require floor space to use, please include details of the amount of space required. 
• If you propose a demonstration that involves using virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) etc. technologies, please either plan to bring your own equipment or plan accordingly by liaising with the local conference organisers (Kristen Schuster k.m.schuster@soton.ac.uk) to identify what equipment is available through Southampton Digital Humanities. Please also indicate whether you need any technical support to set up equipment and note that support will be limited to setting up and returning equipment (not running demonstrations or workshops).  

4. Workshops/Tutorials (300-500 words)

• We welcome workshop proposals that are practical, hands-on and interactive.
• Workshops and tutorials should be focused on the conference theme of sustainability.
• Proposals should indicate the session format, content and any materials or equipment that might be needed. Needs will be facilitated as far as possible, but session leads should expect to discuss this with the conference hosts in case of requirements that cannot be met. Sessions should be no more than 90 minutes. If you have questions about what might be feasible, please get in touch at uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

5. Provocations & Pitches (200 - 300 words)

• ‘Pitches’ are an opportunity to share a project idea you are working on. Are you looking for feedback before submitting an application? Interested in finding project partners? 
• ‘Provocations’ are an opportunity to jump-start a conversation or test out a new idea. 
• Proposals should indicate whether it is a pitch or provocation. Each person will have 5 minutes to present. There will be time for questions & discussion at the end of the session.

6. Other session (no longer than 750 words)

• Do you have an idea for a session that doesn’t fit in one of the other formats? We’re interested in hearing about it!
• Proposals should describe the session format, content, and any technical or logistical needs. Sessions should be no more than 90 minutes. If you have questions about what might be feasible, please get in touch at uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

Proposals will be reviewed by members of the programme committee. The peer review process will be double-blind, so we ask that no names appear on the submitted PDFs. The one exception is proposals for roundtable sessions, which should include the names of proposed participants.

Virtual Participation

The 2026 Annual Event will be held at the University of Southampton from 15-16 June with selected sessions streamed online

The Annual Event will primarily be an in-person event. However, we recognise the importance of remote participation to support inclusive access and so we plan to livestream the main elements of the programme for attendees to view online. We will do our best to ensure that both in-person and virtual participants will have a rewarding and valuable experience. We may not be able to livestream breakout sessions, working meetings, or other portions of the event, such as the posters/demos session. If you have specific questions about accessibility and inclusion, please contact the Programme Committee at uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

If your proposal is accepted for inclusion in the conference, but you are not able to travel to Southampton, we are happy to discuss arrangements for making a virtual presentation on a case-by-case basis. There will be a place in the submission portal to indicate whether you can attend in person. If you have any questions, please contact the Programme Committee at uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

Submission Details

• Submit a proposal: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ukie2026
• Deadline: 30 January 2026
• Notification of acceptance: 16 March 2026

If you have any questions, please email uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

Privacy

The UK-Ireland Digital Humanities Association and various collaborative partners involved with the 2026 Annual Event will process the information that you submit for the purpose of organising the 2026 Annual Event and, in aggregate, for reporting on our activities.

The Association's administrative home is the Digital Humanities Research Hub, School of Advanced Study, University of London. For a general overview of the University of London’s Data Protection guidance, you can consult our Data Protection Policy below.

University of London Data Protection Policy: https://www.london.ac.uk/about-us/how-university-run/policies/data-protection