Networking Event: DH Virtual Discussion Group – Session 2

Are you a Digital Humanities student or early career researcher in Belgium who would like to discuss DH with other early career researchers in the Belgian DH community? If so, you might be interested in joining the DH Virtual Discussion Group for ECRs!

The DH Virtual Discussion Group is a joint initiative organized by individuals at three different Belgian institutions. We strive to involve speakers from various Belgian institutions and encourage participation from all those who are interested in DH and are located at any Belgian institution. This year, the core organizers are Leah Budke (KU Leuven Libraries Artes), Sven Lieber (KBR), Paavo van der Eecken (University of Antwerp), and Loren Verreyen (University of Antwerp). Over the past years, the series has become a regular event. The fall 2024 edition proudly marks our ninth term.

Our sessions this fall will continue the “under-the-hood” format, which entails a volunteer from our community providing a thirty-minute overview of a digital project implementing a given tool, approach, or platform. This is not meant to be a polished research presentation, or to present findings or results, but rather to give our community a behind-the-scenes look at how decisions were made and why specific tools were chosen or developed. The hope is also that this presenter will give attendees some ideas about how to get started implementing a specific tool or workflow, and that they can also answer questions or contribute to a discussion on other projects in our community that might be using similar methodologies or addressing similar issues. This “under-the-hood” session format allows us to have focused discussions around a specific project where we can learn from each other in an informal way. In addition, by implementing this format we can maintain the low threshold for contributing and engaging in the conversations. It also allows us to learn about the diverse projects being done in the Benelux region related to digital humanities (an added bonus!).

Session 2
Monday 25 November, 15h-16h30 CET via Teams
Speaker(s): Anthe Sevenants, KU Leuven
Title: The Sims for Research: The Merit of Using Computer Simulations
Abstract: As researchers, we sometimes have questions that are rather difficult to test empirically. Often, these are bold, far-reaching questions which, while ambitious, are simply impossible to operationalise. Usually, these restraints are of practical, financial or some other concern. In my talk, I propose a methodology which sidesteps these issues: computer simulations. With computer simulations, you can build your own virtual societies which you can establish in any way you like, a practice conceptually analogous to “The Sims” games. The idea is that in these simulations, you can distill social relations between people to just the mechanisms you are interested in as a researcher. In this virtual world free of noise, budget contraints or ethical commissions, you are free to change the rules according to which agents, virtual inhabitants, behave. In this way, you are able to test what the theoretical limits are to the specific behaviour or theories you are interested in.

While it is clear that computer simulations could be used for a plethora of different research questions within the humanities (i.e. history, archaeology), I will present how simulations can be used for the study of language change. To this end, I will explain the plans for a case study from my FWO project, which is centred around how computer simulations can help us understand how frequency of use shapes language change. I will give concrete examples of the types of questions I would like to answer with the computer simulations, which will give a better idea of the genre of questions this methodology is able to answer in the first place. At the same time, I will emphasise the shortcomings and pitfalls of computer simulations as a research tool, because unfortunately, unlike “The Sims”, good research has no cheat codes.

To join the Discussion Group, you will need to register for their mailing list. Once you have registered for the mailing list, you will receive all further communication about the initiative. You can join the mailing list at any time.

The links for the virtual meetings are sent out via email and shared in the Slack community the morning of the event. To request to join the Slack community, contact Leah Budke.