Time Atlas Interface – in white Historical Points of Interest
The Digital Humanities Laboratory and the Time Machine Unit at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) are pleased to announce a three-day workshop dedicated to exploring, interpreting, and enriching historical datasets on the city of Venice. The workshop is open to doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in digital humanities, history, computer science, and related fields. Master’s students with a strong interest in history and proven experience in computational approaches are also welcome to apply.
Workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore data digitized, transcribed, and structured through the Venice Time Machine and Parcels of Venice projects, granting unprecedented access to the urban, social, and economic history of Venice. To support both the research community, the EPFL team has developed a dedicated advanced platform for browsing and interacting with this dataset. Participants will receive exclusive early access to this research platform ahead of its public release.
Additionally, the workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to engage directly with this data using computational methods, opening up new perspectives on Venice’s evolution over nearly a millennium. Potential research themes include urban transformation, property ownership patterns, social network dynamics, and the development of economic functions.
Participants will learn how to clean, normalize, aggregate, and visualize historical data, and how to use these techniques to investigate specific aspects of Venice’s historical trajectory—from the year 1000 to the late 19th century. Working in small groups, participants will be guided in formulating historical questions, developing research strategies, and presenting their findings through web-based visualizations. The most original and promising projects will be highlighted in a final presentation session, and selected contributions will be considered for publication in a dedicated format.
Calendar
The workshop will take place from Wednesday, June 25 at 9:00 AM to Friday, June 27 at 6:00 PM. A final presentation session will be held on Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, during which groups will share their findings and visualizations.
The program includes guest lectures introducing the Parcels of Venice project, the datasets, relevant historical context, and methodological approaches to data interpretation. Afternoons will be dedicated to group work sessions. Lunches will be provided by the organizing schools on all three days.
Participation
The workshop is open to students and researchers in Digital Humanities, History, Computer Science and related fields who are eager to enhance their skills in computational methods for historical research. A genuine interest in the history of Venice—across its many dimensions—is highly encouraged. The workshop is intended primarily for master’s students, doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers. PhD students enrolled at EPFL are eligible for doctoral school credit.
Background Requirements
No specific technical skills are required. However, familiarity with Python programming will be useful, as all technical tutorials will use this language. Basic knowledge of web publishing tools (such as WordPress or Observable) is also beneficial.
Submission process and deadline
Interested participants can submit their application, including the required information, via the following URL and send your curriculum vitae to: [email protected] and [email protected]. The application deadline is June 1st, and selected candidates will be notified by June 6th.
Cost
Thanks to the support of EPFL, the workshop is free of charge. Selected participants will only be responsible for covering their travel, accommodation, and meal expenses.
Support for Participation
To encourage student participation, six scholarships of 300 CHF each will be offered to help offset expenses for students coming from abroad. If you wish to apply for this financial support, please indicate it in the relevant section of the application form and briefly explain your reasons for requesting assistance.
Contact
For any further information please contact : [email protected] // [email protected]