About this Event
You are invited to this free, face-to-face event where you'll do a deep dive into the world of Computational Literary Studies (CLS). CLS uses innovative methods and tools that offer different kinds of analyses by investigating large corpora. Scholars use text analysis software and programming languages to analyse hundreds of texts, which can be used to track character knowledge; illuminate dramatic development of plays; and help reveal the author identity of previously anonymous texts.
Whether you're a curious literary scholar or a student looking to sharpen your skills, this training school offers hands-on sessions and new insights. We are open to all researchers at all stages of their career. Meet fellow enthusiasts, explore cutting-edge techniques, and boost your literary analysis skills.
The Training School is intended for those with a keen interest in boosting their skills. You do not need to know any programming but an openness to using new technologies for research is a must.
This is not a hybrid event: you will need to be physically present on both days to take the training.
The event is free but places are limited. To attend, you will need to give us a little background information. Please fill out this application form, here: https://forms.gle/m1GppZKuG2tfxbvo7
Trainers include:
- Dr Lamyk Bekius (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
- Professor Karina van Dalen-Oskam (Huygens Institute, Netherlands, and University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Professor Maciej Eder (Institute of Polish Language, Polish Academy of Science, Poland, and University of Tartu, Estonia; co-author the 'R' package for Stylo)
- Professor Michaela Mahlberg (FAU, Germany)
- Dr Martin Wynne (Senior Researcher Corpus Linguistics and National Coordinator Clarin UK, Oxford University, UK)
- Professor Sebastian Groes (Falmouth University, UK and Jagiellonian University, Poland).
This event is organised by the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Computational Literary Studies UK project. Co-organisers include the CLS INFRA project; Huygens Institute in the Netherlands; and Oxford University
Programme:
Both days will take place in the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG
Day 1 - Thursday 10 December: Introduction to Computational Literary Studies
10:00 - 11:00 Creating a corpus - Bas Groes
11:00 - 11:30 Break
11:30 - 13:00 Keystroke logging - Lamyk Bekius
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 15:30 Introduction to AntConc - Megan Bushnell and Martin Wynne
15:00 - 15:30 Break
15:30 - 17:00 Introduction to Stylometry - Karina van Dalen-Oskam
16:30 - 17:00 Combining AntConc and Stylometry - Martin and Karina
Evening Social event
Day 2 Advanced CLS
10:00 - 11:00 Advanced Stylo: What’s under the hood? - Maciej Eder
11:00 - 12:30 Introduction to Rolling Stylometry - Maciej
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
13:30 - 15:30 FlexiConc and CLiC - Michaela Mahlberg
15:30 - 16:00 Break
15:30 - 16:00 Case Study: Peter Millican TBC
16:00 - 17:00 Sandpit: Designing your project
Further information
You will be required to bring your own laptop. Please ensure that you have access to Eduroam. Before you arrive, please install the following software:
- AntCont: https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software/antconc/
- R: link here
- https://www.sublimetext.com/download
- Calibre ebook management: calibre-ebook.com/download
Note: you will be sent a link to a Filestore where you will find materials and corpora.
Recommended preparatory reading:
- To familiarise yourself with AntConc, please read: https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software/antconc/releases/AntConc358/help.pdf
- Moretti, Style Inc.
- Underwood, Bamman, Lee. Transformations of gender.
- Mavrody et al. Voice (modelling user reviews about author's 'voice')
- There are also great shorter and more essayistic pieces on computational literary studies on Post45 (including, btw, "Voice" paper mentioned above), which can be a more general recommendation.
- For the Stylometry workshops, it’s useful to have access to this How To guide: https://github.com/computationalstylistics/stylo_howto/blob/master/stylo_howto.pdf
- Reading material for AntConc and Stylometry workshops: Rachel McCarthy and James O'Sullivan who wrote Wuthering Heights? Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, Volume 36, Issue 2, June 2021, Pages 383–391, https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqaa031 or https://hdl.handle.net/10468/10194
Event venue & nearby stays
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Woodstock Road, Oxford, United Kingdom
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