Author: Joan Murphy

Futures in the Making: Identity, Speculation, and Digital Representation [Feb 10, online and in person, @12:00 GMT]

Futures in the Making: Identity, Speculation, and Digital Representation

Date & Time: 12pm, Tuesday 10th February

Location: Studio 3, O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance, University of Galway

The Masterclass Series continues with 

Aisling Phelan, an Irish multidisciplinary artist exploring digital doubles, speculative futures and human-machine interactions and entanglements.

In this masterclass, Aisling will present an overview of her artistic practice, tracing the research, processes, and technological explorations that shape her work in relation to identity, corporeality, and digital representation. Drawing on recent research into DeepFakes, doppelgangers, and robotics, the session will also invite participants to engage in speculative thinking around possible futures shaped by emerging technologies, using fiction and open-ended questioning as tools to reflect on contemporary technological anxieties.

Speaker Bio
Aisling Phelan is an Irish multidisciplinary artist exploring digital doubles, speculative futures and human-machine interactions and entanglements. Through 3D animation, AI, video, sculpture, and live interactive technologies, her work explores what it means to be human in an era of rapid technological advancement and pervasive algorithmic influence. 

Drawing from a transhumanist and speculative fiction perspective, Phelan explores how far we are willing to go in the pursuit of self-optimisation and the potential costs of such advances. Fusing the intimate with the artificial, her practice confronts the seductive promise of transcendence and enhancement, creating space for reflection on the role of current digital infrastructures in shaping how we understand ourselves and others.

In person: https://ti.to/creative-tech/masterclass-aisling-phelan

Zoom: https://universityofgalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Fb4r-VXCTAOFEkSJdwm8iw

Upcoming Workshops:

Liing Heaney  – Tuesday, 17 February

Róisín Berg – Tuesday, 24 February

Tara Jaye Burke – Tuesday, 3rd March

Claire Healy  – Tuesday 24th March

Jane Cassidy – Tuesday 31th March

Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School [Bursary Applications Open]

Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School [Bursary Closing Date Feb 9th]

From 24-28 August at the University of Oxford, practitioners, students and academic researchers will come together to explore digital humanities together through a range of courses covering DH tools, techniques and research methods. 

With options for all levels, led by experts who are innovating in the digital humanities, DHOxSS is a unique opportunity to enhance your skills and grow your network professionally in a supportive environment.

In 2026 there are four in-person strands and two online strands on offer, as well as a virtual learning environment and two keynote talks which will be made available to all participants.

Available bursaries
Bursaries for online and in-person attendance are available for students, early career researchers and people currently working in a gallery, library, archive or museum. Specific bursaries are also available for Digital Humanities researchers who use historical primary sources in history, literature or the social sciences, studying at either DPhil/PhD or MPhil level in a range of global regions. All bursaries cover the registration fee for the Summer School. Some may also cover accommodation and offer a contribution towards travel – you will be notified of the full details if you are successful.

How to apply 

https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/oxford/digital-humanities-at-oxford-summer-school-2026-bursary-applica
Bursary applications close on Monday 9 February at noon (GMT).

Summer School information sessions
If you have questions about the Summer School, why not join us for an information session in March? We will run two sessions to cater for different time zones – sign up here.

Session 1: Monday 23 March, 5pm (GMT)
Session 2: Wednesday 25 March, 8am (GMT)

Available workshop strands

Online:
•    An Introduction to Humanities Data
•    Using AI Tools and Technologies in Research Libraries

In person: 
•    An Introduction to Digital Humanities
•    Applied Data Analysis 
•    From Text to Tech
•    An Introduction to TEI 

Further detail on the programme.

Immersive Storytelling in 360° [Feb 12, online & in person, @12:00 GMT]

Immersive Storytelling in 360°

Date & Time: 12pm, Wednesday 4th February

Location: Studio 3, O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance, University of Galway

This 2 hour workshop will explore 360° storytelling processes. Drawing on the artist’s experiences with making 360° pieces in multiple languages and within different contexts, James will share what he has learned while referencing his work along with other international artists making work in this realm. No experience needed, this workshop is for anyone interested in telling stories, and how you might go about it in the digital space – touching on narrative structure, plot, character and the use of text and audio.

James Riordan is Artistic Director of Brú Theatre. His work in the digital space includes Ar Ais Arís (2020) – a merging of Irish language literature on immigration and VR, which recently toured to the US and Canada. In 2024 he directed No Tempo por Agua, A 360° VR piece for Portuguese company Teatro Do Silencio which premiered in Lisbon. Ologon, a 360° musical experience shot throughout Mayo premiered in 2021. 

He was Digital Artist in Residence with University of Galway’s Centre for Creative Technologies in 2024 and has presented his work and facilitated VR workshops for multiple companies including Prime Cut (Belfast) and Central School of Drama (London) and Galway International Arts Festival.

Registration:

In person: https://ti.to/creative-tech/masterclass-james-riordan

Zoom: https://universityofgalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ddeqz_QWR12QOhQ-sX4gJA#/registration

Upcoming Workshops:

Aisling Phelan – Tuesday, 10 Februaury

Liing Heaney  – Tuesday, 17 February

Róisín Berg – Tuesday, 24 February

Tara Jaye Burke – Tuesday, 3rd March

Claire Healy  – Tuesday 24th March

Jane Cassidy – Tuesday 31th March

SynFlow: Continuous Semantics Change Analysis via Dependency Co-occurences [Jan 26, online, @17:00 GMT]

SynFlow: Continuous Semantics Change Analysis via Dependency Co-occurences

The first talk of the Data in Historical Linguistics Seminar Series 2026 will take place remotely on Monday 26 January 2026 at 5pm GMT. Bách Phan-Tất (KU Leuven, Belgium) will be presenting on SynFlow: Continuous Semantics Change Analysis via Dependency Co-occurences

Registration for this talk will close at midnight on the Friday before the event and the link for this can be accessed here: https://forms.gle/HEnpTKreXdrZqjfA8 

Participants will receive a Microsoft Teams link via email on the morning of the talk. 

The abstract for this talk can be found at this page.

The programme and registration links for all talks in the series can be found on our website: 

2026 Programme

This seminar series is run by Andrea Farina (King’s College London) and Dr Mathilde Bru and is aimed at PhD students and early career researchers. The purpose of this seminar series is to bring together researchers working on historical linguistics with a quantitative approach, and to discuss current avenues of research in this topic. We hope that these seminars will nurture international collaboration and establish academic ties among researchers working on similar topics in this field.

Postdoc position with Sonraí [Deadline: 27th Jan]

Postdoc position with Sonraí [Deadline: 27th Jan]

The Post-Doctoral Researcher role will coordinate a number of tasks to further the development of the Sonraí network, including the development and launch of a micro-credential in data stewardship; the establishment of a data champions programme; communications and events to further establish the network.

For further info and to apply go to: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/401262 

The role will involve communication with a range of audiences (users, partners, collaborators, lecturers, support staff, funders and so on), and lots of collaboration with colleagues from across the Irish academic sector, in particular our project affiliates in the TROPIC (TRaining for OPen research in an Irish Context) project in Maynooth University, and the Responsible Use of Research Metrics (RURM) project in UCD. This is an opportunity to develop your academic profile and build relationships with colleagues, peers, and more broadly. You will assist the Sonraí project partners to establish the Sonraí Data Champions programme, highlighting data stewardship excellence across the Irish research landscape and various fields, and driving the recruitment of new members to the Sonraí network. Open Research is an active growth area in the academic, public and private sectors in Ireland and worldwide, and this role will be a great opportunity to develop expertise in this emerging space. You will have lots of opportunities to publish on this topic, via blog posts, articles, and by co-authoring at least one academic journal publication.

This 12-month consortium project is led by HEAnet (www.heanet.ie), and partnered by University College Cork (www.ucc.ie) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (www.rcsi.com). The Post-Doctoral role will be hosted at RCSI Library at the St Stephen’s Green campus in Dublin, with an option for hybrid working. The role will be supervised by Ruth Geraghty, Research Data Coordinator at RCSI Library, while working closely with the project partners in Dublin and Cork.

Specifically, the duties of the post are:

§  Research and co-develop a comparative report on sustainability models for professional networks, and provide recommendations to Sonraí (WP1)

§  Co-develop, curate and edit educational content for the ‘Introduction to Data Stewardship’ micro-credential, based on the curriculum that has been developed by our Task & Finish group (WP2)

§  Organise one in-person event for participants in the Sonraí Data Stewardship micro-credential, to include guest speakers and networking opportunities (WP2)

§  Design and carry out an evaluation of the impact of the micro-credential with first cohort of learners on this course (WP2)

§  Co-develop a disciplinary data stewardship module curriculum in Health Sciences, through engagement with the Health Sciences research community (WP2)

§  Support the project partners with the rollout of our ‘Data Champions’ programme (WP3)

§  Support the project partners to develop our Sonraí mailing list, LinkedIn page and website (datastewards.ie/), to raise awareness and drive engagement with Sonraí (WP4).

§  Co-author one publication (journal article) on the work of the project, contributing to the global advancement of data stewardship

§  Assist with progress reporting to project funders, the Sonraí Committee and Steering Group, and participate in monthly project partner meetings.