FCSH Digital Humanities Summer School: Research methods & Problem-solving
Lisbon, 5 to 8 September 2017



Scientific committee

Daniel Alves (IHC-FCSH/NOVA)
Paulo Teodoro de Matos (CHAM-FCSH/NOVA)
Paulo Alves (IHC-FCSH/NOVA)



Organizing committee

Francisco Cebrero Ares (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
Hélder Mendes (CHAM-FCSH/NOVA)



Concept

The digital humanities have been largely debated and are currently a wellestablished branch of knowledge with specific departments, research centres, journals and a growing community gathered around several national and international associations. The digital humanities have a growing impact on teaching, researching and on dissemination in the humanities, and are nowadays an almost mandatory approach for new research projects and for young researchers curriculum.

This summer school aims at providing concrete answers to specific needs and challenges emerging from projects carried out by master and PhD students, and post-doctoral researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences. The workshops planned will be delivered by qualified international scholars and professionals aiming to improve and transform, trough theoretical analysis and technological resources, the specific research challenges of the attendees.

Workshops will be organized in a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment to:

- Focus the Digital Humanities approach on questions raised by students, scholars and professionals;
- Facilitate the choice of methods, tools and techniques;
- Shape the research outcomes trough a digital environment;
- Improve collaborative research and information sharing.

“Tailored to what you need” is the principle that guides and inspires this summer school structured in the following interconnected workshops:

1. Network analysis for historical and archaeological data
2. Spatial visualisation of historical and archaeological data



Workshops

1. Network analysis for historical and archaeological data

Ivo Veiga (IHC-FCSH/NOVA) - 5-6 September

In the Social Sciences, the observation of how objects, people and ideas are entangled in modern societies has become a powerful heuristic tool to study complex social networks. In historical studies, we can improve our understanding of past societies by comparing and crosschecking data about people, ideas, and events. In recent years, therefore, scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences have increasingly and successfully used this type of methodological approach. This workshop aims to introduce participants to some of the methods to construct, analyse and visualise social network models, and to implement these models in specific research questions.



2. Spatial visualisation of historical and archaeological data

Patricia Murrieta-Flores (Digital Humanities Research Centre, University of Chester) - 7-8 September

Geography is a key element in historical and archaeological analysis. Georeferenced data visualization draws attention to patterns in available information, often leads researchers to new questions, and improves the communication of research results. Nowadays several methods and tools are used in spatial data visualization. The application of these tools and methods has spread throughout the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, where their use in research has expanded both chronologically and thematically. This workshop will introduce concepts, methods and tools for spatial visualization and explore with concrete research questions the potential and the limitations of this methodology.



Workflow

Each workshop will last for two days, six hours each day. In the morning of the first day, the trainer of each workshop will conduct a presentation on the core issues (1h30m). Then, registered participants are invited to briefly present their projects / research interests, by identifying specific issues that they wish to be addressed and analyzed (5-7 minutes each). The afternoon is intended for an introduction to the software. The second day will be occupied with in depth discussion of each project through the use of digital tools in a collaborative setting.

Attendees can bring their laptops. Wi-Fi is open and free. Classrooms have desktop PCs for all, with the software to be used on each workshop installed.



Target

Master, PhD and Post-Doctoral researchers, and professionals developing I&D research projects in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Librarians and museum curators are welcome also, but priority will be given to students.



How to apply

Those interested in attending the workshops must submit a brief CV and an abstract of their ongoing research detailing the specific issues that they wish to explore in the field of Digital Humanities (between 600-750 words). This will provide the basis for trainers and tutors in the two workshops to outline and select the most specific methodologies, as well as digital tools to respond to participants’ needs. Each workshop will only accommodate a maximum of 12 participants. Each attendee can join one or two of the workshops.



Calendar

Deadline for submission of abstracts and CV: 30 June
Notification of acceptance to applicants: 14 July
Deadline for registration and payment: 31 July



Costs of the workshops

- One workshop: 75 €
- Two workshops: 120 €

Cost for workshops includes lunch for the days of the workshops selected and a certificate of attendance.



Applications and registration

Applications by email: digital.humanities@fcsh.unl.pt (until 30 June)

- Name and surname
- Institutional affiliation
- Brief CV (one page)
- Abstract (600-750 words)
- Workshop(s) to attend

Registration by email: digital.humanities@fcsh.unl.pt (between 15 and 31 July)

- Payment by wire transfer (IBAN: PT50-0033-0000-45471592877-05; BIC/SWIFT: BCOMPTPL; Reference: FCSHDHSS2017)
- Receipt of bank transfer sent by email
- Address and Tax identification (for invoice)



Partners

- AHDig - Associação de Humanidades Digitais, Brazil/Portugal
- Asociación de Demografía Histórica
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
- Programa de Doutoramento em Historia, Xeografía e Historia da Arte
- Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Digital Humanities Research Centre, University of Chester, UK