Events

Here you will find an overview of the junior professorship's current events.

Beyond Defaults: Statistical Paradigms in Digital Humanities Scholarship

Date November 19–20, 2026

Venue: TU Chemnitz, IdeenReich, Universitätsbibliothek - Straße der Nationen 33, 09111 Chemnitz

A striking asymmetry characterizes current DH practice: while humanities theories are subject to explicit reflection and debate, statistical theories typically remain invisible. This asymmetry has consequences for knowledge production in DH. When we model stylistic change, classify texts by genre, or infer networks of influence, we are not simply applying neutral tools. We are making epistemic commitments: about what counts as evidence, how uncertainty should be represented, and what kind of claims our analyses can support. The workshop approaches this from three interconnected perspectives:

1. Epistemic foundations. What assumptions underlie frequentism and Bayesianism? To what extent might DH not only apply statistical methods but also contribute to their theoretical development?

2. Statistical practices in DH. Where are frequentist and Bayesian models already in use, whether recognized or not? How do software defaults shape methodological choices? And how does the choice of paradigm affect interpretation and evidence evaluation?

3. Perspectives on Large Language Models. How do LLMs, whose implicit inferential commitments remain largely unexamined, relate to classical statistical paradigms? What forms of epistemological scrutiny are needed when DH practice shifts from explicit modeling decisions toward assumptions embedded in training data?

Programme

Registration: Participation is free of charge To register, please send an email to rabea.kleymann@…