Events

(dh)2: Training the Next Generation of Digital Classicists

Congratulations to all the selected participants! We look forward to welcoming you in Durham for the (dh)² training workshop for emerging scholars in Digital Classics. All sessions will take place in the Department of Classics and Ancient History, located at 38 N Bailey, Durham

May 18, 2026 | 9.00 – 9.30 Welcome (Ritson Room)

• • Arrival, registration

• • Prof. Roy Gibson (Head of Department) introductory remarks

9.30 – 11.30 Current methodologies in Digital Classics (Ritson Room)

• • Overview of Digital Classics as a field and method

• • Research spotlight:

    • • Peter Heslin: statistics and embeddings
    • • Thea Sommerschield: AI and Machine Learning
    • • Michael Loy: Social Network Analysis and Agent Based Modelling
    • • Chiara Palladino: Spatial Analysis and Natural Language Processing

11.30 – 12.00 Coffee break (Staff common room)

12.00 – 13.00 Project ideas sandpit (Breakout rooms)

• • 1:1 Networking with potential mentors: turning your project ideas into research workflows
  • Opportunity to network with Research and Innovation Services at Durham

13.00 – 14.30 Lunch & networking (Staff common room)

14.30 – 15.30 Putting together a project (Ritson Room)

• • Overview of Research and Innovation Services at Durham
  • Overview of UK-based postdoctoral opportunities:

• • • Michael Loy: Leverhulme fellowships
    • Thea Sommerschield: Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowships
    • Christopher De Lisle: British Academy fellowships

15.30 – 16.00 Coffee break (Staff common room)

16.00 – 17.00 General panel discussion (Ritson Room)

• • ‘How did I get here?’ lightning talks

• • Q&A and open discussion

18.30 – 20.00 Workshop Dinner (Akarsu)

 

Direct any questions via email to the workshop organisers:

• Peter Heslin ([email protected])
• Michael Loy ([email protected])
• Chiara Palladino ([email protected])
• Thea Sommerschield ([email protected])

 

We are delighted to announce that the call for papers is now open for Parallel Session #3 “Epigraphy and Artificial Intelligence” of the XVII International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy (CIEGL 2027), held in Bologna 30 August – 4 September 2027.

We invite submissions for 20-minute individual papers that critically examine how machine learning, statistical methods, and artificial intelligence can advance the study of inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and other languages of the ancient Mediterranean world. 

We welcome both technical contributions and reflections on their implications for epigraphic scholarship, interpretation, and pedagogy. In particular, we encourage papers exploring how generative AI and linked data infrastructures are reshaping research, teaching, and publication practices.

Submissions should present substantive, empirically grounded work. We particularly encourage submissions that combine epigraphic and historical expertise with computational methods, and that reflect critically on the responsible, transparent, and productive use of AI in epigraphy. 

Contributions highlighting interdisciplinary collaboration and its role in improving both the reliability of AI tools and their interpretive value for the study of the ancient world are especially welcome.

• Submission deadline: 30 September 2026
• The full panel description is available here
• Please submit proposals to [email protected], following the submission procedures outlined in the Second Congress Circular

We look forward to receiving your submission!

The session chairs: Thea Sommerschield (Durham University) and John Bodel (Brown University)