ResearÂchers in the humaÂniÂties are inÂcreasingÂly using digiÂtal tools. Think of digitised collecÂtions of books or docuÂments, linguisÂtic corÂpora and dataÂbases.
Not only the mateÂrial is increasingÂly digiÂtal. The methods are digital, too. Linguists write softÂware to analyse language automaÂtically. Historians visuaÂlise the social netÂworks that conÂnect histoÂrical persons or places. Or they make cities of the past come to life again using digiÂtal cartoÂgraphy. LiteraÂry schoÂlars digiÂtise manuscripts to examine the geneÂtic proÂcess behind a text. Theatre schoÂlars create virÂtual reconÂstructions of histoÂrical playÂhouses.
The University of Antwerp’s Platform for Digital HumaniÂties has been aggregating these kinds of research projects since 2010. It is also responsible for the Digital Humanities bachelor course (Mike Kestemont, Dirk Van Hulle, Walter Daelemans), and for organising a (Elli Bleeker, Wout Dillen, Lamyk Bekius).