Mike Kestemont & Folgert Karsdorp
We are delighted to announce Mike Kestemont (University of Antwerp) and Folgert Karsdorp (Meertens Institute, KNAW) as joint keynote speakers at this year’s conference.
Both are internationally recognized leaders in computational approaches to culture and literature, and co-authors of the influential textbook Humanities Data Analysis: Case Studies with Python. Their research has been pivotal in shaping the digital humanities, combining philological and literary expertise with advanced methods from data science, machine learning, and cultural evolution.
In their joint keynote, Kestemont and Karsdorp will bring together the combined expertise of two leading figures in computational humanities. As long-standing collaborators, they have played a central role in advancing the field, and their presence at the conference promises a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge perspectives at the intersection of literary studies, cultural history, and data science.
Title and abstract tba.
https://mikekestemont.github.io/
Katherine Bode
We are equally pleased to welcome Katherine Bode (Australian National University) as a keynote speaker at DHNB 2026.
Bode is a leading scholar in digital and computational literary studies, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Her research has transformed how large-scale digital collections – particularly newspaper fiction – can be used to reframe literary history, reading practices, and cultural reception. She is the author of influential works including Reading by Numbers: Recalibrating the Literary Field and A World of Fiction: Digital Collections and the Future of Literary History and has led major projects supported by the Australian Research Council.
Through her pioneering scholarship, Bode has played a central role in advancing the digital humanities, offering new ways to connect literary scholarship with the possibilities of computational analysis.
Title and abstract tba.
https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/katherine-bode/
& stay tuned for more exciting updates on our keynote lineup…