Workshop in Villa Vigoni

by Jaap Geraerts

There’s a wonderful phrase in Dutch: “het nuttige met het aangename verenigen,” which means something like “to unite that which is useful (nuttig) with that which is pleasant (aangenaam).”  Although in general academia tends to be firmly tilted towards the former, occasionally it does happen that the coveted combination of utility and pleasantness is achieved. The week I spent at Villa Vigoni in Menaggio, Italy, together with a number of colleagues in late February/early March 2023, is a particularly great example thereof.

The occasion for meeting there and then was a week-long workshop organised by Francesca Cadeddu and Marco Büchler. Its title, “Religious studies in the digital age: aligning research methodologies and national strategies,” neatly alludes to most of the topics that were covered by scholars coming from various disciplines, ranging from linguistics and history, to computer science and the digital humanities. Each morning started with three presentations followed by a Q&A session. Taken together, the presentations comprised a wealth of topics such as the opportunities of AI, the encoding of particularly challenging primary sources due to their layout or use of little-studied languages (or both), the need for multilingual metadata, and so forth. However, the topics that were addressed were certainly not only technical in nature. Questions about representation, e.g. of underrepresented communities or understudied languages, formed an important part of the discussions as well.

I gave a short talk on the link between physical and digital (and/or digitized) sources, mainly on the basis of three projects I currently am or have been involved in: my own research project on the Schism of Utrecht, European peace treaties of the pre-modern era in data (FriVer+), and the Archaeology of Reading in Early Modern Europe (AOR). How to maintain the links between primary (archival) sources and their digital surrogates? More importantly, how to convey to users the structure and limitations of digital data sets? If we want to ensure the (correct) use of our data by other scholars, robust documentation, albeit arguably not the sexiest part of academic projects, is necessary more than ever.

Interesting as the presentations were, they served a more important goal and mainly were meant as a segue into broader discussions about the various aspects and dimensions of a research infrastructure for religious studies. Discussions about the contours of such a research infrastructure – what could/should it look like, what kind(s) of data should it comprise, is a separate infrastructure for religious studies is actually necessary – transitioned seamlessly into questions about whether the sources used by religious studies are in any way unique and clearly distinguishable from the sources used by other disciplines. These discussions are very timely indeed: both in Germany (with the NFDI consortia) as well as in other European countries significant sums of money are invested in creating academic infrastructures. At the European level, too, initiatives for the creation of infrastructures have been or are undertaken, such as the Research Infrastructure for Religious Studies (ReIReS) and the RESILIENCE consortium that aims to create a research infrastructure for religious studies (several members of this consortium were present at and co-organised the workshop).

In the end, I think that we, although not providing a blueprint for a future research infrastructure for religious studies, did have engaging discussions and supplied the organizers with helpful ideas on how to move forward. The atmosphere certainly helped – although as a group we were heterogeneous in terms of disciplinary background and seniority, everyone seemed to be at ease to raise questions and share thoughts (or at least that was my impression). Because of the way in which the workshop was structured, with presentations in the morning and the discussions in the afternoon, these days were fruitful, but very intensive as well. Luckily, each day was punctuated by several delicious meals. As one might expect, the Italian cuisine certainly did not disappoint. Moreover, breakfast, lunch, and dinner proved to be good occasions to get to know each other and/or to catch up, and to have a chat about topics other than research or academic life in general. And if that was not pleasant enough, Menaggio is situated next to the breathtakingly beautiful lake Como, while the grounds and immediate surroundings of Villa Vigoni are equally stunning. Going for a wander while discussing work-related matters, following the example of the peripatetic philosophers (although I’m not making any grandiose claims about the level of our conversations), truly was a splendid example of “het nuttige met het aangename verenigen.” More of such workshops please!


Cite this article as: Jaap Geraerts, "Workshop in Villa Vigoni," in Digital Humanities Lab, 17/03/2023, https://dhlab.hypotheses.org/3771.

Featured image and all images in this post: photo by author, all rights reserved.

Imperial Commoners in Brazil and West Africa (1640–1822): A Global History from a Correspondence Network Perspective

By Agata Bloch and Demival Vasques Filho

After a couple of attempts, we have finally received the exciting news that our project has been recommended for funding by the Polish National Science Center! Over the next four years, we will study the communication patterns of imperial commoners (non-elite actors) who developed similar characteristics, narratives, and thought strategies in different areas of the vast Atlantic Portuguese Empire. We are interested not only in how these commoners generally behaved and displayed attitudes that transcended class and gender, but also in how imperial authorities responded to them. „Imperial Commoners in Brazil and West Africa (1640–1822): A Global History from a Correspondence Network Perspective“ weiterlesen

EuroCarto 2022 – presenting DigiKAR to the international cartographic community

a guest post by Mariam Gambashidze,
Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig

Conferences are exciting scientific events, especially if they are held in person after the long pandemic times. In September 2022, the capital of Austria, Vienna, hosted a big cartographic event: EuroCarto 2022, where I was happy to present our ongoing project  ‘Digitale Kartenwerkstatt Altes Reich’ (DigiKAR) to the scientific community. „EuroCarto 2022 – presenting DigiKAR to the international cartographic community“ weiterlesen

Digital archives of the COVID-19 pandemic: research notes

By Ian Marino

How will historians tell the history of the COVID-19 pandemic? At first, they will do so based on historical sources, as always. But how is the vast number of vestiges of such a global and traumatic event being archived? I am starting a fellowship at the IEG DH Lab to help answer questions like that as part of my PhD research, The pandemic and the digital: digital archives and memory of COVID-19 in a global perspective, conducted at the University of Campinas, Brazil. This short report will present the main topics and questions surrounding the project.

„Digital archives of the COVID-19 pandemic: research notes“ weiterlesen

A (not so) short history of historical network research – part 3

by

Finally, we have arrived at a comfortable depth after recounting the history of computational thought in historical research (part 1) and the development of network research (part 2).1 It is time now to delve into networks in history in part 3 of this series!
„A (not so) short history of historical network research – part 3“ weiterlesen

  1. This series draws in large parts on the chapters on historiographical perspectives on the digital humanities and network research of my dissertation (Petz 2022). []

A (not so) short history of historical network research – part 2

by

Let us resume our dive into the history of historical network research! In this (three-part series) post, I first recounted the history of computational thought in historical research, and next I will discuss networks for history, before highlighting some of the cornerstones of network methodologies in historical studies.1 This is part 2 on the development of network research.

„A (not so) short history of historical network research – part 2“ weiterlesen

  1. This series draws in large parts on the chapters on historiographical perspectives on the digital humanities and network research of my dissertation (Petz 2022). []

A (not so) short history of historical network research – part 1

by

Buckle up for a dive into the history of historical network research! In this (three-part series) post, I will recount the history of computational thought in historical research, discuss networks for history, and highlight some of the cornerstones of network methodologies in historical studies.1 Prepare for part 1 on computational thought in the historical studies.

„A (not so) short history of historical network research – part 1“ weiterlesen

  1. This series draws in large parts on the chapters on historiographical perspectives on the digital humanities and network research of my dissertation (Petz 2022). []

DH Lab Retreat 2022: Delving into goals, tasks and values

by Jaap Geraerts

In September 2019, so in pre-pandemic times, several (former) members of the IEG DH Lab went on a retreat to Kloster Jakobsberg for a couple of days. The main goal of this retreat was to discuss the individual research projects and to discover overlap between them and encourage cooperation within the frame of the DH Lab. In other words, the focus was on putting flesh on the bones on the laboratorial dimension of our research unit. „DH Lab Retreat 2022: Delving into goals, tasks and values“ weiterlesen

Projektmanagement in den Digital Humanities – World Café auf der DHd 2022

von Fabian Cremer, Swantje Dogunke, Jonathan Geiger, Anja Gerber, Anna Maria Neubert, Julian Schulz, Thorsten Wübbena

„Interdisziplinäre Wissensproduktion innerhalb der digitalen geistes- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Forschung benötigt verschiedene Planungs-, Koordinierungs- und Steuerungselemente, um eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit zu ermöglichen.“ Diese These, aus dem Selbstverständnis und der Forschungspraxis der Digital Humanities abgeleitet, liegt unserem Beitrag zur diesjährigen Jahreskonferenz der Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum zugrunde: einem „Peer-to-Peer-Workshop zum Projektmanagement in den Digital Humanities“. Im Rahmen dieses virtuellen World Café haben sich Projektmanager:innen über methodische Fragen, individuelle Erfahrungen und institutionelle Rahmebedingungen ausgetauscht. Die Diskussionen werden in diesem Blogpost zusammengefasst. „Projektmanagement in den Digital Humanities – World Café auf der DHd 2022“ weiterlesen

A journey through time and networks: a short story from a PhD candidate at the DH Lab

by Daniela Linkevicius de Andrade

Time is a strange thing for historians. It is our object of adoration and frustration, our compass and clock. We study time, but when it comes to the time of our own lives, things get more complicated. Over the last weeks, I’ve constantly heard from other historians: “wow, time went by so fast!”. As a historian, I should know that time is subjective, but I never cease to marvel. After all, it has been eight months since I arrived in Mainz, Germany, and started my fellowship at the DH Lab, but I still find it challenging to translate and express the dimension of eight months. The effort is worth it, and I invite you to join me on a bit of a journey about my time at DH Lab. „A journey through time and networks: a short story from a PhD candidate at the DH Lab“ weiterlesen

RSA 2022 in Dublin

By Jaap Geraerts

Two weeks ago, from March 29 until April 2, the Renaissance Society of America (RSA) conference took place in Dublin. It’s probably the largest conference for academics interested in the early modern period and it customarily attracts scholars from various historical disciplines and fields from all over the world. Over the last couple of years, the number of papers and panels on the digital humanities has been steadily increasing at this conference. For me this is good news: RSA now offers me a platform to share both my latest archival findings and to showcase the technical side of my project. „RSA 2022 in Dublin“ weiterlesen

Durch Partizipation zum Kontrakt. Gestaltungsprozesse einer praxisbezogenen Forschungsdatenleitlinie

von Fabian Cremer und Thorsten Wübbena

Bis zum Jahr 2022 hatte das Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte (IEG) keine Leitlinie zum Umgang mit Forschungsdaten am Institut. Eine solche Leitlinie bildet einen zentralen Baustein für die strategische und operative Entwicklung von Maßnahmen im Forschungsdatenmanagement. Dieser Erfahrungsbericht aus dem IEG zeigt, es kommt weniger auf den Zeitpunkt der Verabschiedung, sondern auf den Entstehungsprozess einer Leitlinie an, damit sie maßgebliche Relevanz und Einsatzfähigkeit für den Forschungsalltag entfalten kann. „Durch Partizipation zum Kontrakt. Gestaltungsprozesse einer praxisbezogenen Forschungsdatenleitlinie“ weiterlesen

Introduction to historical (social) network analysis – Part 2

by Demival Vasques Filho

In the first part of this blog post, we discussed the first studies in graph theory and social network analysis. Then, we introduced several concepts: random networks, weak ties, two-mode networks, centrality measures, the focus theory, network visualization, and structural holes. Now, let us move on to some applications and yet new concepts!

„Introduction to historical (social) network analysis – Part 2“ weiterlesen

Integrating library data into an authority file: The challenges of MARC XML and inconsistent transcription practices

a guest post by Till Grallert

A recent Twitter post from my former colleague Anne Klammt made me aware of a recent relaunch of “Zeitschriftendatenbank” (ZDB), the portal for periodical holdings in German (and Austrian) libraries.

Part of the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, DNB), the website looks great and provides a lot of data-driven functionality, such as maps and timelines of holdings. The display language of the website itself, though not the bibliographic data, can be toggled between German and English. This is a welcome nod to international users and will certainly increase the visibility of this important portal. However, it must be noted that unfortunately the dataset of bibliographic data is not as accessible as the interface. Languages written in scripts other than Latin are provided in a variety of inconsistent transcriptions into Latin script for mostly historical technical reasons. This is not the fault of ZDB per se but it will prevent communities from the Global South from finding and accessing their own cultural heritage, which for various reasons are held by institutions in the Global North. This is especially relevant for Arabic material, as I will elaborate in the section on transliterations below.
„Integrating library data into an authority file: The challenges of MARC XML and inconsistent transcription practices“ weiterlesen

Introduction to historical (social) network analysis – Part I

by Demival Vasques Filho

Last September, as part of our seminar series, “60 minutes of DH”, at the IEG, I presented an introduction to historical (social) network analysis. In the talk, I gave an overview of the field’s history, discussing landmark papers, in my opinion. It was a mix of going through papers fundamental to shaping the discipline (a kind of consensus in the network science/social network analysis communities) and those that are important to me or I like. In the following, I will recount this biased – based on my opinion – talk about the evolution of networks research in this two-part post.

„Introduction to historical (social) network analysis – Part I“ weiterlesen

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