Workshops

Digital History Autumn School 2026, Germany [Bursaries Call closes Aug 2]

From Data Acquisition to Data Publication: Quality Control, Tool Assessment, and Methodological Challenges in Digital History

Digital History Autumn School 2026

From Data Acquisition to Data Publication: Quality Control, Tool Assessment, and Methodological Challenges in Digital History

28 September – 2 October 2026

Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe, Marburg & HERMES (Humanities Education in Research, Data, and Methods) Data Competence Center

Digital tools and AI-assisted methods are increasingly shaping historical research. From OCR and annotation to corpus analysis and the application of generative AI systems in analysis or dissemination, these technologies open up new possibilities for generating and augmenting historical knowledge. Even after a few decades of experience, the combination of hermeneutic and computational approaches is far from straightforward, and researchers are often confront-ed with new methodological and practical challenges such as (but not limited to):

·              Data acquisition: How can processes of datafication and data-collection lead to relia-ble and accurate data?

·              Data modeling: Which data model is best suited to a particular research question and dataset, and how can expressiveness and interoperability be optimally balanced?

·              Data analysis: Are the available tools sufficiently powerful for the chosen model, and do they perform as effectively on one’s own data as reported in the literature?

·              Evaluation: How can results obtained from a specific tool be critically assessed? What roles do data quality, uncertainty, and methodological transparency play in a given re-search context?

·              Data exchange and reproducibility: How can research results be published and shared in ways that foster reuse and conserve transparency? To what extent are digitally supported methods transferable and reproducible across different datasets, and un-der which conditions?

The Digital History Autumn School 2026, organized in the framework of the Joint Lab Cul-tural Data in a Digital World (Herder Institute, Marburg –https://www.herder-institut.de/de/start, in close collaboration with the data competence center  – Humanities Edu-cation in Research, Data, and Methods – HERMES – https://hermes-hub.de/ ), addresses these questions from both methodological and practical perspectives. Together with experts in Digi-tal Humanities and Digital History, participants will explore criteria for the selection, applica-tion, and evaluation of digital tools and methods and will have the opportunity to discuss them in the context of their own research projects.

Topics

·              Selection and critical assessment of digital tools

·              Data preparation and data quality practices

·              Evaluation methods in the Digital Humanities

·              Transparency and reproducibility of digital methods

·              Dealing with uncertainty, ambiguity, and incompleteness in historical data

·              Source criticism, provenance, and the documentation of data transformation processes

In addition to thematic workshops, the Autumn School will provide opportunities for ex-change both with the experts and among the participants. Planned activities include interactive formats such as peer-support sessions, including opportunities for participants to present and discuss their own research data, methods, and research questions as well as networking events.

Who Can Apply?

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The Autumn School is aimed at:

·              Advanced Master’s students

·              Doctoral researchers (PhD candidates)

·              Postdoctoral and other early-career researchers

from the fields of Digital Humanities, Computer Science, Cultural Heritage, Digital History and Information Science who work with historical and cultural data and wish to integrate dig-ital methods into their research and critically reflect on their use.

Practical Information

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Dates: 28 September (from 2p.m) – 2 October 2026 (until 2p.m..)

Location: Herder Institute, Marburg, and Philipps University Marburg

Working Language: English

The organizers will provide for single room accommodation at a regular hotel. Travel expenses can be reimbursed up to a maximum of EUR 250.

Application

Applicants are invited to submit:

·              A short letter of motivation (maximum one page)

·              A brief curriculum vitae (CV)

·              Optionally, a short description of a project or dataset they would like to discuss during the Autumn School

Application deadline: 2 August 2026

Notification of acceptance: by 21 August 2026

We welcome applications from individuals with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and particu-larly encourage those who have so far only made limited use of digital methods to apply.

Please submit your application as a single PDF file to: herbstakademie@herder-institut.de

For further Information please contact Dr. Cristina Vertan  at : herbstakademie@herder-institut.de

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

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