There are critics who sometimes ask the “so what?” question when it comes to Digital History: what impact can these new methods and approaches make on historical arguments and how can they advance scholarship? Do they advance scholarship at all? To be fair, sometimes this critique is justified.
The “so what?” question has long been part of the C²DH Centre’s critical approach to digital history.
I have always admired how the C²DH Centre in Luxembourg approaches this very question. Rather than dismissing the critique, they’ve made it central to their philosophy. What makes the Centre so compelling is how they address it: they recognize that digital historians are foremost historians who face the same fundamental challenges—working with complex, incomplete, messy sources full of biases and errors, then interpreting them critically to develop arguments. But digital sources add new layers of complexity: digitization processes, algorithmic biases, complex tools. This is where new skills need to be learned (digital literacy and competence), where collaboration becomes essential, and where experimentation is key.
The C²DH Centre is a place where failure is part of success.
The C²DH Centre is a place where failure is part of success, and where freedom for experimentation and innovation goes hand in hand with the goal of making sense of our past. The strong collaboration within the interdisciplinary center makes this balance even more apparent. Part of this collaboration is also training. The C²DH is dedicated to train each member for methodological rigor in order to allow transparency in our work as digital historians.
During my time as a visiting research fellow from March to May 2025, I experienced firsthand how digital history thrives on shared knowledge. This realization wasn’t entirely new to me. The amazing DH Lab at the IEG had already shown me how much a research environment shapes a scholar. Yet, being immersed in this international and interdisciplinary community truly brought it home. Whether co-developing methods, exchanging ideas, or exploring innovative ways to use generative AI in historical research, collaborating was a daily enjoyment. I remember so many conversations that sparked new ideas, and working on project ideas and proposals together was especially fruitful.
The C²DH made it easy for me to feel at home from the very first day. I was welcomed with open arms and fully integrated into the Centre’s activities, projects, discussions, presentations, and lunches. This warm and open environment made it easy to exchange ideas freely, ask questions, and dive into collaborative projects without hesitation. A highlight for sure was my hands-on lecture I gave during my stay at C²DH.

Especially fruitful for me were the collaborations with the Media Monitoring of the Past · impresso team, co-led by Marten Düring, and the “History and AI” group, which includes researchers like Frédéric Clavert, Sean Takats, Demival Vasques Filho, Finola Finn, and Lauren Coetzee, among many others. These weren’t just formal research partnerships, they were genuine intellectual exchanges that pushed my thinking in new directions.
These moments remind me why academic community matters.
Beyond the professional exchange, the daily interactions, sharing coffee breaks, debating methods, and celebrating small successes, created a sense of belonging that energized my research. I will never forget the heartwarming words of one of my office colleagues, who said that my visit to the Centre was a highlight for her and that she feels even more motivated in her academic career path. These moments remind you why academic community matters.
But what exactly makes the C²DH such a unique place? I believe it’s the community itself and the relatively “young” structures at the University, where rigid hierarchies have little place. Of course, Andreas Fickers, as director of the Centre, has played a key role in fostering this open and inclusive environment—not just philosophically, but as the literal architect of the space. Walls have been removed, open spaces created, and for those who need a quiet space, noise-cancelling booths are available. Exchange is easiest when nobody is looking down at you from above. This sounds logical, but many historical institutions are far from achieving this.
Flexibility is essential for making visiting research opportunities accessible to scholars with care responsibilities.
On a personal level, as a mother of a toddler, the C²DH provided the flexibility I needed to make this fellowship possible. For researchers with children – and particularly for women – opportunities like this are often difficult to pursue. The Centre’s support not only enabled me to engage fully in research but also demonstrated that an inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment is possible.
And sometimes, being part of a Centre can open doors to even more opportunities. This fellowship for sure contributed to the unique possibility of joining the Centre as Assistant Professor in Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining in Digital History in January 2026.
For the first time in my life, I am moving without an ending date, not as a temporary visitor, but as someone who gets to help build the future of digital history.
I am very excited to embark on this new chapter and to continue exploring how collaboration, innovation, and interdisciplinary work can shape the future of digital history. With the rise of generative AI and the potential these tools and methods hold for digital historians, I want to turn from the “so what?” question to the “what’s next?” question. I envision a future for digital history with a stronger focus on qualitative research, one that offers a real chance to bridge the widening gap between “traditional” and digital history approaches.
Featured Image: Belval Campus Luxembourg (picture taken by Sarah Oberbichler).
OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
Sarah Oberbichler (29. August 2025). From “so what?” to “what’s next?”: Joining the C²DH in Luxembourg as Visiting Researcher. DH Lab. Abgerufen am 6. Dezember 2025 von https://doi.org/10.58079/14jng