Course Workshop: Digital Analysis and Operationalization in Literary-Historical Research

Course description

Ph.D. students and early-career researchers are invited to participate in this course focused on operationalization and the digital methodological challenges in literary-historical research. The course is facilitated as a workshop that brings together researchers working with digital tools and methods to identify and discuss shared methodological issues, while exploring solutions for computational approaches in textual studies. The aim is to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and advance our collective understanding of how computational methods can be meaningfully and rigorously integrated into humanities research. The workshop will be enriched by the participation of experienced scholars in the field, who will share their insights and actively contribute to discussions with their methodological and practical expertise.

Aim/Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will have:

1. Deepened their understanding of operationalization as a methodological and interpretive practice in digital literary-historical research.
2. Reflected critically on the epistemological implications of using digital tools in the humanities, particularly in relation to textual analysis and historical interpretation.
3. Gained insight into the tensions and intersections between close reading and distant reading, and how these inform different approaches to interpretation and analysis.
4. Expanded their awareness of how modelling and categorization (e.g., of genre, character, rhetoric) shape and constrain knowledge production in computational research.
5. Strengthened their ability to identify and articulate methodological challenges in their own work, and to situate these within broader scholarly debates.
6. Engaged with interdisciplinary perspectives that challenge assumptions about data, method, and meaning in digitally supported research.

Requirements for participation

To take part in the workshop the participants are asked to submit a working paper (max. 2 pages) describing their project and the digital methodological challenges they face. During the workshop each participant will present their operationalisation challenges, receive feedback and contribute to the discussion of other’s work.

We particularly welcome papers that address topics such as:

• Case studies that test or challenge specific methods of operationalization
• Conceptual reflections on modelling literary or historical phenomena
• Genre, character, or rhetoric as operationalizable categories
• Intersections between distant reading and close interpretation
• The role of interpretation in data selection, cleaning, and presentation

Participants are also encouraged to attend the open seminar hosted by the research unit HISTAC on Digital Analysis and Operationalization in Literary-Historical Research, which takes place the day before the workshop (https://arts.au.dk/en/news-and-events/events/show/artikel/seminar-on-digital-analysis-and-operationalization-in-literary-historical-research-1 ). The seminar will explore approaches to operationalization in digital research, the interpretation of results from digital textual analysis, and how these influence research questions, design, and the relevance of empirical data. Attendance is optional but highly recommended for contextualizing the discussions in the workshop.

Target group/Participants

This course is intended for Ph.D. students and early-career researchers who engage with digital tools and methods in their research within the humanities. Participants should have an active research project involving computational approaches to textual or literary-historical analysis. The course is particularly relevant for those interested in reflecting on the methodological implications of digital analysis and operationalization in their work.

Workload

• Course/ teaching hours: 5
• Preparation hours: 5-10 hours
• Written assignments etc.: You need to submit a working paper by registration, but otherwise no written assignments are required.

Language 

• English

Lecturers

• Heidi Karlsen, Oslo University
• Jens Bjerring-Hansen, Copenhagen University
• Roel Smeets, Radboud University

Literature

• Nordahl-Hansen, A., & Kvernbekk, T. (2020). Construct Validity in Scientific Representation: A
• Philosophical Tour. Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk & kritikk, 6, 88–99: https://pedagogikkogkritikk.no/index.php/ntpk/article/view/1704/4196

Venue

• 24 September 2025. 09.00-14.00. Hejmdal Konferencecenter, Peter Sabroes Gade 1, 8000 Aarhus C

Course dates:

• 24 September 2025 09:00 - 14:00