Digital Humanities in Latvia - events

Workshop “Exploring the digital heritage of reading: multilingualism, automatic detection and annotation”

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:06:00 +0000

On May 13, the sixth seminar in the series organized by digitalhumanities.lv and DARIAH-LV will take place. The workshop “Exploring the digital heritage of reading: multilingualism, automatic detection and annotation” will be led by visiting researcher Dr. François Vignale from Le Mans University. In his lecture, he will introduce the interdisciplinary project READ-IT, which brings together social sciences, Digital Humanities, and computer science to study reading experiences in Europe across different times and contexts.

The workshop will explore innovative methods and tools for analyzing multilingual text corpora, automatically identifying and semantically annotating descriptions of reading experiences, as well as assessing the impact of reading on individuals’ lives. Technologies developed within the project will also be presented, including natural language processing (NLP), ontologies, and semantic search solutions that enable large-scale exploration of digital sources.

Dr. François Vignale works at Le Mans University (3L.AM lab). His research focuses on the study of reading practices and cultural history in combination with Digital Humanities and Information Sciences (knowledge organization, data modeling, textual data analysis). He has authored or co-authored 20 papers. Within the EU-funded READ-IT project, he was in charge of the design of the Reading Experiences Ontology (REO) and coordinated the ICT aspects, in particular the integration and validation of NLP-based data exploration tools.

The worksjop will take place on May 13 at 15:00, in person at the Reading Room of the Archives of Latvian Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia (5th floor of the National Library of Latvia), as well as online via Zoom.

Working language: English.

📝 Please register whether you plan to attend in person or online:

🔗 ej.uz/dh-seminars-13052026

The workshop is organized within the project “University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence in Research and Collaboration” (No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011).

April 24 – practical DH seminar “What to do with a table?!”

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:20:00 +0000

Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia (ILFA) Digital Humanities (DH) seminar series continues to develop. This spring, a new thematic strand has been introduced – “Digital tools I use”. The aim of this initiative is to create a space for researchers who use digital methods in their work to share practical experience: to demonstrate their workflows, talk about the tools they use, and openly discuss not only successes but also challenges, mistakes, and solutions. The new format emphasizes the exchange of experience “from practice to practice”.

The next DH seminar will take place on April 24 from 15:00–17:00. It will feature a presentation by leading ILFA researcher Ieva Vīvere titled “What to do with a table?!”. The talk will explore experience working with Skandinieki data obtained from the National Library of Latvia. It will present experiments with tools such as Excel, OpenRefine, and Nodegoat, as well as outline key conclusions – what to do, what not to do, and which solutions might be worth approaching differently.

To strengthen ILFA's role as a center of excellence and knowledge in DH in Latvia, these seminars are designed as open “work in progress” events. They are primarily intended for ILFA researchers, but participants from the broader DH community are also warmly welcome.

The seminar will take place in the reading room of the Archives of Latvian Folklore, Mūkusalas Street 3, Riga, on the 5th floor of the National Library of Latvia. The number of places is limited, so early registration is encouraged: https://ej.uz/lfmi-dh-seminars

The activity is supported by the project “University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence in Research and Collaboration” (No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011).

Citizen Science and Artificial Intelligence in the Preservation of Ukrainian Cultural Heritage

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:47:00 +0000

On March 27 and April 4, the Digital Humanities Center (DHC) of the Faculty of Humanities (HZF) and the Library of the University of Latvia (LUB) organized two Ukrainian cultural heritage data workshops as citizen science activities within the framework of the AISTER project. Participants included youth from the Ukrainian community and their friends from Young Folks LV, members of academia, and other interested individuals. Together, they helped to improve an Artificial Intelligence (AI) prototype's ability to recognize elements within images of Ukrainian ethnographic artifacts.

The work took place on Europeana CrowdHeritage, a platform created for crowdsourcing campaigns using metadata from European cultural heritage institutions, utilizing a prototype developed by the AISTER project partner, Web2Learn.

The task for the workshop participants was to review the ethnographic collection of the online-museum of the traditional art of Ukraine "Krovets", evaluate the relevance of the keywords automatically generated by the digital tool's prototype to the images, and, if necessary, supplement them with their own descriptive variations. During the in-person workshops organized by DHC and LUB and separate remote sessions hosted by Web2Learn, nearly 55,000 annotations were prepared in this manner, which will help to improve the accessibility of digital cultural heritage artifacts.

AISTER is an international Erasmus+ KA2 program project involving partners from the University of Luxembourg, the University of Latvia (HZF DHC and LUB), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine), Web2Learn (Greece), and Europeana (the Netherlands). Its main goal is to explore the potential of AI-driven approaches and citizen science in the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage during crisis situations, with a special focus on Ukraine.

The DHC expresses its gratitude to the specialists at LUB for their support in organizing these activities.

Riga Technical University offers a professor position in interdisciplinary Human(IT)ies data research

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Riga Technical University has announced an open call for a Professor position in Computer Science and Informatics at its Institute of Digital Humanities, offering an opportunity for internationally recognized researchers to join a leading interdisciplinary research environment in Latvia.

The position is based within the Faculty of Computer Science, Information Technology and Energy (FCSITE) and focuses on the rapidly developing field of Interdisciplinary Human(IT)ies Data Research, which combines digital humanities, data science, and advanced computational approaches.

The selected candidate will be expected to strengthen and expand the Institute’s research capacity, while contributing to the development of innovative research directions and academic programmes. Particular emphasis is placed on areas such as Human(IT)ies Data Diversity, Language Data and Technology, as well as interactive and immersive learning design.

This is a full-time professor position with guaranteed centralized funding for an initial six-year period. Following this term, the continuation of employment will depend on performance and the Institute’s funding portfolio, including research projects and academic activities.

RTU is looking for a candidate with a doctoral degree in a relevant field and at least three years of experience in a senior academic position. Applicants should demonstrate strong international research experience, the ability to attract external funding, and the capacity to lead research initiatives and teams in an interdisciplinary environment. Excellent communication skills and full professional proficiency in English are required.

The university offers a competitive gross salary of EUR 6,050 per month, along with a supportive and collaborative academic environment. The selected professor will have the opportunity to establish and lead an independent research group, participate in European research projects, and benefit from flexible working arrangements. Additional benefits include health insurance, access to sports facilities, and relocation support for international candidates.

Applications must be submitted in English by 21 May 2026 (17:00, Europe/Riga). Required documents include a motivation letter, research plan, CV, and supporting materials.

Applications should be sent to: tenure@rtu.lv

More information about the position and application process is available here.

CLARIN & DARIAH Latvia's Spring Conference 2026: Digital Infrastructure for the Humanities

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 07:32:00 +0000

On 5 March 2026, the CLARIN & DARIAH Spring Conference will take place at UL Sapere Aude Hall (Kalpaka Boulevard 4), bringing together researchers, language technology experts, and everyone interested in digital humanities. This conference is a strategically important event that connects national consortia of two leading international research infrastructures in the humanities – CLARIN ERIC and DARIAH-EU – to promote collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the development of digital solutions in the fields of the humanities and social sciences.

The conference program includes experience stories about the operation of the DARIAH and CLARIN infrastructures in Latvia and Europe, highlighting their practical significance in research and interdisciplinary cooperation. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about specific projects, examples, and solutions; digital tools, as well as the use of data and digital resources in the humanities and social sciences, will be demonstrated. The conference will conclude with a discussion addressing the importance of digital infrastructures for the development of the humanities, the challenges involved in building them, and the needs of researchers.

This year marks 10 years since Latvia joined CLARIN ERIC, making a sustained contribution to improving access to language resources, developing digital tools, and fostering international integration in the research environment. Inguna Skadiņa, Head of CLARIN-LV, Professor at the University of Latvia, and Leading Researcher at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, notes:

“Latvian language and cultural life in the digital environment are important to each and every one of us. Digital infrastructures make it possible to preserve research results in the long term and promote the availability of language and cultural data for research, education, and all interested users.”

Meanwhile, Latvia is still on its way toward joining DARIAH-EU – Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities. Emphasizing the need for Latvia to obtain full DARIAH-EU membership status, Sanita Reinsone, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia, says:

“Over the past few years, our digital humanities community has drawn closer to DARIAH-EU, and we would like to thank the Ministry of Education and Science for supporting our efforts in strengthening this cooperation. This experience has highlighted how important national consortia and collaboration are for the development of digital humanities. The spring conference, which will become an annual event, provides an excellent platform to meet, learn about the latest developments in digital humanities in Latvia, and discover what our colleagues are working on.”

Registration for the conference is open until March 3:

https://www.digitalhumanities.lv/notikumi/clarin-dariah-pavasara-konference2026

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The conference is organized by the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Latvia, the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia, and the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia, with support from the project “University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence, Activity, Mobility, Capacity” (No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011).

Save the date for Baltic Summer School of Digital Humanities 2026

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 09:06:00 +0000

A seminar will take place titled “Quantitative Approaches to Historical Visual Culture – an Example of Soviet Newsreels”

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 08:35:00 +0000

On November 5 at 15:00 (EEST), the fourth seminar in the series organized by digitalhumanities.lv in collaboration with CLARIN-LV and DARIAH-EU will take place online, focusing on digital humanities and historical research. This time, the topic “Quantitative Approaches to Historical Visual Culture – an Example of Soviet Newsreels” will be presented by Adjunct Professor Mila Oiva. She says about the upcoming seminar: “In my talk I will discuss the potentialities and pitfalls of quantitative study of visual culture. Drawing on my and my colleagues' studies on Soviet newsreels from 1918 to 1992, I will exemplify uses of multidimensional vector embedding of images and Multimodal Large Languages Models for detecting long-term continuities and changes in historical audiovisual materials.”

Dr. Mila Oiva, Adjunct Professor of Cultural History at the University of Turku, Finland, is an expert of Russian and Polish cultural history and digital research methods. Her research interests focus on the circulation of knowledge and changing perceptions of the world. She has explored these themes through a variety of case studies, ranging from 19th-century global news flows, Cold War-era transnational information circulation between Poland, the Soviet Union, and France, as well as contemporary Finnish and Russian internet forum discussions on medieval history. Her current research focuses on computational analysis of Soviet and Estonian newsreels.

The language of the seminar is English, and all interested participants are welcome to attend.

To receive the Zoom link, please register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/f72Ra9oBR8amlgEYvkIeIw

The seminar is organized within the framework of the project “Latvia’s 20th–21st Century History: Social Morphogenesis, Heritage and Challenges” (VPP-IZM-Vēsture-2023/1-0003) in collaboration with “Development of an Open and FAIR-Compliant Digital Humanities Ecosystem in Latvia” (VPP-IZM-DH-2022/1-0002). The seminar is also supported by the project “University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence in Research and Collaboration” (Project No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011).

The 7th Baltic Summer School of Digital Humanities has concluded

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 08:21:00 +0000

From 4 to 8 August, the 7th Baltic Summer School of Digital Humanities, “Digital Methods for Historical Research”, took place at the University of Latvia’s House of Science. The participants were more than 50 historians, students, and memory institution specialists – mainly from the Baltic states, as well as from Poland, Croatia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, and Greece. This summer school offers an opportunity to explore developments in the digital humanities, acquire technical skills, and gain an extensive set of resources and new contacts for future projects.

This year, under the guidance of experienced European researchers in the digital humanities, participants explored current debates and solutions related to AI-based approaches for handwritten text transcription, the use of computational methods to interpret missing historical data, the application of large language models in the humanities, as well as network analysis and the digital mapping of historical materials. The annually increasing number of participants – especially from Latvia – demonstrates that the field of digital humanities continues to grow in relevance, not only among emerging researchers but also among experienced scholars who actively seek to acquire new, practical skills for applying digital methods in humanities research.

Recordings of the public lectures and workshops from the summer school will be available on the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@digitalhumanitieslv, where you can also watch open lectures from previous years, the Digital Humanities podcast, the digital research series, and other useful video resources.

The summer school was organised by the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia and the Digital Humanities Centre at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia, in cooperation with the National Library of Latvia. It was supported by the National Research Programme project No. VPP-IZM-Vēsture-2023/1-0003 “Latvian History: Social Morphogenesis, Heritage, and Challenges”, the ERDF project No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011 “The University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence in Research and Cooperation”, as well as by the University of Latvia and the State Culture Capital Foundation.

The organisers thank all lecturers, participants, and sponsors for helping to create this inspiring environment of knowledge sharing!

7th Baltic Summer School of Digital Humanities to Take Place in Riga

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 08:12:00 +0000

The Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia, in cooperation with the University of Latvia Digital Humanities Center and the National Library of Latvia, invites the 7th Baltic Summer School of Digital Humanities (BSSDH 2025), which will take place from 4 to 8 August 2025 at the House of Science in Riga.

This year, the summer school will focus especially on historical research in the digital environment, offering theoretical lectures and practical workshops on contemporary digital methods in the humanities. The lectures will be livestreamed and open to all via the University of Latvia’s YouTube channel and the Facebook page of the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, while workshops will be available only to pre-registered participants.

The programme includes lectures and workshops on topics such as handwritten text recognition, network and spatial analysis (GIS), historical data visualization, applications of artificial intelligence in historical research, and much more. The teaching team features leading specialists from Europe.

The full programme and lecture descriptions are available here:

🔗 https://www.digitalhumanities.lv/bssdh/2025/lectures-and-workshops/

The summer school is organised with the support of the State Research Programme project “Navigating the Latvian History of the 20th–21st Century: Social Morphogenesis, Legacy and Challenges” (VPP-IZM-Vēsture-2023/1-0003), the ERAF project “University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence in Research and Cooperation” (No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011), the State Culture Capital Foundation, and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia.

6-7 May Jan Hajič, PhD, will give lectures and workshops on Digital Musicology and Computer Analysis of Gregorian Chants in Riga

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:41:00 +0000

On 6-7 May, Jan Hajič, PhD will give a hands-on introduction to musicology in the digital domain for the intrepid musicologists at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (K. Barona street 1). The program is intended for musicologists (and musicians) at all levels of seniority, from undergrads thinking about their theses to senior researchers thinking about their grants. In two lectures and two workshops, the series will introduce digital musicology and showcase its strengths and limitations. No computing background necessary, though musically inclined computer scientists are most welcome to join as well.

Tuesday, May 6

Lecture I : 10:00–11:30 What is digital musicology?

Lecture II : 12:30–13:30 The state of Optical Music Recognition

Wednesday, May 7

Workshop I : 9:30–11:00 Exploring the digital chant ecosystem

Workshop II : 11:45–13:15 Experimenting with mode and lost chants

Registration

Lectures and workshops are free, but registration is required. Please register by filling in the application form by 30 April: https://forms.gle/rL2h1DogqwEnYGAfA

Please bring your own computer to the workshops.

Working language: English.

Venue

Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Rīga, room 102 (06.05.), room 120 (07.05.)

Specific information and contacts: dh@lulfmi.lv

Annotations of lectures and workshops

Lecture 1: What is digital musicology?

It is vaguely obvious that the digital domain presents great opportunities for musicology, but at the same it may not be as obvious what specifically these opportunities are. This talk aims to simply introduce what digital musicology actually is: what it does, how it works, and why it even deserves to be singled out like this, and hopefully it will provide inspiration for attendees’ own work in the field. No knowledge of computer science is expected (though of course computer people interested in music are welcome to join!)

Lecture 2: The state of Optical Music Recognition.

Optical Music Recognition (OMR), the process of converting images of music notation to structured, digitally editable encodings, is a key technology for enabling truly large-scale digital musicology. Unfortunately, it is far from resolved, despite the immense progress of computer vision in the past decade — but there are clear lights on the horizon. This talk gives an overview of OMR state of the art, some available tools and their limitations, and resources available for those interested in applying OMR to their collections.

Workshop 1: Exploring the digital chant ecosystem

Getting our hands dirty, we will take a look around the digital chant ecosystem: the Cantus database, Cantus Index, and then we start working with the chant data contained therein. We take a look at some basic statistics of the dataset and visualise it. This will all happen in a google colab environment, so no need to install anything! All you need is an internet connection, no programming or math background required (but it may be a good idea to do a Python tutorial ahead of time).

Workshop 2: Experimenting with mode and lost chants

Getting our hands a bit more dirty, we try and replicate some of the findings for chant modality. Using models from ecology, we will then try and estimate how many chants we have not observed yet, showcasing one of the great methodological advantages that computational research has over traditional methods.

Jan Hajič jr. heads the Prague Music Computing Group at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague. He recently completed the Genome of Melody project, researching Gregorian chant with methods from bioinformatics, and is co-investigator of the international Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission project, where he leads the Chant Analytics team for computational chant scholarship. He is also PI of the OmniOMR project, for optical recognition of musical manuscripts using deep learning. Outside academia, he is also active as a harpsichordist: highlights include Prague Spring 2023 with Andreas Scholl, operas at the baroque theatre in Český Krumlov, and his ensembles performed at early music festivals in Czechia and abroad.

Funding and support

The seminar is organised within the project “Towards Development of Open and FAIR Digital Humanities Ecosystem in Latvia” (VPP-IZM-DH-2022/1-0002) in collaboration with the CLARIN-LV and DARIAH-EU, Prague Music Computing Group, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia, Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, and project Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission. The seminar is also supported by the project “University of Latvia and Institutes in the European Research Area – Excellence in Research and Collaboration” (Project No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/011).