Professional Skills Workshop: Digital History

What does the digital shift mean for historians? This workshop explores some of the key methodological questions historians encounter when we start using digital tools to answer historical questions. It will also provide training in using digital source materials.

Gray brick building with three floors. The words "Universitetsbiblioteket" carved into the facade.

National Library of Norway

Participants are welcomed to join a workshop led by the National Library of Norway in Oslo, who will provide a look into their own digital collection that holds archival material from the medieval until today. At the workshop, participants will discuss some of the key issues in Digital Humanities. 

  • What opportunities and problems arise with the digitalization of sources? How do tools and programs affect the questions historians ask? Is there anything in the algorithms that make some knowledge or some analyses unintelligible or opaque?
  • We will also historicize the phenomenon. What is the history of Digital Humanities? Who were the actors that brought us here? Could it have been different? Should it?
  • Furthermore, are there any particular ethical issues that arise or become more acute when historical materials are digitized?

Programme

Time

Title

Speaker

09:15

Morning coffee

 

09:30

Welcome and Introduction

Jon Carlstedt Tønnessen

09:45

The National Library as Infrastructure: A History of Human/Machine Arrangements

Eivind Røssaak

10:10

Coffee Break

 

10:30

Introduction to DH-lab Apps: Tools for Analysing Digitised Sources

Ingerid Løyning Dale

10:55

DH-lab Apps: Practical Excersise in Groups

Ingerid Løyning Dale

11:20

Teaching DH tools to Students Jana Sverdjuk

11:45

Lunch Break

 

12:30

Beyond Chatbots: AI Text Extraction for Historians

Jon Carlstedt Tønnessen

12:55

Large Language Models as Research Assistants

Lars Bagøien Johnsen

13:20

WebData: A Research Infrastructure for the Norwegian Web Archive

Jon Carlstedt Tønnessen

13:45

Short Break

 

14:00

Discussion: Moving Digital History Forward

 

14:35

Conclusion

 

14:45

Guided tour in the new exhibition: "Straight West: The Dream of a Better Life in America (1825-1945)"

Chris Nyborg

15:30

End of day

 

Information about participation:

  • This is a workshop for PhD Fellows.
  • The course is estimated to 1 ECTS. To achieve the credit, PhD fellows are expected to submit a 1-2 page long (400-800 words, excl. references) reflection note on either
    • 1) the use of digital sources in their own PhD-project
    • 2) one or several of the questions above.

Deadlines and application form: 

  • The course is open for everyone who write a thesis in history or use historical materials/perspectives. 
  • Deadline for application is 9 May 2025.

Application

Click here to apply

Questions can be sent to: 

Partner institutions of the Norwegian Research School in History are:

Strategic Partner:

Published Nov. 28, 2024 12:48 PM - Last modified May 20, 2025 4:26 PM