Workshop at the German Historical Institute Washington | Conveners: Hans C. Boas (University of Texas, Austin) and Atiba Pertilla (GHI Washington)
Argument:
Read the full call for papers online.
The “Listening to the Past” workshop will bring scholars with interests in history, linguistics, and the digital humanities together to discuss the use of audio[visual] sources, the development of innovative methodologies for their study and dissemination, and assess the state of the field and chart opportunities for future research. Funding for the workshop is kindly supported by the Volkswagen Stiftung in conjunction with the research project “Let the Past Speak! Turning Migrant Letters of the 19th Century into Speech,” a joint collaboration of the German Historical Institute Washington and the University of Texas at Austin (Department of Germanic Studies) that will investigate leveraging written and oral sources with artificial intelligence (AI) technology to revive the sound of 19th-century speech.
We invite scholars from various methodological and historical backgrounds to participate in this international workshop. The workshop will be conducted in English. Scholars of linguistics working on any language, not only German, are encouraged to contribute proposals. The potential thematic range for proposals includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:
- Sociolinguistics and historical linguistics, including the development of dialects in diaspora communities
- The history of sound and the use of recorded/audiovisual sources in historical research
- Applications of artificial intelligence to historical and linguistic research
- Ethics of digital methodologies, tools, and datasets in the humanities
Submissions of proposals:
Please submit an abstract (max. 500 words) and a short CV online in English via the GHI conference platform by June 8, 2025 (deadline extended).
Accomodation and travel arrangements:
Accommodations will be arranged and paid for by the conference organizers. Participants will make their own travel arrangements; funding subsidies for travel are available upon request for selected scholars, especially those who might not otherwise be able to attend the workshop, including junior scholars and scholars from universities with limited resources.
For further information regarding the event’s format and conceptualization, please contact Hans Boas or Atiba Pertilla. For other logistical questions, or if you have any difficulties submitting your information online, please contact Nicola Hofstetter-Phelps.