Professional Development

The Scholars’ Lab prioritizes the personal and professional development of all those in the UVA community. In particular, we offer a variety of opportunities to support the research, teaching, and pedagogical growth of our graduate students. Some of these take place on a regular basis through our programming and events, while some are offered by request. We’re happy to offer research consultations to jump-start your digital project, either one-on-one or with a number of our staff in a design jam format. With years of experience in the field, we can also help your project development by aiding in literature and project surveys that might help as you create dh-inflected exams lists or pitch alternative, digital projects for course assignments during your time at UVA.

We can also provide a number of services specifically for UVA students thinking about taking the leap towards applying for alternative-academic, digital humanities, or industry positions.

Shadowing of Scholars’ Lab Staff

If you’re interested in learning what a day in the life of a DH/alt-ac professional looks like, we’re happy to have you shadow one of us for part of a day and reflect with you on the different components of the job. Besides direct experience in a library environment, we also have staff members with experience working as software engineers who are happy to talk with students about what life is like in those positions and how to prepare for them.

Alt-ac and DH Job Listings

It can be difficult to know where to look for positions outside of the regular channels for your discipline, and we can help! We regularly keep an eye out for opportunities that are good fits for those students who we know are looking, so reach out to us so that you’re on our radar. In addition, we occasionally release a monthly digest in our newsletter (sign up below). You can also find regular listings on the DLF jobs board and the #jobs channel on the DH Slack team.

Materials Workshopping

It can be difficult to know what successful application materials look like for an alt-ac or DH search. We’re happy to take a look at your cover letters and CV/resume when applying for positions like these.

Mock Interviews

It can be difficult to know what to expect in a job interview for positions like these. We can put together a representative experience of what you might encounter in a job interview, give you a test run, and offer feedback on your performance.

Example Job Materials

Alt-ac and DH positions sometimes require job talks, but they are slightly different from typical academic talks. We’ve posted our job talk for Managing Director and job talk for Head of Graduate Programs for you to see what the genre looks like. We’re also happy to offer assistance crafting or practicing your DH job talk. We’ve also shared on the blog some of our own cover letters and written about what the genre looks like specifically for library and alt-ac digital humanities careers. In addition to those resources, you might explore the Academic Job Market Support Network for more materials.

If you’re interested in any of the above, please get in touch with Brandon Walsh, our Head of Graduate Programs, to discuss options (subject to availability). We’re happy to help, and introducing yourself is usually the first step. Need something else? Get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.