Imagine a doctoral project in the humanities that takes the form of a graphic novel, a mobile game, or a podcast. All these—and more—already exist as successful, rigorous dissertations. More and more scholars are finding creative ways to share their scholarly research and intellectual insights in these and other dynamic, engaging forms.

While longform monographs are still the norm in most humanities fields, students pursuing other structures for their work shouldn’t have to go it alone. This site hopes to make it easier. Here, humanities students and advisors can find a selection of creative scholarly projects to look toward as examples, as well as concrete evaluation guidance and resources.

It is past time for the academy to collectively foster the exploration of new models of scholarly work, rather than holding to norms that may not serve the research or the career goals of students. High-impact research benefits the academy and benefits society, and the scholars doing this work are seeing significant success in their varied career pathways. Dissertation reform is an essential strand of this tapestry of reform.

Related Events

March 18, 2022: HASTAC Digital Friday: Next Generation Dissertations

March 7, 2022: Next-Generation Dissertations: New Projects for an Engaged Academy (co-hosted by Syracuse University and the University of Iowa, and facilitated by Katina Rogers)