International Joint Summer Workshop on Digital Humanities’2023

Digital humanities is more than the use of digital methods in humanities studies; it marks the shifting of the humanities research paradigms in the age of artificial intelligence. To foster interdisciplinary talents who can apply computational thinking in the humanities and arts, the Center for Digital Humanities at Peking University, the Digital China Initiative of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, and the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University have jointly established the "Digital Humanities Summer Camp" program. The course will rotate every summer among the three campuses of Peking University, Harvard University, and Princeton University, and with each university selecting a theme of interest and organizing teaching teams and content accordingly.

The first joint summer camp will be held at Peking University in early August 2023, with the theme of "Humanistic Innovation in the AI Age." The course aims to teach how to apply big data and AI methods to the materials of humanities research, but also exploit the value of complex historical and cultural corpora in developing Artificial General Intelligence. The course will mainly use Chinese historical sources as experimental materials. Both humanists and AI experts will be invited to co-teach: humanities scholars introduce historical materials and research topics for exploration, while technical experts instruct on the use of digital humanities methods and intelligent tools. The course is open to graduate and senior undergraduate students of both H&A and STEM backgrounds, and young teachers who are interested are also welcome to participate. Students will be grouped into interdisciplinary project teams based on their research topics of interest, and conduct research in a project-driven manner. This course focuses on the fostering of independent research abilities and cross-disciplinary collaboration instead of basic skill training.

Co-Organizers

Center for Digital Humanities, Department of History & Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Peking University

Digital China Initiative, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University

Department of East Asian Studies, Princeton University

Steering Committee

Xiaonan DENG, Boya Professor, Chair of Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Peking University

Peter BOL, Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University

Anna SHIELDS, Professor of East Asian Studies and Chair of the Department of East Asian Studies, Princeton University

Songchun ZHU, Chair Professor, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Peking University

Executive Committee

Jun WANG, Professor of Department of Information Management, and Joint appointment in the Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Peking University

Jin HE, Professor of Department of History, Peking University

Song CHEN, Associate Professor of Bucknell University, and Senior Project Manager of CBDB, Harvard University

Qi SU, Associate Professor of College of Foreign Languages, and Joint Appointment in the in the Colleges of Information Science and Technology, Peking University

Rui SHI, Librarian of the Institute for Antient China History, Peking University

Teaching Committee

Joe DENNIS: Professor of Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Song CHEN: Associate Professor of Chinese History, Bucknell University

Donald STURGEON: Assistant Professor of Department of Computer Science, Durham University

Calvin YEH, IT Architect of Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science

Jun WANG, Professor of Department of Information Management, and Joint appointment in the Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Peking University

Qi SU, Associate Professor of College of Foreign Languages, and Joint Appointment in the in the Colleges of Information Science and Technology, Peking University

Changsong WANG, Associate Professor, College of Urban and Environment Science

Weiyun QIU, Associate Professor of Xueheng institute for Advanced Studies and School of History, Nanjing University

Hao YANG, Research Associate, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Peking University

Tong WEI, Assistant Professor, Peking University

Methods of teaching

The course is conducted in the following ways:

Lecturing: During the first week, invited scholars teach digital methods and frontier research cases of digital humanities.

Project practice: During the second week, students choose research topics of interest and form project teams. They will then carry out research practices in parallel, with guidance from the research supervisors who will remain in close communication with student teams.

Critical literature reading and discussion: The research supervisors introduce research topics and recommends related literature. Under the guidance of the research supervisors, student teams conduct critical discussions based on intensive reading, analyzing limitations that can be further explored through additional research.

Case studies: young scholars in the field of digital humanities will be invited to share their inspiring research works.

Group Presentations: at the end of the course, all student teams will report their final research results, which will be evaluated by the teaching committee.

Teaching languages: the course will be primarily taught in Chinese, with a few lectures in English.

Multicultural Heritage Experiences

As part of our educational program, we plan to offer students a chance to have immersive experience in traditional Chinese arts beyond classroom lectures and projects. We will invite scholars and artists to preform and present 7-string zither, painting, calligraphy, and Tai chi on weekends. This will provide students with an opportunity to experience the richness of Chinese cultural heritage in real-time while complementing their learning through the use of textual materials and digital resources. Detailed information about these events will be released later.

Enrollment Application

Target students: Graduate students and senior undergraduates with an educational background in Chinese history, Chinese philosophy, and the intellectual history of traditional China, as well as in other related areas of East Asian studies, are preferred. In addition, we strongly encourage those with expertise in natural language processing, computational linguistics, and knowledge engineering, as well as related STEM fields to apply.

For students who study humanities and art, basic knowledge of digital humanities and skill training are required; for STEM students, an interest in historical and cultural topics and a certain level of proficiency in classical Chinese are required. Proficiency in both English and Chinese reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills is required for all applicants.

Application: All applicants must submit application materials via the link:  https://t.ly/wWwa , including personal information, a statement of purpose, and a supposed research plan. While a recommendation letter from the applicant’s supervisor is not mandatory for the application, it can serve as a valuable addition. The teaching committee will review the materials comprehensively to make admission decisions.

Participant Commitment: This course consists of in-person lectures and small group discussions; full participation is mandatory for all students. Online participation will not be available.

Number of Admissions: 50.

Application Deadline: May 28^th, 2023.

Notification of Admission: June 10^th, 2023.

Tuition: 800 RMB for current students at PKU and 2,000 RMB for non-PKU students. Attendees are responsible for their own food and accommodation. A limited number of hotel rooms nearby PKU are available for booking on a first come, first served basis. We offer need-blind financial aid to cover some travel expenses for eligible participants and please provide the following materials to apply:

1. An academic      recommendation letter;

2. Proof of flights or accommodations (receipts, confirmations, or other      documentation that verifies your bookings).

Course Certificate: Students who fully participate and complete all requirements will receive a course certificate jointly signed by the steering committee members of Peking University, Harvard University and Princeton University.

PhD Recommendation: The Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Peking University is collaborating with the humanities and social science departments to cultivate well-rounded professionals with interdisciplinary knowledge in AI as well as humanities and social sciences. Exceptional students will have the opportunity to be recommended to the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and related humanities social science departments for PhD studies.

Publication Opportunity: We encourage students to continue their research under the remote guidance of their research supervisor after the summer workshop, and exceptional research results will be recommended for publication by the teaching committee members.

Teaching Date / Location / Contact

Location: Campus of Peking University, in-person teaching

Time period: July 30^th – August 12^th

Website: the most up-to-date information is available on: https://camp2023.pkudh.org/

Twitter: @PKUDHC

Email: gdhc@pku.edu.cn

Teaching Schedule

First Week, Jul.30-Aug.5

Second Week, Aug.6-12