Master's in Digital Humanities with focus on theology

A Program for the 21st Century Scholar

The Digital Jericho Academy offers a unique Master's-level program that sits at the intersection of two rapidly evolving fields: Digital Humanities and Theology. This 60 ECTS curriculum prepares scholars to engage critically and creatively with the digital transformation of theological research, teaching, and ecclesial practice.

What Is Digital Humanities?

Digital Humanities (DH) is an interdisciplinary field that applies computational methods, digital tools, and new media technologies to traditional humanities questions. It encompasses everything from digitizing ancient manuscripts to analyzing vast textual corpora, from creating interactive visualizations to exploring how digital culture reshapes human meaning-making.

In recent decades, Digital Humanities has revolutionized how we study history, literature, philosophy, and religion. What once required decades of manual archival work can now be accomplished in months. Questions that were impossible to answer due to the sheer volume of data can now be explored systematically. New forms of scholarship?interactive, visual, collaborative?have emerged alongside traditional monographs.

Why Digital Humanities in Theology?

The Digital Transformation of Religious Life

The 21st century has witnessed an unprecedented digital revolution in religious practice and theological scholarship:

  • Ancient texts are being digitized at scale, making primary sources accessible to scholars worldwide
  • Computational analysis reveals patterns in biblical texts invisible to traditional close reading
  • Virtual communities are reshaping what it means to be "church" in a networked age
  • AI and transhumanism raise urgent questions about human dignity, consciousness, and the imago Dei
  • Digital archives preserve endangered manuscripts and make them searchable in ways their original creators could never have imagined

Theology cannot afford to ignore these developments. The digital transformation is not simply a new set of tools?it fundamentally changes how we read, interpret, teach, and live out our faith traditions.

Bridging Two Worlds

Many theologians lack training in digital methods. Many computer scientists lack deep engagement with theological questions. This program bridges that gap.

Students learn to:

  • Apply computational methods to biblical and patristic texts
  • Critically evaluate how digital culture shapes ecclesial authority and practice
  • Use digital tools for manuscript analysis, archival research, and academic publishing
  • Engage theological questions raised by AI, virtual reality, and biotechnology
  • Produce original research that advances both theological understanding and digital methodology

Why This Program Is Exceptional

1. Pioneering Academic Territory

Few institutions worldwide offer specialized training in Digital Humanities for theological studies. This program positions graduates at the forefront of an emerging field with vast potential for scholarly contribution.

2. Rigorous and Comprehensive

The 60 ECTS curriculum covers both technical skills (XML/TEI encoding, computational text analysis, digital archival methods) and critical-theoretical frameworks (digital ethics, theological anthropology, hermeneutics). Students don't just learn tools?they learn to think critically about the digital transformation of theology.

3. Practical and Project-Based

Every module includes hands-on application. Students build digital concordances, analyze manuscript corpora, design theological databases, and produce original digital scholarship. The Project Lab and Master's Thesis ensure graduates can translate theory into practice.

4. Globally Connected

Through online delivery, students engage with international peers and faculty. The compulsory on-campus week creates genuine academic community across geographical and cultural boundaries. Guest lectures bring diverse perspectives from leading scholars worldwide.

5. Ethically Grounded

Unlike purely technical training, this program embeds digital methods within theological ethics. Students grapple with surveillance capitalism, algorithmic bias, digital ecclesiology, and the moral dimensions of technological enhancement. They learn not just how to use digital tools, but whether and why.

6. Open to Diverse Confessional Backgrounds

Whether Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, or engaged with theology from other faith perspectives, students find common ground in rigorous scholarship and shared questions about technology's impact on religious life.

What Graduates Can Do

Completing this Master's program equips scholars for:

Academic Careers

  • PhD research in Digital Humanities, Biblical Studies, Systematic Theology, or related fields
  • Teaching positions in theology departments increasingly seeking faculty with digital competencies
  • Research roles in digital archives, manuscript digitization projects, or theological research institutes

Ecclesial Leadership

  • Digital ministry in churches navigating online presence and virtual community
  • Theological education in seminaries modernizing their curricula
  • Cultural translation helping religious communities engage thoughtfully with digital culture

Specialized Scholarship

  • Manuscript studies using cutting-edge digital paleography tools
  • Biblical exegesis employing computational linguistics and semantic annotation
  • Theological ethics addressing AI, transhumanism, and technological society
  • Reception history tracing how theological ideas spread through digital networks

Public Engagement

  • Writing and publishing using modern digital platforms
  • Curating digital exhibitions of theological significance
  • Building digital resources for religious education and formation

Why Africa Needs This Program

African theological scholarship is vibrant, growing, and increasingly influential in global Christianity. Yet access to cutting-edge digital training remains limited by geographical and economic barriers.

This program recognizes that African scholars should not merely consume digital theology created elsewhere?they should lead in its creation.

By offering world-class instruction free of charge, Digital Jericho enables African theologians to:

  • Digitize and preserve African Christian heritage before it is lost
  • Apply digital methods to African theological questions and contexts
  • Participate as equals in international scholarly conversations
  • Shape the future of how theology is researched and taught globally

The next generation of digital theological scholarship should not come only from wealthy Western universities. It should emerge from every corner of the global church.

A Unique Moment in History

We stand at a crossroads. The digital revolution is transforming theology whether we engage it critically or not. Ancient manuscripts are being digitized. Biblical texts are being analyzed computationally. Churches are moving online. AI is raising questions about consciousness and the soul.

This Master's program prepares scholars to navigate these changes not as passive observers, but as active participants?asking hard questions, producing rigorous research, and ensuring that theological wisdom informs technological development rather than simply reacting to it.

The walls of Jericho fell when the people acted together with purpose and conviction. The barriers separating African scholars from digital theological education can fall too.

This program is more than training. It is an invitation to help shape the future of theology itself.

Ready to Begin?

If you are a student at a partnering African institution, contact your academic advisor about enrollment.

If you represent a theological institution interested in partnership, reach out to explore collaboration.

The digital future of theology is being written now. Let us write it together.

 

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