Network Analysis in the Digital Humanities / Exercise

Mondays: 11:15 to 12:45, weekly (from 07.04.2025) (14x)

Networks focus on the relationships between objects or entities. The connections in networks can be described and analyzed and act as a model with which different phenomena can be investigated, from social networks to traffic networks to more abstract structures such as topic or word networks. In the exercise, we will focus on networks as a data model that is now established in the digital humanities in order to examine larger data sets with regard to the units represented in them and their relationships. Using existing data collections, we will in particular analyze and visually prepare letter networks of well-known historical figures from the 19th and 20th centuries. Who corresponded with whom, when and where, how did correspondence develop over time and what structures become visible in the networks we have created? What knowledge potential do we gain from a digital network analysis? The exercise teaches basic knowledge of digital network analysis in the humanities so that participants can then use it for their own projects.

Digital Literature: From Hyperfiction to AI-based Writing / Advanced Seminar

Tuesdays: 11:15 to 12:45, weekly (from 08.04.2025) (14x)

The digital humanities deal with digitized cultural assets—i.e. digital copies of analogue objects—but also with born digitals, i.e. objects that have been created directly in digital form. This also includes digital literature, i.e. literature in whose production and reception the computer and the digital medium play a central role. The term "digital literature" covers both early forms from the 1990s such as hyperfiction and current trends such as AI-based writing. In the seminar, we will deal with the various forms of digital literature on a theoretical level. We will analyze selected examples of digital literature and discuss how digital literature changes central literary concepts such as author, reader and work.

Lecture Series "Digital Humanities in Focus"
(with co-organization by Fernanda Alvares Freire and Erik Renz)

Mondays: 17:15 - 18:45, weekly (from 07.04.2025) (13x)

The lecture series "Digital Humanities in Focus: Methods, Applications, and Perspectives" is an interdisciplinary event that explores current research topics and practical application areas of Digital Humanities, aiming to enhance the digital methodological skills of scholars in the humanities and social sciences. It addresses contemporary questions related to the theory, methodology, and practice of Digital Humanities, featuring presentations from representatives of the University of Rostock, as well as invited guests from the German-speaking and international community. Participants further develop their ability to engage with new and current theoretical and practical contexts, reflect on these within the context of their own academic disciplines, and apply them analytically to selected, self-designed scholarly problems.