Full signup form will be available by the end of October, sign up here to get notified (external link).
The Center for Digital Narrative at the University of Bergen invites PhD candidates who are writing a dissertation related to digital narratives to participate in a five-day PhD summer school in Bergen, Norway 31 May to 4 June 2027.
The 2027 CDN PhD Summer School theme is Play: Theory and Practice in Digital Narrative.
The theme of “Play” cuts across the broad range of research conducted at the Center for Digital Narrative. Play encompasses gaming and game studies, role-playing across media, simulations from VR to chatbot companions, participatory cultures on social media, AI-assisted creative experimentation, electronic literature, immersive storytelling, and digital performance.
The Summer School aims to bring together doctoral candidates from diverse disciplinary traditions to explore how play informs storytelling, research methods, design practices, creative work, and digital culture.
The event will combine keynote lectures, workshops, participant presentations, feedback groups, and social activities designed to foster research collaboration and international scholarly networks.
Participants will:
- workshop work-in-progress such as dissertation chapters or artistic research
- learn about theoretical and methodological approaches to play from leading figures across fields
- explore research methodologies from different scholarly and artistic perspectives
- interact with world-leading scholars in digital narrative in an international environment of research excellence
- build a network of colleagues over a week that combines intensive training and social activities
We welcome applications from PhD students in disciplines such as digital culture, literary studies, game studies, media studies, digital art and design. Applicants can be working on a research-based PhD or a PhD using creative practice or artistic research.
Content of the summer school
The summer school has three main components:
Feedback on writing and work in progress: Students will share a draft of a chapter or article they are working on. Participants will be assigned to thematic feedback groups that will work together through the whole week. Each participant will be asked to read the drafts for their groups and to be lead respondents on two drafts.
Workshops: Participants will choose one of two or more research methods workshop options led by experts in the field of digital narratives. Each workshop will be about a specific method that is relevant for the study and creation of digital narratives, e.g. within creative practice, digital humanities, narrative analysis or ethnography.
Keynotes: Leading international scholars and practitioners will present current research and creative work related to play, narrative, digital culture, and creative practice.
Here are the keynotes from the 2025 Digital Narrative Summer School:
Link to video
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Confirmed keynotes by October 2026
- N. Katherine Hayles – Distinguished Research Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the James B. Duke Professor Emerita from Duke University
- N. Katherine Hayles is an American scholar known for her work on the relationships between literature, cognition, and technology, including the influential book How We Became Posthuman (1999).
- Olia Lialina – Professor for New Media and Post-Digital Cultures, Net Artist
- Olia Lialina, born in Moscow, is an early pioneer in network-based art who has worked with internet architecture and web cultures her in artistic and publishing projects, developing an internationally respected position both in contemporary art, new media theory and human computer interaction.
- TBA
Important dates
- 7 January – Applications due
- Provide a 300 word abstract or chapter relevant to the theme of the summer school, and a 1-2 page summary of your PhD project
- 1 February – Confirmation of participation
- 1 April – Sign-up for workshops
- 30 April – Draft articles or chapters due (3000-7000 words). Participants must set aside time to read drafts from 6-10 other participants
- 31 May – First day of the summer school
Requirements
The participants will have to be:
- Be currently enrolled in a doctoral programme
- Needs to submit a dissertation chapter, article-in-progress or artistic research
- Be eligible to enter the Norway. Please let us know in advance in case you need an invitation letter for visa applications.
- Follow the UiB policy for visiting researchers
Costs and Scholarships
There is no tuition fee. Lunches, one dinner, and an excursion will be provided by the Center for Digital Narrative. Participants must cover travel and accommodation themselves.
Up to three competitive scholarships are available to cover travel and accommodation for excellent researchers facing extreme economic hardship. These may be awarded to qualified PhD researchers specializing in digital narrative who lack travel support or funding opportunities in their institution or country of residence. Priority will be given to applicants doing their PhD in countries recognized on the OECD list of Least Developed Countries (external link) or Ukraine. If you wish to be considered for the scholarship, please attach a brief letter explaining your circumstances and why you wish to be considered for the scholarship.