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Digital Humanities Lab interns 2025/26

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Rachael’s:

I’m Rachael, a second-year Classical studies and English student, reaching the end of my internship at the Digital Humanities Lab. This has been one of the most valuable experiences that I have undertaken during my time in Exeter so far, not just because I have learned a huge variety of new digital skills and increased my passion for preservation, but because of the wonderful team and fellow interns that have made this opportunity so fun.

During my time at the Lab, I have worked on all sorts of projects, tackling digitisation in formats that I never would have thought that I could work with before. I now feel experienced in handling many types of materials: posters, books, tapes, postcards, negatives and more. From taking photos of every conceivable angle of a traffic cone in Reed Hall resulting in a photogrammetry model, to multicoloured 3D printing and creating RTI models of my own jewellery, I have found that no two days or projects at DH ever look the same. The internship is very dynamic, and I found that I could tailor it according to my interests, which I really valued.

I particularly enjoyed gaining photography experience through working on more extended projects in term 2, including doing digitisation work on the Valor Ecclesiasticus project. It has been really exciting to take part in a project with a clear goal: making the ‘Tudor Domesday Book’ more widely accessible. Working with Dr. Charlotte Tupman and the rest of the DH team on this has felt really rewarding and has certainly taught me a lot about photography, editing and resilience! I have found that the experiences in DH that I have valued most have been those that have included working with others: whether that was using GIS to Georeference arial imagery of Northern Chile or contributing to digitising the Theo Brown Archive, which is full of interesting folklore and stories.

It makes me really proud to realise that I have learned so much in a year about digital preservation and the techniques that go into it. The DH team have been so supportive of all of the interns and have helped develop my confidence in working with technology and knowing how to troubleshoot it! They are also highly understanding of the fact that interns are balancing this work alongside their degree, which I have been very grateful for. I have gained a deeper appreciation of heritage work through this internship, and I hope to use the skills that I have gained from it, both technical and interpersonal, to pursue further work in this field.

Digital Humanities Lab interns 2025/26

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Lachlan’s:

Hi, I’m Lachlan, and I’m a final year English student approaching the end of my internship. It seems like yesterday that I was starting my position here, but the incredible variety of experiences I have had at the DH lab has been invaluable. This internship has allowed me to cross borders that are usually more fixed in the humanities, stepping into the technological aspects of research such as digitisation, photography and 3D modelling techniques among others.

I have been able to try my hand at all kinds of skills on offer in the DH lab, from photogrammetry and RTI to 3D printing and podcast production.

At the same time, I have been able to tailor my work to my own interests. For example, since I study Japanese as part of my degree, I greatly enjoyed working on the Languages for All outreach programme, which aimed to introduce secondary school students across Devon to the benefits of studying a language in higher education.

My previous experience working in Exeter’s Special Collections and interest in archival work helped me when working with materials from the Arab and Islamic institute as well as the archaeology department, which were fascinating historical artefacts to photograph and digitise for future students.

I am extremely grateful for the support of the Digital Humanities team and their continued help with all the work that I have been involved in this past year. I cannot recommend this internship enough to any student who loves learning, experimenting and playing with new and unknown skills, and wants an experience that will set them up for a successful career in any HASS related field they want to work in!

Digital Humanities Lab interns 2025/26

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Emily’s:

Napoleon in front of the DH lab 

I’m Emily and I am a second-year Liberal Arts student studying International Relations and Philosophy. This year as an intern at the DH lab has sped by and I am very thankful for the opportunities it has given me. Overall, it has been an extremely rewarding experience. I have learned about and gained valuable first-hand experience using a diverse range of archiving and digitizing tools, made new friends and obtained a wealth of work experience. 

As interns, we spend a significant portion of the first term trying out an array of digitizing techniques. This included, photographing playbills from the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, creating photogrammetry and RTI models, recording VHS tapes and 3D printing.  I especially enjoyed creating photogrammetry models. Although it was challenging, it was also very rewarding to see a fully intact 3D model take shape from a series of photos that I had taken. It also gave me some insight into how online 3D models (such as those that you might see on a museum website) are made. 

My first attempt at photogrammetry (Stargazer – in front of Queen’s cafe)
My second attempt at photogrammetry – this time using a turntable (small figurine)
My first attempt at RTI (a necklace I brought in)
Digitising VHS tapes (Big Sur Folk Festival 1969)
My first attempt at 3D printing

In the second and third terms, I worked with a fellow intern on the DAME (Digital Archive of the Middle East) project. This involved the digitization of newspapers, posters, maps and collections of documents using the 150-megapixel camera set-up in Lab 1 as well as the digitization of negative and regular photographs and books using a scanner. I enjoyed working on this project because it gave me the chance to handle a lot of really interesting materials. I especially enjoyed working with the negatives, having come into the internship with a general love for photographs.  

Furthermore, as an International Relations student a lot of what we were digitizing was relevant to what I am studying. For example, I spent a few weeks photographing minutes of evidence heard at the Palestine Royal Commission and several additions of the Free Palestine magazine written by British-based activists in the 1960s. This was extremely interesting considering the escalation of and enduring Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. 

Overall, I had an amazing experience working as an intern at the DH lab. I would highly recommend it to any student looking to gain work experience and new skills. Even if it is not immediately obvious how this internship relates to your degree, as in my case, it can still provide invaluable experience in a flexible and friendly work environment. 

Digital Humanities Lab interns 2025/26

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Evelyn’s:

I’m Evelyn, a third-year English undergraduate student coming to the end of my second year as a Digital Humanities Intern at the University of Exeter. This year I have worked closely with the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum and their collection, and each week has been a new puzzle to solve.

One of my greatest challenges was working on the Raspberry Pi box, a project inherited from a previous intern, Ellen. The museum wanted a visitor survey system that would allow users to press a button to anonymously collect information about whether they were a student, international, local, or other British visitor. They also requested that the Pi would run headless, connected to physical buttons, in other words, running with no screens required. After brushing up on my originally rusty Python knowledge, I devised a system, wrote my own code, and created a working input-output system. Then I worked in OpenSCAD to design accurate side pieces that would both fit tightly but also still have wiggle space to be removed if needed. Plus, they needed little holes to keep the Pi cool and space for cables to move in and out. After a lot of trial and error, experimenting, learning, and finally succeeding, the Pi Box is now set up at the exit to the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.

Outside of the box, I have digitised various board games, toys, and other wacky and wonderful items for the museum, each with its own challenges. For example, this Universal Studios Florida liquid toy, which proved especially challenging because of its transparency, and how still one needed to be to not disturb any of the liquid during filming and photography.

Then, while working on a 1970s Doctor Who board game, I used photogrammetry and Agisoft MetaShape to make a 3D model of the Dalek game pieces. Many of the pieces were damaged, so I wanted to create a 3D model so I could try and 3D print more pieces to complete the set and keep the better pieces in a virtual state so they can be explored and played with undamaged.

Finally, I was very pleased to try my hand at making a reel to show other students who may be interested in applying a glimpse into some of the projects I’ve worked on. Allowing me to share and reflect on my time within Digital Humanities.

This second year as an intern has really challenged me and forced me to swim out of my comfort zone but also excited me with new opportunities for growth. The work was much more independent, and I felt now I had a good grounding of skills I could start exploring and designing my own methods and workflows, but still with a great team of experts on hand whenever I needed it. Thank you, Digital Humanities, for having me back for a second year; this has been such a wonderful opportunity to turn my English degree into something more than just staring at books.

Digital Humanities Lab interns 2025/26

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is the first of this year’s from Holly:

When I first applied to this internship, I was drawn in by the opportunity to work with archival materials, especially when photographing historical collections, but I quickly became involved in so many areas of the lab. I’ve been able to work across a huge range of projects and learnt technical skills that I’ve used throughout my internship and as part of my studies.

One of the first projects I worked on involved digitising some playbills from the Exeter Theatre Royal. As someone who loves theatre, this was incredibly exciting. I loved handling these pieces of theatrical history and seeing the illustrations and typography up close. It was a brilliant introduction to the practical side of digitisation and to the care and attention involved in preserving archival materials.

Over the course of the year, I’ve had the chance to work on projects that were completely different from one another, which is one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about working at the DH Lab. Before Christmas, I was part of a project that used GIS to match historical aerial images to the modern landscape of the Atacama Desert in Chile. This allowed us to create a map where old photographs overlaid Google Earth imagery, allowing us to identify changes to archaeological sites over time.

Another area I’ve enjoyed exploring is 3D modelling and printing. I’ve been able to apply the skills I’ve learnt during my time at the lab directly to my coursework, submitting a video I created using equipment in the lab as part of an assessment.  I spoke about how 3D printing can be used to make tactile images, and how this could be used to make traditionally visual materials more accessible for disabled audiences. Before this internship, I never would have imagined myself voluntarily submitting a video essay, let alone enjoying recording it, but working in the labs gave me the skills and practice I needed to feel confident doing so.

Out of everything I’ve been involved in this year, my favourite project to work on was a reconstruction of what the Whitefriars Theatre may have looked like. Throughout this project, I collaborated with one of my lecturers, Pascale Aebischer, who created an initial diagram of the measurements of the theatre based on existing scholarship. I then turned this into a digital and 3D printed model that can now be used for teaching. The model helps to demonstrate how the theatre’s layout affects sightlines and, ultimately, the audience’s experience of a play. I’ve really appreciated how much flexibility we’ve had to pursue projects connected to our own interests.

Over the year I’ve gained practical experience in digitisation, GIS, and 3D modelling, but I’ve also gained confidence in trying different methods (and troubleshooting!). It’s strange to think how much has happened in such a short space of time. The variety of experiences has been incredible, and I’m very grateful to the DH team and my fellow interns for making it such an enjoyable year.

Visiting the Digital Humanities Lab

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I’m Carla, a visiting postgraduate research student from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich. I study Digital Cultural Heritage and have had the opportunity to do a one month-long research internship at the DH Lab. Despite my limited time here, I gained many new skills and got familiar with what it is like to work in a lab. I got to work around several members of the DH team, got to meet professors working in the field and got a tour of the Special Collections in the Old Library which gave me further insight into the broad range of research that is being conducted in the field. During my time here I received training in 2D-Digitisation, audio editing, RTI, Photogrammetry and 3D-printing. What made this exciting for me was being able to apply the knowledge that I gained from my home-university but also the opportunity to figure things out myself.

I digitised some of the old Exeter Theatre Royal playbills at the beginning of my time and learned to edit audio files but soon found myself invested in RTI and 3D-Modelling and Photogrammetry. I really enjoyed working with cameras and figuring out the effects of different camera settings, which plays an important role for RTI and Photogrammetry. Especially RTI was a lot of trial and error, making satisfying results even more rewarding.

 RTI of a Mussel (Normals Visualisation)

I walked around campus to capture objects for photogrammetry, some of them I uploaded on my Sketchfab (https://sketchfab.com/Carla_Ruf). My favourite sculpture that I made a model of is the “Stargazer” at Queens café. Though it had its challenges it made me more familiar with the photogrammetry and the 3D-Modelling software to get my model ready for 3D printing. I ended up printing two of my models which helped me understand how to process and clean them properly.

Photogrammetry model and 3D print of Stargazer
3D print of End Maze III sculpture

My time at the DH Lab was an incredibly interesting experience. The team has been so helpful and accommodating. I’m truly grateful for my time here.

Digital Humanities Interns 2024/25

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Charlie’s post:

Being a DH intern has been one of the greatest opportunities I’ve ever had. It’s been my favourite job by far, always something new and exciting awaiting for me when I get in for my shift. I have been able to work on a range of projects from photography to audio editing. Coming from a photography background it was great to be able to use my skills in new ways and interact with the actual archival material. It is impossible to include all of the activities and great projects I’ve been involved with over the past nine months but here are some of the highlights.

To get us used to Lab 1, all of us interns began with the digitisation of Exeter theatre playbills. It helped me feel connected to the history of Exeter and I was excited to see this playbill advertising Henrik Ibsen’s play The Doll House which I studied for my international baccalaureate.

Using the same skills, I had the chance to photograph some of the Busy Bee collection. As an English literature student, it was wonderful to photograph these bound letters and as someone who still writes letters to people it led me to think about the importance of material culture and how special the written form is.

One of the great things about the Digital Humanities Lab in Exeter and Special Collections is their focus on Southwest archival material. I didn’t know about the mining culture and school that existed before taking photos of The Camborne School of Mines Magazine. I was able to go through the entire process of physical print to searchable PDF which as a student I know the value of. It’s fantastic to think I was behind a process which will allow future researchers to interact with them.

This internship came with lots of training in all parts of the digital humanities world. Having been a long-time fan of photography, it was great to see how photographic practices could be used in different ways to create 3D effects. I had never done photogrammetry or RTI before and I loved being able to experiment with new modes of creating photographs which are interactive and offer 3D applications.

Another great gem of the DH lab is the 3D printer and since being able to work with a 3D printer it is now one of my life goals to own my own. Using TinkerCad I was able to design and make two of my own creations including a Christmas tree decoration for DH as well as develop a column structure for a model of a globe I own. It was wonderful to see the real world (and fun) ways 3D printing can be used. When it came to open days, I loved talking visitors through the process of creating replicas of the votive of the lady, showing why the digital humanities is so important in maintaining culture and heritage. To see this get made into a greater project where I was able to create my own wax votive and be part of a widening tradition, seeing how each step came to be, felt incredibly special.

But my favourite project to be involved in was ‘Section 28 and its afterlives’. Working closely with Dr Chris Sandal-Wilson I edited interviews to create audio excerpts for the project’s website. Whilst this led to many hours being holed up in Lab 3 and becoming very familiar with Audacity, I loved listening to people’s experiences, and I loved the feeling of being part of something larger. I had never done audio editing before, but I was determined to learn as much as I could to create something that would continue on and have a legacy. It was great to then put my newly learned HTML skills to the test to put the audio excerpts on the website and be part of the decision-making process for the way the project moved forward. Whilst I’ve had a lot of fun, making and creating things for both me and as part of projects, this project brought home the value of the digital humanities and the important role it plays in maintaining and preserving history and culture.

This internship would never have been as good as it has been without the constant support and friendship from the amazing Digital Humanities team and my fellow interns. I will not only miss the work, I will miss banding together to listen to Cornish farmers from reel-to-reel tapes, hanging out in the breakout space over coffee even if we weren’t scheduled to work and sharing photos of when our photogrammetry processes didn’t go quite right. It’s sad to leave but I know there will be a new band of interns who get the fantastic chance to work as part of the best internship scheme!

Digital Humanities Interns 2024/25

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Evelyn’s post:

I’m Evelyn, and I’m a second-year English student coming towards the end of my internship. It has been so much fun. I’ve always wanted a way to connect my passion for English and Computer Science together and I think I’ve finally found my answer. I’ve never real understood cameras and photography, and so that was a big learning curve to start but now I feel I understand it all a lot better, and now have confidence in my photography.

My biggest project was probably digitising some old coins using RTI. I’ve loved revealing all the little indents and scratches. Then I used HTML code to put my work as a webpage on the Exeter RTI website! This was challenging but a lot of fun. Also, I’ve now experimented with Audacity and editing old reel-to-reel tapes to try and reveal the voices behind the distortion. Translating Hertz and Decibel graphs to find the exact frequency of the distortion to start removing it.

I’ve also got to explore using code to create 3D models and managed to create a shark which I successfully 3D printed.

Finally, I loved getting a glimpse into the VR Shakespeare project. This was my first time using VR and I thought it was mesmerising and something I really want to explore more in the future. Thank-you very much DH.

Digital Humanities interns 2024/25

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Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is the first of this year’s from Natasha:

I’m Natasha, a third year Archaeological Science student. My internship here at the Digital Humanities Lab is coming to an end but working alongside the DH team has been the most incredible experience for gaining new skills and has provided me with the opportunity to collaborate in a range of projects with my fellow interns.  

With weekly training by members of the team, I have worked on different projects including photography, photogrammetry, and Reflectance Transforming Imaging (RTI) of Archaeology Teaching Packs, digitalisation of Exeter Theatre Playbills, and recording audio cassette tapes. I was also encouraged to try individual work and put these skills into practice with objects that I own, allowing the ability to explore personal interests. This includes using the 3D resin printer to reconstruct biface tools and completing RTI on a coin I own that had unrecognisable features before processing with RTI software, RelightLab.

Additionally, working once a week on the advisory desk has given me more confidence in the background administrative work that occurs for research projects and day-to-day support provided by the lab, including equipment hiring, assisting in queries, and setting up seminar rooms for conferences. 

This internship has allowed me to engage in innovative digital preservation, meet new people and learn skills that previously, I had no experience in. I hope to pursue my masters programme at Exeter using the tools I have acquired, focusing on digitalisation and preservation of archaeological artefacts. I am so grateful for all the support the DH Team has given me this year, and I could not recommend enough joining this internship to see what projects you could get involved in! 

Digital Humanities Interns 2023/24 part 4

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Each year we ask our interns to write a blog post at the end of their time working with us looking back on their time in the DH Lab. Here is the fourth of this year’s blogs from Phoebe:

Hi, I’m Phoebe and I’ve just completed my internship at the Digital Humanities Lab here in Exeter alongside my course as a second-year History and Archaeology student. It seems to have flown past but looking back I’ve had such an amazing experience as an intern at the DH Labs and have worked on a huge number of projects- I’m not sure how we fit it all in! 

During my time at the Labs, I’ve worked on digitising the Theatre Royal, Exeter Playbill Collection, Institute of Cornish Studies Elections Project and the Family Farming in West Penwith Tapes for Penryn Archive as well as recently working on creating photogrammetry models for the Archaeology teaching packs. I’ve also has great fun playing with the 3D printers at the labs, making cute Christmas decorations and experimenting with different designs.  

 My first successful 3D print! 

In-between all that, I’ve worked closely with Adrián Oyaneder, creating 3D models using photogrammetry from photos he took of petroglyphs in the Atacama Desert. It was this project which inspired me to pursue my dissertation topic where I’ll be using the skills and techniques I’ve learned from working at the Labs. My colleagues at the DH Labs have been incredibly supportive and encouraging of my dissertation project so I’ve really benefitted from all their innovative help and enthusiasm to experiment.  

 Photogrammetry model of rocks near Reed Hall as practice for my dissertation work 

Experimenting with RTI in the field 

It’s amazing to think of how much has been done in only a year, especially when I came to this opportunity with no prior skills or experience in this field. My colleagues here have been brilliant in their support and patience as they taught me all they know and helped develop my confidence when working with technology while overcoming its challenges. I’ve learned so much, from 3D capture techniques like photogrammetry and RTI, to how research is effectively conducted and what is involved when storing and caring for delicate archived materials. I’ve also gained a new appreciation for just how valuable digital heritage is in today’s world. Working with digital heritage in such a direct and active way has given me a taste of what this environment is like and encouraged me to pursue it after I graduate.  

I’ll be sad to leave this internship, but I’ve loved working with my fellow interns and the DH team!