The Centre for Digital Humanities’ newsletter for April 2025 has been published. You can read the newsletter in your browser by clicking the button below.
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The Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH) team is proud to welcome dr. Annette Markham as an affiliated member. She is Chair Professor of Media Literacies and Public Engagement at the Department of Media & Culture Studies at Utrecht University (UU), Principal Investigator (PI) of the Futures + Literacies + Methods Lab, member of the strategic theme Dynamics of Youth, and part of the Higher Education Research community of professors at UU’s Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning.
Annette Markham is well known for her research on the sociality of human-machine interactions drawing on symbolic interactionism and rhetorical studies combined with digital ethnography. Since 2012, Markham has focused more narrowly on critical data and algorithmic literacies, building frameworks and creative practices for generating ethical digital futures through publicly engaged critical pedagogy. As a methodologist, she has broad interdisciplinary training and expertise that blends humanities, social science, and design approaches.
As founder and PI of the Futures+ Literacies + Methods Lab, Markham is fostering participatory engagement practices and community engaged learning to build capacity around tools for ethical and critical AI literacies. The aim of these practices is especially to explore the power, potential, and ethical dilemmas of AI in everyday internet and digital media usage.
At UU, Markham is involved in several study programmes and courses, recently co-coordinating and teaching New Digital Media Theories; Play, Perform, Participate; Gender Now; Workshop in Audiovisual Media; Social Innovation, and Digital Ethnography.
Markham’s expertise includes designing and facilitating PhD training through interdisciplinary summer schools. Since 2011, she has focused these courses on digital ethics, autoethnography, digital ethnography, visual ethnography, data cultures, and algorithmic identity. She has taught across disciplines such as anthropology, architecture, arts management, communication studies, data science, design, digital culture, digital humanities, education, gender studies, informatics, information studies, linguistics, media studies, social psychology, social sciences, and sociology.
Annette Markham has been involved in several interesting digital humanities (DH) studies. You can find an overview of all her publications on annettemarkham.com. The following three relevant DH publications give an indication of her research:
Markham’s full CV, informal blogposts, and a list of upcoming speaking engagements can also be found on her website.
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How can scholars and practitioners join forces to bridge the gap between academic inquiry and urgent societal challenges? What roadblocks stand in the way of translating research into practical change, and how might these roadblocks be reimagined as opportunities for cross-sector collaboration? Most significantly, how can such collaborative research foster more diverse, equitable, and inclusive responses to the intricacies of our data-driven society – and lead to meaningful, lasting impact? These were among the central questions at the heart of Data School’s workshop-driven conference Making a Difference: Societal Impact through Collaborative Research that took place on 7 & 8 April 2025 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
The conference opened with a compelling address from Prof. dr. Wilco Hazeleger, Rector Magnificus of Utrecht University. He emphasised how collaborative research lies at the core of Utrecht University’s strategic plan and is essential for tackling complex, global, and, above all, urgent societal challenges. As he aptly put it during his opening remarks:
“Whether we are facing climate crises or broader societal transformations – even within our institutional environments – we have learnt one thing for sure: no single discipline, no isolated group of people, can tackle these challenges alone. We must collaborate. That is exactly what Data School embodies.”
Prof. dr. Wilco Hazeleger
Following this, dr. Mirko Tobias Schäfer took the stage to unpack the motivations behind Data School’s commitment to collaborative research, tracing how these motivations not only shaped the conference itself but also led to the publication of the book Collaborative Research in the Datafied Society: Methods & Practices for Investigation & Intervention (2024, Amsterdam University Press). In his words:
“We believe working together like this, builds mutual knowledge transfer. Public engagement, impact, and professional education all contribute to a dynamic, fluid knowledge ecosystem, where universities are just one part of a larger network of contributors. That is part of Data School’s model: we don’t just ‘preach’ in lecture halls – we engage in the field! First, we immerse, then we investigate, and only after that we can intervene meaningfully and develop novel formats, whether educational, problem-solving, or research oriented.”
Dr. Mirko Tobias Schäfer
Next, Prof. Rob Kitchin delivered a keynote titled Performing Critical Data Studies from the Inside: Working with Government to Change Data Regimes, where he put forward the idea of the academic as a ‘critical friend’ – someone who both advocates for evidence-based societal interventions and remains critically aware of their own embedded role. All the while acknowledging that all academic work is, at its core, political – even if implicitly so. Drawing on his own experience working closely with state bodies, Kitchin shared reflections on the challenges and rewards of insider roles, specifically that they demand trust, relationship-building, and patience, and that they come with compromise, ethical tensions, and complexities. Yet, such roles are essential for influencing policy and shaping data-driven programmes and infrastructures in genuinely collaborative ways.
Following the keynote, a panel discussion took place on Impact & Education: How Collaborative Research Informs University Teaching, moderated by dr. Vincent Crone. Panellists dr. Hieke Keuning, Prof. dr. Arjan van den Born, Thomas Boeschoten, and Sharon van Geldere explored how university curricula could better support collaboration between academia and industry. They discussed practical ways to bridge this gap, such as integrating real-world cases from external partners into student projects to highlight the value of the learning process over solely delivering a final product. The conversation also addressed the benefits of such collaborations, namely broadening students’ horizons beyond the academy and, along the way, helping them build professional networks, developing fundamental soft skills, and tackling real-world issues. The panel also addressed key challenges, particularly the gap between what academia deems relevant and what external partners need, and considered how this divide might be navigated to achieve impactful collaborations.
The first day wrapped up with four parallel workshops, each offering hands-on exploration of different facets of collaborative research:
The second day of Data School’s Impact Conference opened with a keynote by Prof. dr. Payal Arora titled Building Inclusive Tech with the Global South. At the heart of Arora’s keynote was a mindset she described as ‘rational optimism’. She observed that much of the Western world currently finds itself in a state of deep pessimism, where dominant narratives paint AI as a force that will take our jobs, oppress us, and ultimately act against humanity itself. This outlook, she argued, fosters feelings of guilt, helplessness, and an increasing impulse to opt out. In contrast, Arora drew attention to the Global South, where a more hopeful, forward-looking attitude is taking shape, with communities actively shaping AI’s trajectory by creating ‘platforms of hope’. This spirit of optimism feeds into what Arora described as ‘pedagogies of hope’, where the approach shifts from training to more holistic forms of teaching and decentralised learning. At the heart of this lies the basic human need to be seen, to be heard – something that defies the cold calculus of instrumentalization. As Arora concluded, “we are human beings” – and our shared humanity must remain central in shaping the technological futures we envision.
Following Arora’s keynote, Prof. Minna Ruckenstein took the stage with a keynote titled Collaborative Explorations as ‘Breathing Spaces for Digital Futures’. Ruckenstein advocated for the intentional creation of ‘breathing spaces’ – open, flexible environments where reflection, dialogue, critical inquiry, and reorientation are made possible amidst the rapid pace of technological change. Her keynote centred on three intertwined modes of engagement:
As Ruckenstein put it:
“In a world defined by uncertainty and a lack of systemic understanding of what is going on, breathing space protects the ability to think, plan, and anticipate what needs problematizing. By embracing this approach, it is possible not merely to observe and criticize digital society-making, but to learn about its composition and breathe life into it.”
Prof. Minna Ruckenstein
The day continued with a panel discussion on Measuring Impact, moderated by dr. Mirko Tobias Schäfer. Panellists dr. Madelijn Strick, dr. Tjitske Holtrop, and Nicole Ward-Boot shared their perspectives on impact. These perspectives ranged from making a tangible positive difference to influencing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours, and fulfilling ambitions within organisations, academia, or society at large. While they recognised the intricacies of measuring impact, they emphasised that this complexity should not hold us back from seeking to understand the value of our work – seeing how each small gesture we make connects and accumulates into a larger whole. Metrics, they agreed, have their place; but they are means, not ends. Ultimately, measuring the impact of what we do, how we do it, and who we do it for, begins with a clearly defined goal and purpose – one that extends beyond the towers and benchmarks of academia alone.
The second and final day of Data School’s Impact Conference concluded with a rich set of four parallel workshops:
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made Making a Difference: Societal Impact through Collaborative Research such an inspiring, thought-provoking, and joyful event. You brought the sessions to life with rich, creative, and productive explorations of how collaborative research can engage with, and is vital to, the intricacies of our datafied society. Your presence, participation, care, curiosity, openness, and a genuine willingness to be surprised made all the difference. As one attendee beautifully put it, there was space to think, act, and imagine otherwise, leaving many of us feeling radicalised and hopeful.
Thank you all: contributors, attendees, volunteers, photographer Daan Jeurens, graphic recording professional Norbert Vermeer, and venue hosts – for spinning in this orbit of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and difference-making with us. It was truly an honour!
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Data School’s latest publication in the Journal of Responsible Technology, authored by Iris Muis, Julia Straatman and Bart Kamphorst, draws lessons from 15 FRAIA trajectories that Data School and Rijks ICT Gilde (RIG) facilitated and offers practical recommendations for effectively guiding your organisation through the impact assessment.
Since the initial development of the Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA) in 2021, there has been an increasing interest from public sector organisations to gain experience with performing a FRAIA in contexts of developing, procuring, and deploying AI systems. In this contribution, we share observations from fifteen FRAIA trajectories performed in the field within the Dutch public sector context. Based on our experiences facilitating these trajectories, we offer a set of recommendations directed at practitioners with the aim of helping organisations make the best use of FRAIA and similar impact assessment instruments. We conclude by calling for the development of an informal FRAIA community in which practical handholds and advice can be shared to promote responsible AI innovation by ensuring that the human decision making around AI and other algorithms is well informed and well documented with respect to the protection of fundamental rights.
Muis, I. M., Straatman, J., & Kamphorst, B. A. (2025). Responsible AI Innovation in the Public Sector: Lessons from and Recommendations for Facilitating Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessments. Journal of Responsible Technology, 22(2025), 100118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100118
Stop waiting for Brussels to start implementing responsible AI practices in your organisation. Start mapping and mitigating concerns about high-risk AI systems now.
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The Centre for Digital Humanities’ newsletter for March 2025 has been published. You can read the newsletter in your browser by clicking the button below.
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In an open letter to the Executive University Board of Utrecht University, Prof. dr. Albert Meijer (Professor of Public Innovation, UU) & Prof. dr. José van Dijck (Professor of Media and Digital Society, UU) are calling for a transformation to digital autonomy. They express their “concern about Utrecht University’s increasing reliance on services from Big Tech companies (particularly Microsoft, Google, Amazon) for our research, teaching and administrative activities”.
If you support this call, you can contribute by signing the local petition (also possible anonymously), preferably before 16 April.
With this open letter we call upon you to change course, thereby freeing our university from this heavy reliance on services from these companies and contributing to greater technological self-determination, resilience and public innovation for and with universities across Europe.”
Albert Meijer & José van Dijck
Prof. dr. José van Dijck is a member of the CDH Advisory board. She has been interviewed on this topic by the Dutch newspaper NRC (Onderzoekers kiezen voor een alternatieve cloud: ‘Ik wil zelf kunnen kiezen met wie ik mijn bestanden deel’, 31 December 2024). For Dutch newspaper Trouw, she wrote an opinion article together with Prof. dr. Albert Meijer: Opinie: Universiteit, maak je los van Big Tech (23 February 2025).
CDH affiliate dr. Fabian Ferrari will be one of the speakers at Studium Generale’s hybrid event Can we stop the techbro’s takeover? on 17 April 2025. His postdoctoral research on AI governance (2022-2024) was supported by a Spinoza-funded project led by Prof. dr. José van Dijck.
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The Centre for Digital Humanities has published a matrix of ‘digital literacy’ learning objectives in the Humanities Bachelor degrees. These proposed learning objectives are currently in place for all bachelor degree programmes of the Faculty of Humanites at Utrecht University and can serve as inspiration for other educational institutions. The document is available in English and Dutch.
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PhD candidate Joris Veerbeek (Data School & De Groene Amsterdammer) has published the first research article of his dissertation in open access: ‘Fighting Fire with Fire: Journalistic Investigations of Artificial Intelligence Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques’. It is a must-read about using AI in journalism to critically interrogate AI.
You can find all journalistic articles (co-)authored by Joris Veerbeek in ‘De Groene Amsterdammer’ database. The article ‘Misogynie als politiek wapen’ (March 2021), a collaboration between Joris Veerbeek and Sahra Mohamed (Utrecht Data School) and Coen van de Ven and Karlijn Saris (De Groene Amsterdammer), has also won a ‘Tegel’ in the category ‘CBS Data’. The Tegel is the most important Dutch award for journalism.
An overview of all media coverages by the Data School team and their research can be found on the Data School website.
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The Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH) Research Software Lab was highlighted in the recently published LCRDM report ‘Professionalizing the role of Research Software Engineers in the Netherlands’. The report maps the landscape of Research Software Engineering in the Netherlands, highlighting both successful models and persistent barriers.
The National Coordination Point Research Data Management (LCRDM) is a national network of experts on research data management (RDM) in the Netherlands. This report provides concrete recommendations for RSEs and their research organizations, funders, and policy makers to fully integrate RSEs into the academic ecosystem.
The CDH Research Software Lab is highlighted on the whole of page 10 of the report, in section 2: ‘The research software engineering landscape’.
Centre for Digital Humanities
The CDH Research Software Lab at Utrecht University was established in 2014, and serves as a central RSE pool primarily dedicated to the Faculty of Humanities. The development team consists of 10 RSEs, all of whom hold permanent positions. They provide technical support to staff by developing custom software solutions for research and educational purposes. Additionally, the team offers guidance on (the adaptation of) ready-to-use (open source) tools.Projects
The expertise of the CDH RSLab spans a wide range of applications; however, the team most often focuses on building databases, visualizations, and text mining tools. Project durations range from a few weeks to several years, and for assignments exceeding 160
hours, funding is required. All RSEs have academic backgrounds in humanities sub-disciplines such as linguistics, history, musicology, and artificial intelligence, enabling them to optimally connect with
researchers in the field.Funding
Approximately 65% of the lab’s costs are covered by externally funded projects. Funding sources include research grants (e.g., NWO, ERC) and collaborations with external partners, such as media organizations and government agencies.UFO Profiles
LCRDM report ‘Professionalizing the role of Research Software Engineers in the Netherlands’, March 2025
ICT Developer”
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Utrecht University Library owns as many as about 900 books printed between 1450 and 1500, the first decades of printing in Europe. These so-called incunabula (books printed before 1501) will all be digitised in the coming years. Their catalogue descriptions will also be improved and enriched, with a special focus on the material features of each individual book such as the binding, annotations, and former owners who wrote their names in the book. The project started in early 2025 and the first scans are now online.
To make the collection optimally available for teaching and research, the library pays special attention to unique features of each book, both in its scans and its description. Andrea van Leerdam, curator of printed works: “In the first decades of printing, printed books still closely resembled manuscripts, which is why each one is unique. For example, notes or decorations were added by hand. Book bindings were often made especially for the buyer, so they are all different too. These kinds of adaptations for and by early owners say a lot about the reading culture at the time, and about how printed books were embraced as a new medium.”
The books are scanned page by page and from all sides, so that, for example, the binding and thickness of the book can also be clearly seen. Thanks to IIIF, the international standard for exchanging digital images, the scans are easy to use and share. Moreover, the text of each book is made available as full-text via automatic text recognition (OCR). The University Library has also started to describe individual copies in the international database Material Evidence in Incunabula, with the help of trainees. The aim is to have the scans and catalogue descriptions of all 900 incunabula ready by 2027.
Utrecht University Library has one of the largest collections of incunabula in the Netherlands – only the KB National Library and Museum House of the Book have more. Many belong to the oldest holdings of the Utrecht library and are already mentioned in the first catalogue, from 1608. These books were originally part of the collections of the medieval monasteries and chapter churches in Utrecht. Remarkably, many of the books are still in an old binding, from the 15th or 16th century.
What is also special is that some 30 incunabula in the collection were printed in Utrecht. One of the first printing presses in the northern Netherlands was located there in the 1470s. The oldest dated print in the Dutch language area rolled off the press in Utrecht in 1473 by printers Nicolaus Ketelaer and Gerardus de Leempt.
Incunabula were also added to the collection after 1608. For example, as part of the Limburg monastic collections of manuscripts and old prints that ended up in Utrecht University Library from Maastricht in the mid-19th century, and as part of the Franciscan Thomaasse collection acquired by the library in 1971.
This article was first published on 17 March 2025 on Utrecht University’s website. Andrea van Leerdam is a member of the Digital Humanities team at Utrecht University Library and has provided teaching in IIIF as part of the Centre for Digital Humanities Training Programme.
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The Digital Humanities (DH) Workspace is an initiative by the Centre for Digital Humanities and Utrecht University Library. LIBER, the “voice of Europe’s research library community”, has published a report on ‘Living labs for co-creation and co-innovation’ that features a case study on the DH Workspace at Utrecht University. The report is part of the LibrarIN project.
In the report, a summary of the case study can be found in section 10.4: ‘The Digital Humanities Workspace, Utrecht University, Utrecht (NL)’ (page 54). This case study was performed and written by Olivier Hersperger (LIBER). In the conclusion of this case study, he writes:
The Digital Humanities Workspace (DHW) at Utrecht University serves as a knowledge hub that cultivates interdisciplinary collaboration, co-creation and co-innovation for public value. The DHW aligns with broader societal and academic UU goals, aiming to enhance digital literacy and democratic engagement. By blending expertise from various disciplines, the DHW supports the integration of Digital Humanities into research and teaching.
The workspace is an interesting example of how libraries can evolve and position themselves as facilitators of educational and research innovation in the Digital Age. However, given the academic and administrative context of Utrecht University and its library, the DHW appears to be a natural fit for Digital Humanities, which benefits from such a structured framework.”
Olivier Hersperger (LIBER)
Several methods were used for the case study of the DH Workspace at UU Library, among which an interview with drs. Arja Firet which has been (partially) published on the LibrarIN website.
Funded by Horizon Europe under the call ‘Research and innovation on cultural heritage and CCIs’, the LibrarIN Project will examine ways that libraries can develop new functions, services and engagement with the individuals, organisations and communities they serve. This will be achieved through social innovation based on public value co-creation and a demand-driven design of library services.
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The ‘Untangling FAIR Implementation in the Dutch Social Sciences and Humanities’ project has launched a survey to explore how FAIR data principles align with Research Data Management (RDM) policies and the coordination of FAIR-enabling services in Social Sciences & Humanites (SSH) research. The survey is open to data stewards, curators, RDM coordinators, managers, senior decision-makers, and policy professionals.
Please fill in the 15-minute survey by clicking the button below and spread the word!
The ‘Untangling FAIR Implementation in the Dutch Social Sciences and Humanities’ project aims to get to grips with the governance and processes implemented for FAIR data in the SSH-domain at an institutional level, and to map them to the technical facilities available.
In short, the project tries to answer the question ‘who is responsible for making FAIR implementation choices at which level of your organisation, at which point in the research data life cycle, and with which infrastructure at their disposal?’. The project is currently collecting experiences and insights of FAIR implementation in Dutch research and cultural heritage institutions, and universities/faculties.
This project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the Thematic Digital Competence Center for Social Sciences and Humanities (TDCC-SSH). It is a collaboration between ODISSEI, DANS, and Erasmus University Rotterdam. Utrecht University’s Coosje Veldkamp is part of the Advisory Board for this project.
FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The FAIR principles are a set of instructions formulated to maximize the use of data and other digital objects such as code and software. Their aim is to facilitate, encourage and guide researchers towards making their data easily findable and accessible, in line with Open Science guidelines. All the while ensuring that the data they make available is easily understood and well documented with the ultimate goal to make scientific data as reusable as possible.
For more information about the survey, please contact Bora Lushaj (EUR).
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Pure is Utrecht University’s research information system in which all research output of Utrecht University is registered. In line with the Open Science goals, Utrecht University wants to present its research information to a wide audience. That is why the UU Research Portal is expanded in functionality. As a result, UU research will be more visible and better findable for the general public.
The portal was already available for searching and downloading publications, but now other research information is added, such as media contributions, activities, prizes/grants and profiles of researchers and research groups.
As a researcher at Utrecht University you can directly be found in the Research Portal by means of a basic profile. This profile is generated automatically, on the basis of your personal details from HR and the information you register in Pure. So as a researcher no further action is required of you.
If you want to enhance your profile, the portal offers several options for doing so. In the Quick Start this will be explained (opens in PDF).
The portal profile exists alongside and is complementary to your UU profile. Your UU profile is, and will remain, your general business card, showing not only your research but also your teaching and other activities. On the other hand, your portal profile is a specific research profile that zooms in on your research and links to other researchers and research groups, both within and outside Utrecht University. Both profiles automatically refer to each other, so also in this case you are not required to take action.
As a researcher, you are responsible for adding and keeping up-to-date your research output in Pure (this also applies to your profiles). To help you do this, the Pure Support Team is working on several routes to automatically import research output in Pure from online sources. Since last year, adding your publications has already been largely automatic. As a researcher all you have to do is check if your list is complete. Any missing items you simply add via the Quick Submit Work is also underway on automatic input for media contributions, which is expected to be available in Q2.
The faculty key users are the first point of contact for your questions about Pure and the Research Portal. Please visit the Help & Support page.
In addition, you can also contact the Pure Support Team by sending an email to pure@uu.nl. They are responsible for the daily maintenance and the further development of Pure and the portal. They work closely with the faculty contact persons.
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The Centre for Digital Humanities’ newsletter for January 2025 has been published. You can read the newsletter in your browser by clicking the button below.
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The Centre for Digital Humanities is proud to announce that Iris Muis, Team Lead at Data School, has been named in the list of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2025. This list has been released by the Women in AI Ethics Group based in New York.
The Women in AI Ethics is a volunteer-led, global initiative with a mission to increase recognition, representation, and empowerment of women in AI Ethics since 2018. As founder Mia Shah-Dand states, Women in AI Ethics has recognized experts and pioneers who are 1) working hard to ensure that benefits from AI are distributed equitably and 2) keeping us safe from its harms.
This year’s list is a testament to the immense talent across diverse fields committed to the cause of responsible and ethical AI. Payal Arora (Utrecht University) made it on the list of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2025 as well. She was also the 2025 Women in AI Benelux winner of the AI Diversity Leader award.
Iris Muis has given 40+ talks on the topics in the field of responsible AI and digital ethics at events like the CPDP (Computer Privacy and Data Protection) Conference in Brussels, and the Overheid360 Conference in The Netherlands. She trains professionals on FRAIA, DEDA, and responsible AI; and is developing methods and instruments like ‘Performance appraisal for AI’ that facilitate responsible AI and ethical data governance. For her work, Iris Muis was also one of the three finalists in Responsible AI for Women in AI Netherlands awards 2024.
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The scientific developers of the CDH Research Software Lab have added the French newspaper Le Figaro to the online text and data mining tool I-Analyzer. This is the first corpus added to I-Analyzer in a different language than English or Dutch. We recommend historians and other researchers to use this new interesting source in I-Analyzer for their research. The I-Analyzer interface is designed to be accessible for users of all skill levels.
Le Figaro is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826, making it the oldest national newspaper in France. It is the second-largest national newspaper in France today, after Le Monde. The newspaper archives of Le Figaro for the years 1854-1954 are freely available through Gallica and have been added to I-Analyzer.
Gallica is the digital library of the National Library of France (BnF) and its partners. It offers free and open access to several million digitized documents from all periods and all media. The scientific developers of the CDH Research Software Lab are currently adding the Gallica collection to I-Analyzer. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to receive updates.
Text and data mining (TDM) simplifies the exploration of large datasets (or corpora), making it easier to identify patterns and relationships. TDM tool I-Analyzer is geared toward the pre-analysis phase, allowing researchers and students to conduct full-text searches to quickly locate relevant documents. Users can also apply a multitude of filters, create visualizations to understand broader trends within a corpus, and export selected data subsets for further in-depth analysis in other software programs.
I-Analyzer is open-source software, freely available and primarily intended for academic research and higher education. The tool is continuously developed and maintained in-house at the Research Software Lab of Utrecht University’s Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH). Work on I-Analyzer began in 2017 to address the increasing demand, particularly among Social Sciences and Humanities researchers, for an accessible tool to facilitate preliminary text analysis.
Would you like to get to know the functionalities and corpora available in I-Analyzer? The CDH offers tailor-made workshops for groups of seven people or more. Or would you like to have your own dataset uploaded into the tool? For possibilities, please contact cdh@uu.nl.
Have you used I-Analyzer before? Are there certain features or corpora you would like to see in I-Analyzer? Then please fill out this user survey to let us know how we can make I-Analyzer work better for you.
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Dr. Karin van Es will temporarily fulfill the role of Centre for Digital Humanities director whilst prof. dr. Hugo Quené is on sabbatical. He will be on research leave in the USA and Canada for approximately six months, starting in July 2025.
During his sabbatical, Hugo Quené will conduct research with his colleagues at Northwestern University (Chicago) and Simon Fraser University (Vancouver). He will try to fit a work visit to California into his schedule as well. Furthermore, he has reserved time for writing during his sabbatical as well.
Karin van Es is honoured and excited to fulfill the role of interim CDH director in Hugo’s absence.
One of her aims as interim CDH director is to champion the value of the humanities, which are more essential than ever in addressing contemporary challenges.
This includes empowering Utrecht University staff to make informed decisions about digital tools in both research and teaching, while also supporting education that equips students with critical digital literacies. In addition, she wishes to stimulate and support interdisciplinary collaboration at Utrecht University as well as partnerships with professionals, societal partners and organisations.
Karin van Es is already active at the Centre for Digital Humanities in her role as Faculty of Humanities Lead at Data School. She is Associate Professor of Media and Culture Studies, and also a project member of the GenAI in Education taskforce at the Faculty of Humanities. Her research contributes to software studies and critical data studies. Her current research investigates streaming video platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, but also YouTube and TikTok.
She is author of the book The Future of Live (Polity Press, 2016) and co-editor of the volumes The Datafied Society (AUP, 2017), Situating Data (AUP, 2023), Collaborative Research in a Datafied Society (AUP, 2024).
To stimulate and reward cooperation in the field of education at UU, the UU Team Award for Education has been awarded for several years to a team that has made an exceptional contribution to education at UU. This year, a team with a focus on digital humanities has been nominated: Team Summer School Digital Art History. One of the organisers has also been nominated for the UU Outstanding Teacher Award.
The nominated teams for the UU Team Award for Education are:
The Summer School Digital Art History in the Grote Kerk Naarden is an interdisciplinary education and research project, which arose from concrete questions from conservators and the Stichting Grote Kerk Naarden. These questions, which arose during the restoration of the 700m² ceiling vault, required an integrated approach in which art-historical, digital and material-technical perspectives came together. The Summer School consisted of one week of high-intensity on-site teaching during which a digital reconstruction of the vault was made. During this week, teachers, students and external partners carried out digitisation and art-historical research. Initial results were shared with a wide audience, including 120 visitors to a symposium in the church, as well as through local and national media.
Dr. Daantje Meuwissen, who was one of the organisers and part of the Team Summer School Digital Art History, has also been shortlisted for the UU ‘Outstanding Teacher Award’.
The winning team will receive €10.000 to be spent on team development, team building, a training or course, a contribution to a study trip, an offsite-day or something similar of their choice. The winners of both the UU ‘Team Award for Education’ and ‘Outstanding Teacher Award’ will be announced at the OnderwijsFestival on Thursday, 6 March 2025.
DUB, the independent news site of Utrecht University, has recently published two interesting articles on Artificial Intelligence (AI) related to academia.
The first article is a blog about AI from the perspective of a non-STEM student.
The second article is a news item on the new guidelines of research funder NWO. The guidelines state that NWO reviewers and collaborators should not use AI programmes such as ChatGPT and Perplexity when distributing research money.
How do you spark excitement for medieval history in secondary school students? Sanne Frequin, art historian and Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, has the answer: MedievalMe. This innovative Dutch serious game immerses students in the medieval worldview. “We wanted to create a game that teachers could use straight away,” Frequin says, “and that’s what we did.”
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