The first Franco-German summer school on digital humanities and area studies is jointly organized by the Leipzig Research Centre Global Dynamics (ReCentGlobe) and the French consortium DISTAM (DIgital STudies Africa, Asia, Middle East). DISTAM has successfully organized this summer school in the past three years in France. This year, it will take place in Leipzig, from 7 until 11 July 2025. 

The thematic focus will be on:

• spatialization and its digital representation using geo-information systems (GIS) and related methods;
• data visualization;
• working with text using handwritten text recognition (HTR) and optical character reconigtion (OCR);
• open data and data sharing.

The summer school will bring together researchers from both countries and beyond. Hands-on workshops will be combined with lectures, roundtables, and project presentations. Social events and excursions will foster networking and allow to profit from Leipzig’s vibrant scientific and city culture. Please find below the programme for more details.

The summer school mainly addresses PhD candidates. However, a number of places is also reserved for post-doctoral researchers, scientific engineers, master students, and staff of GLAM institutions. Due to the main research priorities of both partners, the summer school is aimed in particular at applicants in the historically oriented disciplines with a world-regional emphasis. However, it is also open to participants of all other disciplines. Accommodation and meals during the summer school are provided by ReCentGlobe and DISTAM. Participants bear the costs for travelling.

Please use the application form below, incl. a short motivation message (max. 300 words) and your CV. The deadline for application is 15 March 2025. Applicants will be informed by the end of March.

For further questions please contact Eva Ommert or Kathleen Schlütter at digitalareastudies(at)uni-leipzig.de or send a message to Mercedes Volait and Sandra Aube at distam-request(at)groupes.renater.fr.