From July 7–11, 2025, the Research Centre Global Dynamics at Leipzig University and the French consortium DISTAM (DIgital STudies Africa, Asia, Middle East) will jointly host the first Franco-German Summer School on Digital Humanities and Area Studies in Leipzig. After three successful editions in France, this renowned program is coming to Germany for the first time—made possible by generous support from the Franco-German University (DFH) and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) via the Huma-Num research infrastructure.
The summer school has sparked impressive international interest: More than 120 applications from around the world highlight the global relevance and appeal of the topics addressed. The program brings together early-career and senior researchers from a wide range of disciplines and countries.
The focus will be on hands-on approaches in digital humanities and area studies, including spatial analysis with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), data visualization, handwritten text recognition (HTR), optical character recognition (OCR), as well as open data and data sharing. The public events will also tackle key questions for the future—such as the evolving role of area studies in the age of artificial intelligence.
Public Program – Open for Registration
We warmly invite all interested parties to join the public events of the summer school. Registration is requested.