Boundaries of gender: ‘petticoat governments’ and secondary voices in nineteenth century European expeditions of Africa

This project will use a variety of digital methods to identify the many women, both European and African, who assisted and enabled David Livingstone (1813-1873) in his journeys across the African continent. The affect and influence of women and their role in Livingstone’s many travels has been little studied to date. With a particular focus on the women who were involved in one of Livingstone’s three cross continental journeys, this project will explore innovative digital approaches - for example GIS mapping, linked open data, AI-assisted vector databases, data-mining techniques - to reassess currently available information sources including letters, diaries, manuscripts, annotated maps and objects to identify these women. Such approaches may include the use of GIS or other mapping software to locate mentions of women and cross search with other traveller’s texts, the use of AI assisted catalogue and collection searching, analysis of museum object metadata to establish object histories and possible owners. The work of this PhD project will draw heavily on the sources available in Livingstone Online and the outcomes of this research will not only contribute to the PhD itself but will be published on Livingstone Online. This research will mark a significant intervention in the known historical narrative of David Livingstone. We particularly welcome proposals that look to data-mine multiple language sources as a core to the research method.

The successful candidate will have academic experience in applying digital methodologies to humanities research questions, travel writing, nineteenth century history, archives, data mining, or will be able to show how their expertise fits with the project.

About the supervisor

Kate is a Lecturer in Digital Humanities in the Digital Humanities Institute (DHI), with a particular research focus on critical digital cultural heritage. To find out more about Kate’s research interests and publications, please visit her University staff profile. 

We would advise that you get in touch with Kate directly (via kathryn.simpson@sheffield.ac.uk) to outline your proposed research proposal. This will allow us to ensure that your application is relevant to the DHI, and also that we have suitable expertise to supervise your project. This is the first step in the application process. 

About the Digital Humanities Institute (DHI)

Established in 1994, the DHI’s mission is to support the innovative use of technology and computation within arts, humanities and heritage research as both a method of inquiry and a means of dissemination. Digital culture is everywhere, and it is driven by cultural data.

We collaborate with a wide range of academic and research colleagues, as well as professionals in the heritage, culture and information industries, across the UK and internationally on funded projects with a computational component or digital output. Since the DHI was established, we have delivered over 120 externally funded research projects, collaborated with more than 125 external partners, and received grants from 39 funders.

Our expertise include database development, computational ontologies, natural language processing, computational linguistics, data visualisation and 3D, user-centred design and mobile apps.

In addition to the digital expertise within our institute, you will have access to our diverse range of research expertise across the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, allowing you to explore your research interests in depth, collaborate with a wide range of researchers and gain insight from different perspectives. 

To find out more about the DHI’s research, please visit our DHI research website. 

As a student you will also be part of our supportive research community in the School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities. You can find out more about our School and research culture on our School website.