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Dear colleagues,
Free Registration<https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/register/event/74923> for the 11th <https://msuglobaldh.org/> Global Digital Humanities Symposium <https://msuglobaldh.org/> closes THIS WEEK - 27 March. This year’s event will take place in-person on Monday, 13 April at Michigan State University (USA), virtually on Zoom and YouTube on Tuesday and Wednesday, 14-15 April, and in-person on Friday, 17 April at Universidad de Monterrey (Mexico). All days will be livestreamed.
During the Virtual Symposium, we will support live interpretation of presentations from English into Spanish and from Spanish into English.
We are delighted to feature virtual keynote presentations from Evelin Heidel from Wikimedistas de Uruguay, Cindy A. Nguyen from UCLA, and in-person keynote presentations from Rayvon Fouché from Northwestern University on 13 April and Hugo Solís García from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana on 17 April.
The daily schedule of the Symposium is listed below, and you can explore the full program<http://msuglobaldh.org/schedule/>, including presentation abstracts.
Virtual Symposium
Tuesday, 14 April<https://msuglobaldh.org/schedule-detailed/#tuesday>
12:00-6:15pm EDT / 5:00-11:15pm Nigeria / 6:00pm-12:15am April 15 CEST / 12:00-6:15am April 15 Beijing
Wednesday, 15 April<https://msuglobaldh.org/schedule-detailed/#tuesday>
9:00am-5:00pm EDT / 2:00-10:00 pm Nigeria / 3:00-11:00pm CEST / 9:00pm-5:00am 16 April Beijing
In-Person Symposium
Monday, 13 April<https://msuglobaldh.org/schedule-detailed/#monday> (East Lansing, Michigan, USA)
8:30am-7:30pm EDT / 1:30pm-12:30am A 14pril Nigeria / 2:30pm-1:30am 14 April CEST / 8:30pm-7:30am 14 April Beijing
Friday, 17 April<https://msuglobaldh.org/schedule-detailed/#friday> (Monterrey, México,)
8:00am-5:30pm CST / 10:00am-7:30pm EDT / 3:00pm-12:30am 18 April Nigeria / 4:00pm-1:30am 18 April CEST / 10:00pm-7:30am 18 April Beijing
Register here to attend. <https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/register/event/74923> We hope you will be able to join us!
Sincerely,
Kristen Mapes, on behalf of the Global DH Symposium Planning Committee
----------
Estimada comunidad global de Humanidades Digitales:
La inscripción gratuita<https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/register/event/74923> para el 11º Simposio Global de Humanidades Digitales cierra ESTA SEMANA, viernes 27 de marzo.
Los eventos de este año tendrán lugar en persona el lunes 13 de abril en Michigan State University (EEUU), de forma virtual en Zoom y YouTube el martes 14 y el miércoles 15 de abril, y en persona de nuevo el viernes 17 de abril en la Universidad de Monterrey (México). Todos los días serán retransmitidos en vivo por YouTube.
Durante los dos días virtuales del simposio habrá interpretación inglés-español disponible.
Estamos emocionadas de contar con las ponencias virtuales de Evelin Heidel de los Wikimedistas de Uruguay y Cindy A. Nguyen from UCLA (EEUU) así como la ponencia en persona de Rayvon Fouché de Northwestern University (EEUU) el 13 de abril y Hugo Solís García de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (México) el 17 de abril.
Pueden consultar el programa completo<http://msuglobaldh.org/schedule/> del Simposio en nuestra página web.
Espero que puedan unirse,
En gratitud,
Kristen Mapes, de parte del comité organizador del Simposio Global de Humanidades Digitales
Kristen Mapes
Interim Director of Digital Humanities, College of Arts & Letters
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
kmapes(a)msu.edu<mailto:kmapes@msu.edu>
she/her
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═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═
CALL FOR PAPERS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═
A DFG Programme Point Sud Workshop
Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence in African Studies:
Towards Sustainable and Equitable Practices
21–24 September 2026 · STIAS, Stellenbosch, South Africa
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The integration of digital humanities (DH) and artificial intelligence
(AI) is transforming the production of knowledge in African Studies,
offering new opportunities for innovative analysis, dynamic
visualisation and cross-cultural research. Yet this shift raises urgent
questions regarding equitable access, the representation of African
languages, and the suitability of methodologies. Current large language
models underrepresent African languages, digital scholarly
infrastructures remain optimised for English, and digitisation
pipelines
that produce AI-ready data are themselves shaped by political choices
about what to digitise, how to describe it, and who controls access.
While recent initiatives on digital sovereignty in Africa have centred
on policy and regulation, this workshop shifts attention to
methodological practice. It asks how DH methods and AI transform
research in African Studies, and how we can design, evaluate, and
sustain these methods under African conditions. By bringing together
scholars, independent researchers and practitioners from Africa,
Europe,
and beyond, the event will foster North–South and South–South dialogue
at the intersection of African epistemologies and digital methods,
moving from description to design.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CONVENORS
- Frédérick Madore, University of Bayreuth
- Vincent Hiribarren, King's College London
- Emmanuel Ngue Um, University of Yaoundé 1
- Menno van Zaanen, South African Centre for Digital Language
Resources (SADiLaR)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
THEMATIC AXES
The programme is structured around the following thematic axes:
1. Transforming Research Methods through AI and Digital Tools in
African Studies
This axis asks a fundamental question: how are AI and DH methods
changing the study of African cultures, languages, and histories?
Participants will present concrete uses of AI to analyse multilingual
texts, employ computer vision to study visual culture and historical
artefacts, and develop digital mapping to trace cultural movements and
connections. We will evaluate what works for different kinds of African
cultural materials, identify adaptations required for local contexts,
and specify where computational approaches can complement—rather than
replace—interpretive scholarship. The goal is clear: practical guidance
for integrating these methods while preserving the interpretive
richness
that defines the humanities.
2. Building Sustainable Research Infrastructures from African
Perspectives
Moving beyond policy discourse, this axis asks what it takes to build
and sustain digital research capacity within African institutions and
communities. We will examine practical obstacles—limited connectivity,
unstable funding, and scarce training data for local languages—and
showcase South–South collaboration models that have navigated these
constraints. Participants will share strategies for developing tools
that utilise available resources rather than assuming high-end
infrastructure. Key questions include how to keep research outputs
accessible to the communities being studied, how to train the next
generation of African DH scholars, and how to secure sustainable
funding
that does not depend solely on institutions in the Global North. The
focus is on concrete, scalable approaches to durable capacity.
3. Centring African Knowledge Systems in Digital Research Design
This axis poses a methodological challenge: how can digital research
tools respect and incorporate African ways of knowing? Rather than
retrofitting existing techniques to African materials, we explore how
African epistemologies can shape the tools themselves. Case studies
will
show community knowledge informing database structures, oral traditions
testing text-centred analytical frameworks, and local classification
systems improving standard metadata schemas. We will consider protocols
for culturally sensitive materials, interface design that does not
privilege European languages, and criteria to ensure that AI systems
trained on African data primarily serve African research needs. Here,
decolonisation moves from critique to construction.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
WORKSHOP FORMAT & LANGUAGE POLICY
The workshop will run in a hybrid format to maximise participation and
impact. In-person sessions at STIAS will be paired with remote access
via Zoom for those unable to travel. Participants will pre-circulate
draft papers in English or French one month in advance, each with a
bilingual abstract to support preparation. To address language
barriers,
the workshop will operate bilingually in English and French. Presenters
may speak in either language; where possible, a bilingual chair will
moderate discussion and provide brief consecutive interpretation where
needed. Recent advances in AI speech recognition and machine
translation
now enable near-real-time captioning; we will deploy these tools in the
room and on Zoom. All presenters will supply slides with bilingual
titles and key terms, and a one-page terminology handout in both
languages. Together, these measures encourage meaningful participation
in Africa’s Anglophone and Francophone communities, which are often
divided by institutional and linguistic boundaries, and provide
immediate, practical benefits for multilingual colleagues.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
We invite proposals for individual papers (20-minute presentations).
Submissions may be in English or French. Proposals of up to 500 words
should be emailed to the convenors by 30 April 2026. Each submission
must include: (i) a title; (ii) an abstract outlining the context,
central question, and methodological approach; and (iii) a 100-word
biographical note indicating the applicant’s discipline and
institutional affiliation.
Please send your proposals to the following addresses:
- Frédérick Madore: frederick.madore(a)uni-bayreuth.de
- Vincent Hiribarren: vincent.hiribarren(a)kcl.ac.uk
- Emmanuel Ngue Um: ngueum(a)gmail.com
- Menno van Zaanen: menno.vanzaanen(a)nwu.ac.za
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PUBLICATION
Our goal is to publish selected papers from the workshop as a special
issue in the Journal of the Digital Humanities Association of Southern
Africa (JDHASA), subject to agreement with the journal’s editorial
board. All submitted full papers will undergo peer review. Authors
whose
papers are selected for the special issue will be expected to revise
their manuscripts in line with reviewer feedback before final
publication.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SELECTION CRITERIA & INCLUSIVITY
Selection will prioritise gender equity, support for early-career
scholars based in sub-Saharan Africa, and balance across disciplines
and
regions. In addition to scholars, we will include
practitioner-developers by directly engaging the teams behind DH tools.
Their participation will help us to assess user needs and the
feasibility of embedding African ways of knowing in tool design. DH
remains gender-imbalanced; accordingly, the open call will explicitly
encourage applications from women and weight gender equity in review.
We
will intentionally include Africa-based, diasporic, and returning
scholars. Recognising uneven DH capacity, particularly in several
Francophone regions, we will aim for a majority of Africa-based
participants and amplify Francophone voices through targeted outreach
and reserved places for early-career researchers. The workshop will
uphold equal opportunity regardless of gender, religion, or other
sociocultural differences.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KEY DATES
- Submission Deadline: 30 April 2026
- Notification of Acceptance: 15 May 2026
- Deadline for Full Papers: 15 August 2026
- Workshop Dates: 21–24 September 2026
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═
https://fmadore.github.io/stias-dh-ai-workshop-2026
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═
--
Prof Menno van Zaanen menno.vanzaanen(a)nwu.ac.za
Professor in Digital Humanities
South African Centre for Digital Language Resources
https://www.sadilar.org
________________________________
NWU PRIVACY STATEMENT:
http://www.nwu.ac.za/it/gov-man/disclaimer.html
DISCLAIMER: This e-mail message and attachments thereto are intended solely for the recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you have received the e-mail by mistake, please contact the sender or reply e-mail and delete the e-mail and its attachments (where appropriate) from your system.
________________________________
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Dear Global DH Community,
We are inviting papers, demos, and practice-based presentations for a one-day hybrid international symposium on immersive technologies in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, with a focus on global storytelling, co-creative XR spaces, and the role of immersive infrastructures in enabling inclusive, research-led practice.
Immersive Technologies in Practice: Virtual Storytelling in Global Research<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSvrcT6Aj7APXnb23hE9NiA44-llOdvxB…>
Proposal Submission deadline: 31 March 2026
Symposium Date: 17 June 2026
This event showcases and develops conversations as both a research forum for immersive technology scholarship and practice, and a promotional research showcase supporting contributors’ work and building a pipeline toward publication (including potential alignment with the journal Immersive Technologies).
Hosted at Oxford Brookes University’s Simulation Lab, our Marston Campus venue will enable scholars and artists to share any examples of immersive experiences created for single VR wearable users to an entire room of delegates - onsite or via hybrid online presentation. We are seeking interdisciplinary submissions that push and question the boundaries of immersive technologies within the wide remit of STEAM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), with a focus on global storytelling.
We particularly welcome submissions that engage with immersive technologies as infrastructure, method, pedagogy, and knowledge exchange, and that test how XR can be made legible and collaborative beyond the single-headset experience. We invite scholars and postgraduate students to propose talks, presentations, and immersive experiences around, but not limited to, the following topics:
* AR/VR/Mixed reality devices, interaction and rendering
* Multimodal display technologies (e.g., visual display, 3D spatial sound, virtual smell, force-feedback display)
* Haptic technologies
* Tracking & context-aware technologies (e.g., motion capture, IoT, wearables)
* Intelligent technology (e.g., ML, AI)
* Design approaches and techniques (e.g., user-centered design, activity-centered design, etc.)
* Openness, Transparency and Reproducibility
* Representation and behavioural fidelity
* Digital humans and avatars
* Content and stimuli design
* Interactivity
* Robustness and reliability
* Personalisation and customisation
* Digital Wellbeing and Therapeutics
Please use the following form to submit a proposal:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSvrcT6Aj7APXnb23hE9NiA44-llOdvxB…
For call for paper queries, demo feasibility, or accessibility needs, please contact: M.Johnson(a)brookes.ac.uk<mailto:M.Johnson@brookes.ac.uk> and ewhite(a)brookes.ac.uk<mailto:ewhite@brookes.ac.uk>.
All best wishes,
Miriam and Eric
All best wishes,
Eric
--
Dr. Eric White<https://www.brookes.ac.uk/profiles/staff/eric-white> (he/him)
Associate Professor in American Literature
UKRN Open Research Institutional Lead
Oxford Brookes University
Recent book<https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-reading-machines-in-the-modernist…>
Transatlantic Avant-Gardes<https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-transatlantic-avant-gardes.html>
Edition<https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-readies-for-bob-brown-s-machine.h…> Blog<https://euppublishingblog.com/2020/09/14/modernism-and-lost-technology/> Impact<https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/research-impact-showcase/driving-digital…> EUP Series<https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/series-edinburgh-critical-studies-in-a…> Media<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001q0rh> Podcast<https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/efd7a4d3-9330-40d7-a9c3-4d93ea992e2…>
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Mark your agenda for another DH colloquium!
When: 25 March 2026 at 15:00 SAST (note the non-standard time!)
Who: Stephanie Santschi
What: Drawing from the Crowd: Combining Citizen Science and Computer
Vision to Study Historical Japanese Prints
Registration:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1983944079147?aff=oddtdtcreator
Costs: All free!
In case you missed one, an overview of all DH colloquia can be found
here: https://sadilar.org/en/dh-colloquium/
Share this with your colleagues, friends and family as well!
--
Prof Menno van Zaanen menno.vanzaanen(a)nwu.ac.za
Professor in Digital Humanities
South African Centre for Digital Language Resources
https://www.sadilar.org
________________________________
NWU PRIVACY STATEMENT:
http://www.nwu.ac.za/it/gov-man/disclaimer.html
DISCLAIMER: This e-mail message and attachments thereto are intended solely for the recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you have received the e-mail by mistake, please contact the sender or reply e-mail and delete the e-mail and its attachments (where appropriate) from your system.
________________________________
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Dear Global DH Community,
We are looking forward to the 2026 Global Digital Humanities Symposium<https://msuglobaldh.org/>! We wanted to invite you to host or join a watch party, even if you are not presenting. This is a great way to participate in the symposium while creating community and networking with your colleagues.
Watch parties can take place at any time of the symposium, on virtual days (Zoom) or in-person days (YouTube livestreaming), of any duration. There is funding available for organizers considering hosting a full-day watch party. More information is on the symposium website<https://msuglobaldh.org/watch-parties/>.
If you are interested in hosting a watch party, please fill out this form<https://forms.gle/xXZutFAhkBvUBsNc6> by Monday, 23 March 2026.
Also, please remember to register for the symposium<https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/register/event/74923> by Friday, 27 March 2026, if you have not. This year’s event will take place in-person on Monday, 13 April at Michigan State University (USA), virtually on Zoom and YouTube on Tuesday and Wednesday, 14-15 April, and in-person on Friday, 17 April at Universidad de Monterrey (Mexico). All days will be livestreamed.
You can check out the conference program<https://msuglobaldh.org/schedule/> on our website.
Sincerely,
Kristen Mapes, Global DH Symposium Co-Chair
——
Estimada comunidad global de Humanidades Digitales:
¡Esperamos con ansias el Simposio Global de Humanidades Digitales 2026<https://msuglobaldh.org/>! Los invitamos a organizar o unirse a una Watch Party o reunión de visionado, incluso si no participan como ponentes. Esta es una excelente manera de participar en el simposio, a la vez que crean comunidad y establecen contactos con sus colegas.
Estas reuniones pueden tener lugar en cualquier momento del simposio, en días virtuales (Zoom) o presenciales (transmisión en vivo por YouTube) y ser de cualquier duración. Hay financiación disponible para quienes consideren organizar una reunión de un día completo. Pueden encontrar más información en el sitio web del simposio<https://msuglobaldh.org/watch-parties/>.
Si les interesa organizar una de Watch Party, completen este formulario<https://forms.gle/xXZutFAhkBvUBsNc6> antes del lunes 23 de marzo de 2026.
Si aún no lo han hecho, recuerden inscribirse en el simposio<https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/register/event/74923> antes del viernes 27 de marzo de 2026. El evento de este año se llevará a cabo presencialmente el lunes 13 de abril en la Universidad Estatal de Michigan (EE.UU.) , virtualmente por Zoom y YouTube el martes y miércoles 14 y 15 de abril, y presencialmente el viernes 17 de abril en la Universidad de Monterrey (México). Todos los días se transmitirán en vivo.
Pueden consultar el programa de la conferencia<https://msuglobaldh.org/schedule/> en nuestro sitio web.
¡Los esperamos!
Kristen Mapes
Kristen Mapes
Global Digital Humanities Symposium, Co-Chair
Interim Director of Digital Humanities, College of Arts & Letters
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
kmapes(a)msu.edu<mailto:kmapes@msu.edu>
she/her