Author: Joan Murphy

Who is Responsible for the Archives? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Ethics in a Digital Age [June 26, Birmingham, online/in-person]

Who is Responsible for the Archives? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Ethics in a Digital Age

When: Friday 26 June 2026, 9:00–20:00
Where: Aston University, Susan Cadbury Lecture Theatre, and online

Archives are vital repositories for preserving the past, for documenting the present, and for building memories and legacies for the future. Although they hold relevance to everybody’s history and affect society as a whole, they have long been the purview of a limited group of archivists and historians. In recent years, this has begun to change: archives, both as documents and as repositories, have received increasing attention from scholars across diverse disciplines and also from the broader public.

However, if questions of representation, digital transformation, and long-term preservation have become central to contemporary debates, issues related to ethics remain often limited to legal compliance or confined to a limited group of specialists. Building on previous debates including the US 2018 National Forum on Ethics & Archiving the Web and the ICA’s 2022 Ethics and Archives Online Discussion, and also on the ARA’s ongoing work in this area, this conference seeks to expand this discussion by bringing together experts and practitioners from all fields.

Practical Information and Registration

Draft Programme: https://www.aston.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2026-06/AUAC-2026-conference-programme-ONGOING.pdf

Digital Medieval Studies Institute (DMSI) at Leeds [10 July, Leeds, in person]

Registrations for the Digital Medieval Studies Institute (DMSI) at Leeds will close on Wednesday, 10 June 2026.

In partnership with the University of Leeds Institute for Medieval Studies (IMS), University of Leeds Libraries, and Digital Medievalist, the Digital Medieval Studies Institute (DMSI) presents a full-day programme featuring workshops on digital scholarly methods specifically tailored for medievalists.

DMSI UK will take place on Friday, 10 July 2026 in conjunction with the International Medieval Congress (IMC), University of Leeds. We still have a number of places in the following five workshops:

  • TEI for Beginners: Encoding Text and Extracting Data (Sebastian Dows-Miller, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, University College London)
  • Using Local LLMs and VLMs: Prompting, Structuring, and Automating with Medieval Data (Delphine Demelas, Southampton Digital Humanities, University of Southampton)
  • Nodegoat Curious: Building a Custom Relational Database for Your Research (Pim van Bree, LAB1100; Geert Kessels, LAB1100; Jesse W. Torgerson, Wesleyan University)
  • Artificial Intelligence: Image Analysis Applied to Medieval Manuscripts (Dominique Stutzmann, Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes (IRHT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris)
  • Manuscript Materiality in a Digital World (Dot Porter, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania Libraries) 

Please note that if you have already registered for the IMC, you can add DMSI to your existing registration. If you are only interested in participating in DMSI, there are no additional late registration fees for DMSI. For more information and registration, please consult the DMSI UK webpage.

Computational approaches to visual and material culture [June 2/3, Oxford, in person – FREE ]

Computational approaches to visual and material culture

Join us for a two-day thematic research event on computational approaches to visual and material culture at Oxford’s Weston Library!

2 June 9:30am-5:00pm to 3 June 9.30am-5:00pm

In-person event: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Weston Library, Oxford

Free event and open to all. Registration required, limited places available. Please follow the link below to register.

Register on Eventbrite

Data/Culture, the Centre for Digital Scholarship (Bodleian Libraries), Digital Scholarship @Oxford, and Mapping the Arts and Humanities (SAS, London) are hosting a two-day thematic research event exploring new ways of working with images, objects, and performances. The event focuses on developing research questions and approaches, using existing tools and resources. Participants will work collaboratively in small groups, supported by Research Software Engineers, and have the opportunity to develop a research idea further through a prize of dedicated technical collaboration. No prior coding experience is required.

Who is this for?

This event is designed for:

  • Arts and Humanities researchers (scholars and postgraduate students)
  • those working with images, objects, archives, or performance materials
  • those interested in exploring new research methods
  • those developing or planning research projects or grant applications

What do you need?

  • An interest in your research question
  • (Optional) a dataset or collection you work with
  • A laptop is desirable but not essential

You do NOT need:

  • coding experience
  • prior knowledge of tools
  • technical expertise

UK-IE DHA Community Interest Group Call [Now Open]

UK-IE DHA Community Interest Group Call

UK-IE DHA is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for new Community Interest Groups (CIGs).

CIGs are community-driven groups organised around a shared research interest, a community of practice, or a key issue within digital humanities. They are central to our aim of fostering a more inclusive, collaborative, and sustainable community.

We warmly invite proposals for new groups. Before applying, please read the full call and complete the application form available here: https://digitalhumanities-uk-ie.org/2026/05/14/cfp-new-cigs-2026/

Key information

  • Deadline: 23:59 (GMT), Monday 29 June 2026
  • Format: PDF submission via email to uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk
  • Notification of outcomes: Friday 24 July 2026
  • Similar proposals may be combined where appropriate

About CIGs

CIGs are flexible and community-led, designed to evolve alongside the field. They:

  • run initially for at least 18 months
  • are open to unlimited participation
  • are shaped by the needs of their members
  • foster communities of practice across the UK and Ireland

We currently have 5 CIGs and will add up to 5 new groups in this round.

Support available

Successful groups receive:

  • access to the CIG Funding Scheme (expanded via thanks to our recently announced UKRI grant)
  • promotion via our channels
  • a dedicated presence on our website
  • opportunities to participate in Association events
  • access to peer support via the Collective
  • opportunities for collaboration and advocacy

If you have any questions, please contact uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference – Media and Sustainability [Calls closes May 25th]

MeCCSA Postgraduate Network Conference

We are pleased to say that due to exceptional demand, we are extending the deadline to submit an abstract for the 2026 MeCCSA Postgraduate Network Conference, which will take place on 9th September 2026 in the Minghella Studios, University of Reading. The new deadline is Monday 25th May 2026.

This year’s theme is Media and Sustainability and invites postgraduate researchers to explore how media industries, forms, cultures, and research practices endure, adapt, resist or reimagine themselves within unstable or emerging environments. We also encourage reflection on the sustainability of academic and creative labour, and the infrastructures that support media work.  

Participants are encouraged to interpret the conference theme broadly and creatively. Submissions from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives are warmly welcomed, including practice-based work.  

Possible areas of interest include, but are not limited to:  

  • Sustainable media industries: policy, production cultures, funding, and independent practice. 
  • Sustainable creative and research methodologies: slow scholarship, decolonial and feminist methods, ethics of care, collaboration and community partnership. 
  • Environmental sustainability and media: climate communication, ecocinema, eco-media, green production, and environmental representation.  
  • Sustainable archives and preservation: memory, heritage, obsolescence, and care for audiovisual materials.  
  • Sustainable digital technologies and infrastructures: platforms, AI, media infrastructure, resource extraction, and the environmental costs of data.  
  • Sustainable identities and communities: queer, Indigenous, diasporic, and disabled media-making. Visibility, survival, and continuity.  
  • Sustaining the self: wellbeing, burnout, emotional labour, and the lived realities of postgraduate research.   

In recognition of the diverse ways postgraduate researchers work and communicate research, we invite proposals in a range of formats, including:  

  • Paper presentations (15 minutes) 
  • Panel proposals (typically 3-5 named contributors) 
  • Practice-based or creative contributions, including film, audiovisual work, performance or artistic practice 

We particularly welcome work-in-progress and contributions from early-stage postgraduate researchers.  

Submission deadline: Monday 25th May 2026 at midday (GMT)

Submission link: Microsoft Form

Further details can be found here. Alternatively, feel free to email us with any questions.

UK-IE DHA – Pilot small grants scheme info session [18 May @ 11am, online]

UK-IE DHA – Pilot small grants scheme briefing session

We will be holding a briefing session for our pilot small grants scheme on the 18 May between 11.00 & 12.00 (GMT). The session will be hosted by Prof. Jane Winters and Dr. Valentina Vavassori, who will highlight the types of projects we’re looking for and the application criteria. Please come with your questions and ideas! 

The scheme is aimed at early career researchers and practitioners based in the UK and/or Ireland, including independent researchers. Applicants may include collaborators or partners based elsewhere, but the lead applicant must be from Ireland or the UK.

We define early career as:

  • Individuals within eight years of receiving their PhD, or equivalent professional training (e.g. an Archives and Records Association or CILIP accredited course or apprenticeship), or
  • Individuals within six years of their first academic or professional appointment.

These timeframes exclude any periods of career break. A career break is defined as an extended period during which you have not been actively engaged in scholarly research, teaching, or a GLAM-sector role. This may be due to caring responsibilities, parental leave, health reasons, or other circumstances not listed.

What the grant can support

The grant can be used flexibly to support activities such as:

  • Research assistance
  • Travel and accommodation
  • Mentoring or guidance
  • Caring costs
  • Other costs clearly justified by the project

To register for the briefing session: https://www.sas.ac.uk/digital-humanities-research-hub/events/briefing-session-small-grants-scheme-uk-ireland-digital-humanities-association.

To see the full funding announcement: https://digitalhumanities-uk-ie.org/2026/05/01/2026-small-grants-scheme/.

DARIAH-Campus Open Education Resource Showcase [May 26 @2pm, DARIAH Annual Event, Rome]

DARIAH-Campus Open Education Resource Showcase

The DARIAH-EU Community Engagement Working Group and the DARIAH-Campus Editorial Board invite participants to join us during the DARIAH Annual event in Rome for a DARIAH-Campus Open Education Resource Showcase. 

This event will take place on Tuesday 26th May from 2-3.30pm in the Aula Bisconti in the main conference venue.

Please register your intention to attend by completing this form by Friday 22nd May.

This event is targeted at early career researchers, practitioners and those who are currently engaged in training provision as educators (e.g. lecturers, academics, trainers) as well as postgraduate students and lifelong learners. 

The session will showcase DARIAH-Campus resources through demonstrations from leading educators, using examples from their own teaching practices. Following the demonstrations a moderated discussion will afford the DARIAH-Campus team the opportunity to gain a deeper insight from the community in how they engage with Open Education Resources (OERs) such as those available on DARIAH-Campus.  Potential topics of discussion will include:

What formats work best?  

How are training materials identified?  

What sources are trusted for recommendations in OERs?

Participants in the workshop will leave with a deeper understanding of using DARIAH-Campus as a resource for teaching, training and learning and will also have played an active role in informing and shaping the direction of DARIAH-Campus and the development of training materials in current and future projects (e.g. ATRIUM, ARTEMIS, ECHOES).

Gamifying Digital Preservation: An Introductory Twine Workshop [May 12 @10am, online]

Gamifying Digital Preservation: An Introductory Twine Workshop

May 12, 10:00-12:00 UTC+1

The Digital Repository of Ireland is hosting a webinar on May 12th that may be of interest if you’re planning on attending their DPASSH (Digital Preservation in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) conference in late June! 

This 2 hour online workshop led by Francesca Mackenzie (National Archives UK), Lotte Wijsman and Susanne van den Eijkel (National Archives NL) is designed to guide participants in creating text‑based adventure games using Twine, a free and accessible tool for building interactive stories. Prompts, templates, and example structures will be provided to help participants shape their projects and develop their skills. Alongside technical learning, the workshop encourages a playful approach to thinking about digital preservation challenges, offering a creative space to re‑imagine familiar workflows and concepts.

Register:

https://dri.ie/events/gamifying-digital-preservation-an-introductory-twine-workshop

Galaxy – Digital Research Methods Training [Free, online, register by May 16]

Galaxy – Digital Research Methods Training online

We would like to draw your attention to the Galaxy Training Academy 2026, a free, international training programme focused on open, reproducible digital research methods, with particular relevance for arts, humanities, and cultural heritage research.

This training is relevant if you:

• work with textual, audiovisual, or cultural heritage data;

• are interested in practical approaches to digital humanities, text analysis, or machine learning;

• would like access to shared, non‑commercial computational infrastructure for research and teaching experiments;

• are interested in FAIR research practices for the digital arts and humanities.

About the Galaxy Training Academy 2026

The Academy is organised by the Galaxy Training Network, a long‑running international community that develops and delivers training for the Galaxy open‑source research infrastructure, which is widely used and supported across the global research community.

Dates: 18–22 May 2026 (Registration deadline: 16 May)

Format: Fully asynchronous (no live sessions)

Cost: Free

More details: https://training.galaxyproject.org/training-material/events/2026-05-18-galaxy-academy.html

The Academy is open to researchers at all career stages, including postgraduate students, doctoral researchers and early‑career academics. 

Participants work through a structured set of video‑based and text‑based tutorials at their own pace. No prior experience with Galaxy is required, although more experienced users are also welcome.

Topics

Recommended tracks for community members include: Digital Humanities; From Zero to Hero with Python Machine Learning.

Indicative topics in the Digital Humanities track include:

• Introduction to Digital Humanities workflows in Galaxy

• Researching cultural data using OpenRefine

• Text mining Chinese newspaper archives

• Automated transcription of audio and video materials

Middle voice in the diachrony of Ancient Greek: a quantitative (and qualitative!) approach [May 11 @ 5pmBST, online]

Middle voice in the diachrony of Ancient Greek: a quantitative (and qualitative!) approach

The eighth talk of the Data in Historical Linguistics Seminar Series will take place remotely on Monday 11th May 2026 at 5pm BST. Federico Viglino (Guglielmo Marconi University, Italy) will be presenting on “Middle voice in the diachrony of Ancient Greek: a quantitative (and qualitative!) approach”. 

Registration for this talk will close at midnight on Friday 8th May and the link for this can be accessed here: https://forms.gle/ioQ7qbspf9ebc19J7 

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.