Dr Barbara McGillivray is a Lecturer in Digital Humanities and Cultural Computation at King’s College London at the Department of Digital Humanities. Expert in computational and quantitative methods and research questions in the Humanities.
1. How do you define Digital Humanities?
For me, Digital Humanities are a methodological laboratory for the humanities, where researchers can experiment with new computational and quantitative methods to answer old and new questions in the humanities.
2. How did you become interested in DH?
I became interested in DH during my PhD in computational linguistics, when I worked on adapting techniques from computational linguistics to the study of the Latin language. I gradually realised the potential of using these methods beyond linguistics research, which has given the opportunity to work in many interdisciplinary projects.
3. Tell us about one of your DH projects?
One of my favourite projects took place in 2018-2019 and was funded by a small grant by The Alan Turing Institute (described here). I put together a team involving two statisticians, a digital humanist, and a classicist to study the change in meaning of words in ancient Greek using Bayesian statistics. It was the first time I led such a diverse team to study an old phenomenon with new methods.
4. Tell us about a DH project you particularly like?
I have worked on historical newspapers and I particularly like the Impresso project, which has digitized and enriched a vast collection of European historical newspapers, enabling researchers and the public to explore rich archives through advanced text mining and analysis tools. I like it because it democratizes access to valuable historical materials, fostering new ways of doing historical research.
In 2020, the university established the campus-level entity ‘Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center’ and simultaneously formed the Peking University Digital Humanities Open Laboratory. Starting from March 2022, it began accepting donations from ByteDance to engage in research on the intelligent information processing and utilisation of ancient book resources (Research Centre for Digital Humanities of PKU, 2024). Following this donation, the laboratory was renamed ‘Peking University-ByteDance Digital Humanities Open Laboratory’ and operates under the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Peking University. Current research includes natural language processing, deep learning, ontology and knowledge graph, information visualization, interaction design, and user information behaviour research. In addition, the Research Center for Digital Humanities of PKU is an interdisciplinary research institution where research mentors from various departments of Peking University jointly guide students in the laboratory, such as History, Computer Science and Technology, Chinese Language and Literature, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Earth and Space Sciences, Philosophy, and Information Management.
Teaching
Peking University’s Digital Humanities Center primarily focuses on advancing research and education at the doctoral level, engaging PhD students with comprehensive supervision from a diverse pool of professors across various disciplines. While the center also hosts workshops and training programs open to a wider audience, including graduate and senior undergraduate students, and young teachers.
Doctoral students are jointly supervised by professors from various disciplines including the Department of Information Management, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Philosophy, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Department of History, School of Foreign Languages, and others.
Key Academics
Prof Jun Wang, Professor at the Department of Information Management at Peking University. He also serves as the director of the Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center.
Dr Qi Sun, associate professor with a dual appointment at the Institute of Computational Linguistics. Her primary research interests lie in the fields of natural language processing, computational linguistics, and corpus linguistics.
Dr Hao Yang, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and serves at the Center for Compilation and Research of Confucian Classics.
Dr Hong Wei, assistant professor with a Ph.D. in Computer Science. He holds positions at both the Department of Information Management and the Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center.
The ‘Song-Yuan Study Case Knowledge Graph System’ has carried out text processing and analysis on the 2.4 million characters of the ‘Song-Yuan Study Case’. It extracted entities such as people, time, locations, works, and their complex semantic relationships from the study case to construct a knowledge graph. This system provides functionalities such as visualization, interactive browsing, and semantic queries, enabling users to explore the relationships and information within the text in a more intuitive and structured manner.
A visualization analysis system for the relationships between similar books and bibliographies among catalogues of ancient Chinese texts, developed jointly by the Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center and the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Jointly undertaken by the National Library and the Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center, from August 2021 to August 2022.
This knowledge base system combines interactive visualization technology with semantic correlation techniques to enable multidimensional querying and exploration of the ancient texts included in the “National Catalogue of Precious Ancient Books.” It showcases the distribution of valuable ancient texts across different types of literature, scripts, historical periods, versions, and geographical regions. This aims to highlight Chinese culture, providing guidance and clues for the public to understand and study Chinese classics.
Jointly undertaken by the National Library of China Publishing House （NLP Press, nd） and the Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center, from August 2021 to August 2022. The overall goal of the ‘Yongle Encyclopedia’ High-Definition Image Database System is to utilise high-definition images and corresponding texts of the ‘Yongle Encyclopedia’ as its core materials. This is supplemented with information on the format, compilation process, historical context, and dissemination of the ‘Yongle Encyclopedia’ itself. By employing digital humanities techniques and leveraging the expressive power of multimedia dissemination, the system aims to fully present the cultural, literary, and artistic value of the ‘Yongle Encyclopedia’.
The platform gathers full-text data from over two hundred classic works of ancient Chinese philosophy, providing detailed information about their respective eras, authors, and more. Utilizing deep learning algorithms, it automatically segments and analyses vocabulary, identifies sentence structures, and thus explores the temporal and spatial dimensions of the literature. The aim is to elucidate the evolution of ideas and culture within the intricacies of words and sentences, serving as a valuable aid to humanities research.
Funded by the Publishing Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department, in 2020. Second Edition of the ‘China Biographical Database’ (CBDB) WEB Retrieval System, developed from 2010 to 2020. The China Biographical Database (CBDB) is a freely accessible relational database. As of May 2020, it contained approximately 470,000 biographical entries spanning from the 7th to the 19th century. Apart from serving as a reference for biographical information, the database also aims to facilitate statistical and spatial analysis.
An output of the ‘Peking University-ByteDance Digital Humanities Open Laboratory’ this platform is dedicated to the intelligent development and utilization of ancient book resources, aimed to develop a ‘Recognizing Classics’ reading platform based on intelligent processing of ancient texts. This platform will be freely accessible to the public, providing access to and utilization of digitized ancient book resources. The ‘Recognizing Classics’ platform aims to explore various aspects such as retrieval methods, variant character support, text quality, reading assistance, and browsing experience. The goal is to establish a platform for reading ancient texts that is characterized by high-quality text, rich functionality, and excellent reading experience.
Other info
Digital Humanities Summer Workshops, taking place every year on different topic. The most recent ones include:
Peking University, Harvard University, and Princeton University have jointly established the Digital Humanities Summer Workshop’. This program, open to students worldwide, is based on face-to-face teaching that rotates between the campuses of Peking University, Harvard University, and Princeton University. The first joint workshop was held at Peking University in early August 2023, with the theme ‘Humanistic Innovation in the Intelligent Information Environment’, with both humanists and artificial intelligence experts co-teaching sessions. The course was open to graduate students and senior undergraduate students with independent research capabilities, as well as young teachers interested in the subject. This session mainly used materials from Chinese history and ancient thought history as experimental materials.
The Peking University Digital Humanities Center and the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Peking University held a ‘Digital Humanities Summer Workshop’ from July 18th to July 30th, 2022. The course included students from various disciplines, including literature, history, philosophy, art, archaeology, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, and software engineering. In addition to lectures, the workshop organized interdisciplinary seminars and research practices to cultivate interdisciplinary talents who possess both humanities literacy and information technology skills.
The ‘Peking University Digital Humanities Workshop’ is a specialized online training course offered by the Peking University Digital Humanities Research Center. The course taught commonly used methods and tools in digital humanities, aiming to cultivate awareness and capabilities in applying computational methods to solve problems in humanities research. The workshop series consisted of six sessions, with lectures delivered by six domain experts from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the National Library of Berlin in Germany, National Taiwan University, and Peking University.
Specializing in history and cultural artefact research (CIGH Exeter, 2017), the University of Exeter established the Digital Humanities Lab in 2017. This state-of-the-art facility houses a Digital Humanities (DH) team, dedicated to offering expertise to advancing research and teaching through academic collaboration, training and research seminars, and sector-leading facilities for digital investigation and engagement. The lab offers expertise, equipment, and support for examining, preserving, and analysing historical, literary, and visual materials in alignment with the university’s expertise in international cultural heritage and creative past research. The lab’s establishment reflects the growing importance of humanities research and the integration of digital methods into scholarly practices.
While the DH lab is not an academic department, its collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences supports digital elements in traditional humanities research, fostering interdisciplinary exploration and innovation at the intersection of technology and humanistic inquiry.
The lab’s activities develop along four areas: collaboration on digital research projects and resources, grant development and data management support, website development and hosting, and digital skills training, including digitization services. In line with its goal of incorporating DH into teaching and research, the lab provides equipment, facilities, and digitization spaces for loans and supports off-campus use and specialist activities. Moreover, it offers skills training and digitalization experiences that can be integrated into teaching courses, along with internship, volunteering, and job opportunities for individuals interested in gaining digital and practical skills.
At the forefront of innovation, the lab encompasses new methods as they are developed, often deploying technological advances in science and engineering, and strive to contribute knowledge and best practice back to the global DH community.
Presently, in alignment with the College of Arts & Humanities Digital Strategy for 2021-26, the lab has been successfully driving digital literacy through various training and support programs. Additionally, its efforts to incorporate DH into teaching and research align with the key theme of ‘Nurturing Hybrid Humanists’ within the strategy. Themes such as ‘Intelligent analysis of documents, artefacts, and environment’ and ‘Telling New Stories with Data’ further align with the lab’s support for international cultural heritage and creative past research. Lastly, the lab’s development of inclusive and accessible digital resources, along with its emphasis on holistic approaches to digital labour, addresses the impacts of digitized culture, reflecting the strategy’s theme of ‘Addressing the Impacts of Digitized Culture’. (Source: University of Exeter, nd)
Teaching on DH
While the lab does not teach or offer regular undergraduate and postgraduate DH modules, it offers DH trainings in the form of training workshops, webinars, and research seminars. From ‘Managing Humanities Data’ and ‘Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)’ workshops that run throughout the autumn and spring term, to the AI & Humanities, and the Space & Place in the Humanities Forum, to AHRC iDAH Digital Skills Training Workshops and Webinars Series.These resources cater to participants at all levels, from beginners to advanced (University of Exeter, nd).
The DH Team
Prof Leif Isaksen, Professor in Digital Humanities and Director of Digital Humanities at the University of Exeter, interested in the development of geographic thought and representation in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the emerging role of the Web as a transformational medium for communicating and connecting complex information.
Dr Charlotte Tupman, Senior Research Fellow in Digital Humanities. Expert in Latin epigraphy and the application of digital technologies to study ancient texts. Interested in Machine learning for the analysis of ancient textual materials, Lettercutting processes in the Roman world, Roman funerary commemoration, and Linked Open Data for humanities source materials
Dr Elizabeth Williamson, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, interested in the early modern archives and epistolary culture, especially in a diplomatic and governmental context; the practical and theoretical concerns of the Digital Humanities; and textual scholarship and digital publication.
Charlotte Tupman 博士, 数字人文高级研究员, 专攻拉丁铭文，擅长应用数字技术研究古代文本。 她对机器学习在古代文本材料分析中的应用、罗马世界的刻字工艺、罗马墓葬纪念以及人文学科源资料的链接开放数据感兴趣。她是由英国艺术与人文研究委员会（AHRC）和德国研究基金会（DFG）资助的研究项目“连接晚期古代”的联合调查员。
Elizabeth Williamson 博士, 人文、艺术和社会科学学院高级研究员。她在项目管理和数字资源创建方面拥有丰富的经验，并支持现有项目和未来招标开发。她特别关注早期现代档案和书信文化，尤其是在外交和政府背景下；对数字人文的实践和理论关注；以及文本学研究和数字出版。她对数字可视化、数字修复以及利用增强制造技术进行文化遗产保护感兴趣。
In June 2017, over ten young faculty members from Nanjing University formed a ‘Digital Humanities’ group and organized a significant academic conference titled ‘Digital Humanities: Exploring the Frontiers in the Big Data Era’, which had a wide impact in China.
In January 2018, leading experts and scholars in the field of digital humanities convened at Nanjing University to discuss the establishment of the Digital Humanities Initiative (Centre) as an interdisciplinary and international research platform under the Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (IAS). They decided to launch various teaching and research activities and collaborate with Nanjing University Press to publish a series of books on digital humanities. The centre aimed to promote, teach, research, and publish digital humanities activities by leveraging the resources of Nanjing University’s High-level Research Institute and its publishing house.
The DH centre offers regular general education courses, as well as workshops led by domestic and international experts to provide introductory training in digital humanities for humanities and social science students across various universities. They also aimed to publish an annual report on digital humanities research in China, conduct case studies, and enhance international cooperation and participation in conferences to promote Chinese digital humanities globally. For example, in April 2019 they held a workshop on ‘Spatial Humanities and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)’ involving scholars from different Chinese universities working on Chinese history, world history, archaeology, cultural heritage and museum studies, human geography, Chinese language, architecture, architectural history, art history, musicology, archival studies, and political science.
Teaching
Although these initiatives do not offer degrees, they provide online MOOC courses, and workshops that cater to learners seeking to augment their understanding of digital tools and methodologies within humanities research. Additionally, the International Programs at Nanjing University’s School of Information Management feature a track in Digital Humanities, emphasizing the application of emerging technologies to traditional humanistic inquiry.
Innovation Thinking and Methodology: Digital Humanities as New Approach to Humanities focuses on digital humanities as an emerging and potential-rich academic discipline. It introduces students to basic theories, classic cases, and practical methods in digital humanities. The course, taught by professors from different departments, encourages interdisciplinary learning and aims to develop innovative thinking and problem-solving skills in the context of humanities and arts research using digital tools and methodologies.
This DH center offers workshops, such as Spatial Humanities and GIS Workshop. It includes topics like spatial humanities, GIS in urban historical geography, and the reconstruction of historical spatial stages using GIS. The course integrates a wide array of map materials, showcasing various GIS interfaces and applications in historical and cultural studies. This initiative reflects the university’s emphasis on integrating digital technologies with humanities research.
The International Programs of the School of Information Management at Nanjing University includes an Information Resources Management (IRM) program, which offers two major tracks: Information Management and Data Analytics (IM&DA) and Digital Humanities (DH). The DH track focuses on applying emerging technologies to traditional areas of humanistic inquiry.
Key Academics
Dr Jing Chen, Associate Professor in School of Arts, specializes in areas related to the Digital Humanities Initiative.
Prof Tao Wang, Professor in the Department of History with interests in the History of Christianity, German History, and Digital History.
Dr Gang Chen, Associate Professor in the Department of Geographic Information Science, with research specialties in historical geographic information and applied GIS development.
Dr Chao Min, Lecturer, focused on Information Management Science.
Prof Zuming Cheng, Professor in the Department of History with specialization of the History of Social Economics in the Republic of China period, Standard of Living, Education Acquisition and Social Strata.
The project ‘Historical Geography of Six Dynasties Jiankang’ focuses on exploring fundamental scientific questions related to historical geographic information of the region and city. It aims to establish a specialised database and WebGIS system for Six Dynasties Nanjing, improve GIS models, and delve into the electronic compilation of ‘Nanjing Historical Atlas’. The project also includes systems for full-text search of ‘Jiankang Records’, historical place names, archaeological sites, cultural relics, and 3D displays of tomb inscriptions from the Six Dynasties period.
The ‘Digital Historiography’ project at Nanjing University, initiated in 2017, focuses on the intersection of digital technology and historical studies. It encompasses the promotion, research, and service aspects of digital historiography, with a teaching practice that started in 2016. The project is geared towards history students and adopts a project-oriented process in teaching. It aims to explore the network writing of history and involves various research topics. This project reflects the integration of digital tools and methods in historical research and education.
The ‘Chinese Commercial Advertisement Archive’ project at Nanjing University focuses on building an online archive of historical Chinese advertisements. This project includes over 18,700 high-quality digital images of advertisements from important commercial newspapers in five major Chinese cities. It aims to explore various aspects of advertisements, including their content, imagery, and the cultural and social norms they reflect. The project employs digital humanities tools like text mining and image analysis to understand historical consumer culture, gender norms, and the evolution of advertising language and styles.
