Kyushu University Hosts Digital Humanities International Symposium ‘Connecting Humanities

On March 13th, at the Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Center of Japan on Kyushu University’s Ito Campus, Kyushu University’s Faculty of Humanities and Japan’s International Institute for Digital Humanities jointly hosted an international symposium on digital humanities titled “Connecting Humanities.” The symposium aimed to share the latest achievements and research trends in the digital humanities and to discuss education and research at the planned Joint Graduate School of Digital Humanities (provisional name) at Kyushu University.

The symposium featured Professor J. Stephen Downie and Professor Ted Underwood from the University of Illinois, USA. They delivered speeches on open access data for the development of open communities, and the impact of generative AI on the digital humanities.

Digital Humanities, as the name suggests, is combining the humanities to the digital world. Materials such as rare books and design sketches, that were previously accessible only in specialized locations are digitized and given a new lease on life, with modern computational tools opening new realms of research exploring broad themes in literature, history, and philosophy. Digital technology also facilitates previously unimaginable studies, such as the transformation of gender norms in literature over centuries, which require vast amounts of data.

Following the speeches, the two keynote speakers were joined by Professor Asanobu Kitamoto of the National Institute of Informatics, Dr. Kiyonori Nagasaki from the International Institute for Digital Humanities, and Associate Professor Natsuko Nakagawa from Kyushu University’s Faculty of Humanities, for a panel discussion. The discussion focused on the improvement of research findings sharing networks, as well as the educational and research environments in the digital humanities.

“The humanities have traditionally relied heavily on paper-based research. Although the field is diverse, collaboration between different disciplines has remained challenging. Researchers often find themselves isolated within their own specialties, with few opportunities for cross-disciplinary exchange. Digital humanities, however, offers a promising solution to these challenges” Professor Ayumi Ueyama from Kyushu University’s Faculty of Humanities explains. “We aim to revolutionize our approach by digitizing our work and using digital tools to map out the networks of ideas in our minds. Our goal is to lower the barriers between fields and facilitate easier collaboration. We want to use data to move more into the digital world and pave the way for the future.”