DHNB 2025 – DHNB

Digital Dreams and Practices. DHNB2025 Tartu, Estonia, 5-7/03/2025

DHNB conferences focus on research, education and communication in the interdisciplinary field of digital humanities in the Nordic and Baltic regions and beyond. The conference has a history of bringing together academics, researchers, students, and professionals with an interest in applying digital methods to research relevant to humanities, social sciences and arts. DHNB invites contributions from all domains of digital humanities.

Important dates

22/10/2024 – 1/12/2024 CfP review period
15/12/2024 Notifications issued
15/12/2024 Registration opens
3-4/03/2025 Pre-conference meetings, workshops, doctoral consortium
5-7/03/2025 DHNB 2025 Conference ‘Digital Dreams and Practices’ in Tartu, Estonia.

Special Calls for Workshop Presentations (Deadline 8/1/25)

Call for Papers, Panels, Posters, Demos, Workshops, Tutorials

With the special theme of DHNB2025 ‘Digital Dreams and Practices’ we aim to delve into the synergy between dreams in digital humanities and their practical applications, seeking to maximize value for both academia and society at large. Our focus sharpens on the transformative potential of AI, its integration with traditional humanities, and its role in transcending academic boundaries. We invite scholars, practitioners, and societal stakeholders to explore:

(1) the integration of traditional humanities scholarship with computational techniques;

(2) the transition of digital humanities research from the ‘ivory tower’ of academic theory to societal practice;

(3) the practical applications of Artificial Intelligence.

Integrating traditional humanities and computation

DHNB has long been committed to the importance of both domain expertise and methodological precision in research excellence. Digital humanities begin with explorations of data with a humanities lens, but the strongest impact is achieved when solid computational methods are applied to questions important to established fields with long research traditions. We especially invite contributions that are theory-driven, question-focussed, and advance open cases of interest in the humanities and related fields.

Coming down the ‘Ivory Tower’

Digital humanities research is highly relevant to the modern world, extending from practical uses of data in the humanities to offering perspectives on societal issues. This requires deliberate efforts to step outside academic discourse and actively engage with non-academic entities, including state institutions, NGOs, and private companies. We especially invite contributions that emphasize and develop the societal relevance of digital humanities and actively cultivate collaborations between academic researchers and non-academic organizations. We are particularly interested in proposals that showcase these partnerships, highlighting the tangible outcomes and lessons learned from such collaborations. By emphasizing the practical applications and societal impact, we aim to showcase research whose value extends beyond academic circles.

Artificial Intelligence and the humanities

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence has become a household topic with the increased power of large language models, user-friendly accessibility in apps like ChatGPT, and profound societal impact, raising concerns about data privacy, fair use of data, and the future of jobs. AI has increasingly shown the capacity to assist in or even automate tasks that have previously relied on human creativity. This encompasses a wide spectrum, from the generation of visual art and the creation of research reports to conducting qualitative readings of text. We especially invite contributions that deal with aspects of AI in practice. We encourage papers that explore the interplay between digital humanities and emerging Artificial Intelligence, including introducing innovative use cases, discussing ethical frameworks, or examining societal implications.

Topics of Interest

Topics of interest for the theme of DHNB2025 include, but are not limited to, the following:

Integrating traditional humanities and computation

Theory-driven research: the possibilities for integrating theory and DH, case studies and critique
Assessing and improving data quality in research
Linking questions and methods: operationalization of established questions in humanities and related fields

Coming down the ‘Ivory Tower’

Knowledge transfer between academic and non-academic sectors
The role of digital humanities in informing public policy and decision-making
Community engagement, participatory approaches and inclusion in digital humanities initiatives
Digital humanities, global challenges and sustainable development
Digital humanities and GLAM: digital storytelling, digital curation, digital preservation
Heritage, data visualization, and cultural analytics

Artificial Intelligence

The use and usefulness of AI in DH
The role of humanities in developing AI
Responsible use of sources for developing AI
Ethical concerns for using AI in the GLAM sector
Representativity of small languages and cultures in large language models and practical applications using LLMs

Timeline

15/08/2024 CfP opens
22/10/2024 CfP closes
22/10/2024 – 1/12/2024 CfP review period
15/12/2024 Notifications issued
15/12/2024 Registration opens
31/01/2025 Deadline for submitting revised full papers and abstracts
31/01/2025 Early bird deadline for registration
19/02/2025 Registration closes
3-4/03/2025 Pre-conference meetings, workshops, doctoral consortium, excursions
5-7/03/2025 Conference
8-9/03/2025 Post-conference blues
15/05/2025 Deadline for submitting papers for post-proceedings

Organizers

Estonian Literary Museum (Mari Väina, Kadri Vider, Liisi Laineste, Olha Petrovych)
Estonian National Museum (Pille Runnel, Agnes Aljas)
Institute of the Estonian Language (Martin Eessalu)
Tallinn University (Andres Karjus)
University of Tartu (Liina Lindström, Joshua Wilbur)
in collaboration with Estonian Society for Digital Humanities

Contact: dhnb2025@dhnb.eu

Program Committee

Anda Baklāne, Katrine F. Baunvig, Coppelie Cocq, Normunds Grūzītis, Olga Holownia, Ross Deans Kristensen-McLachlan, Krister Kruusmaa, Alie Lassche, Mahendra Mahey, Johan Malmstedt, Eetu Mäkelä, Kristoffer Nielbo, Mila Oiva, Krista Stinne Greve Rasmussen, Sulev Reisberg, Oleg Sobchuk, Artjom Šela, Piret Viires.

Practical Information

For those interested in Computational Linguistics and Language Technology there is a convenient option to visit two conferences in Estonia within one week. The Joint 25th Nordic Conference on Computational Linguistics and 11th Baltic Conference on Human Language Technologies NoDaLiDa/Baltic-HLT 2025 takes place from March 3–4 in Tallinn, just before DHNB 2025.

Supporters

In March 2025, the Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries (DHNB) conference will be held in Estonia. DHNB, an associated organization of the EADH, was established to strengthen research, education, and communication in the field of Digital Humanities. The conference will bring together academics, researchers, students, librarians, archivists, curators, and museum professionals who are interested in creating and using digitized and born-digital collections as research data in the humanities, social sciences, and arts.
The conference is co-funded by the European Union and Enterprise Estonia with funding of 27 064,31 euros.

Co-funded by the European Union