08 July 2026

Saarland University to host conference on digital methods in philology and the humanities

What are the latest developments in the digital humanities? For example, how can digital versions make historical texts or inscriptions more accessible? Experts from Germany and abroad will discuss current topics in the digital humanities on 10 and 11 July at the conference Between Ancient Text and Algorithms: Digital Perspectives on Philology and History, which is organized by the Institute of Classical Philology at Saarland University. The conference will take place at the Sportcampus Saar.

The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.

“One aim of our conference is to present projects and activities in the fields of philology and history, in particular projects involving the cataloguing of texts through digital editions, such as inscriptions or specialist texts. Databases, as prerequisites for such editions, are also a topic,” explains Professor Christoph Kugelmeier, a classical philologist who is organising the Saarbrücken conference together with his colleagues from the Institute of Classical Philology. In addition, software and methods relating to philological, linguistic, historical and archaeological topics will be presented.

The conference will be attended by representatives from the fields of Ancient Civilization Studies, medieval studies and modern philology (Romance Languages and Literature) from leading institutions in the German-speaking world specialising in the ‘digital humanities’. The Saarbrücken Institute for Classical Philology has also been building up relevant expertise in this field for many years – particularly in the creation of indices (indices for Latin texts of the Renaissance) and the digital edition of ancient, Byzantine and Neo-Latin texts. The conference will therefore provide a broad overview of current developments in the field of ‘Digital Humanities’ . Two early-career researchers from Saarbrücken specialising in medieval history will report on their experiences with the use of artificial intelligence in academic teaching. The keynote lecture will be delivered by the renowned ancient historian from Leipzig, Prof. Charlotte Schubert, who has long been conducting intensive research in the field of ‘Digital Classics’.

Venue: SPORTCAMPUS SAAR, Conference Room 41 (Building 4)

Link to the conference programme:  https://www.uni-saarland.de/fileadmin/upload/institut/philologie/Plakate/Plakat__10_11.07.2026.pdf

For enquiries, please contact:
Prof. Dr. phil. Christoph Kugelmeier
Saarland University
Ancient Civilization Studies
Classical Philology
Telephone: 0681 302-2325
Email: c.kugelmeier(at)mx.uni-saarland.de
https://www.uni-saarland.de/institut/klassische-philologie.html