News

Words in Numbers - Data-Driven Approaches to Texts in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Big Data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) – the digital turn has significantly transformed the scientific study of texts in recent years. Extensive digital text data open up new fields of research in the humanities and social sciences and enable the application of computer assisted methods. Machine learning and AI facilitate extensive analyses of natural language.

At the international conference “Words in Numbers – Data-Driven Approaches to Texts in the Humanities and Social Sciences” are data science methods in disciplines such as Theology, Religious Studies, History, Linguistics, Social Sciences, and Law emphasized. The conference is particularly aimed at early-career researchers who use computer-assisted methods in their research or are interested in these techniques. We aim to highlight applicable areas for data science methods and collectively discuss how to handle methodological challenges.

The following keynote speakers have confirmed their participation:

• Stefanie Dipper, Professor of Computational Linguistics at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Frederik Elwert, Professor at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) and Coordinator of the CERES Digital Humanities Initiative at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Jo Guldi, Professor of Quantitative Methods at Emory University and author of The Dangerous Art of Text Mining. A Methodology for Digital History (Cambridge University, Press 2023)
• Jeri Wieringa, Digital Historian and Assistant Director of the Center for Digital Humanities at Princeton University

Conference Details

Conference Registration

To register, please send us an email with your name, address and institution to: runip-projekt@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Call for Papers

We invite early-career researchers (PhD candidates and PostDocs) to contribute to the conference by presenting a short talk or poster. This call is particularly relevant for

• researchers who apply machine learning techniques in text analysis and/or engage with methodological aspects of computer-assisted text analysis procedures.
• researchers focusing on Natural Language Processing, embeddings, and large language models.
• researchers in Theology, Religious Studies, Law, History, Social Sciences, and Linguistics

The conference is made possible by third-party funding from the project Law and Norms in Sermons – Machine-Assisted Analysis of Sermons in Time Comparison (RUNIP). Therefore, we are especially inviting submissions from theologians and scholars of religious studies (e.g., digital sermon research in Practical Theology).

To apply for a short talk or a poster presentation, please send a title and an abstract (approx. 200-300 words) along with your name, address and institution by December 1, 2024 to:

runip-projekt@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Please focus your proposal on the data basis and the methodological approach of your research. We look forward to seeing you and receiving your submissions, which will help foster stimulating conversations at the conference!

Call for Papers (PDF)