Venice Digital and Public Humanities Summer School

Introduction

This week represented a third week in a row where I engaged with leading scholars on subjects relevant to my passion in the digital humanities. In the end of June, I participated in the Leipzig Summer School in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (read more here) followed by a week at the University of Antwerp’s Digital Humanities Summer School (more here). I was privileged to spend the past week (July 8-12, 2024) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice’s Digital and Public Humanities Summer School. Unlike some of the previous programs I attended, this summer school was quite competitive with only 25 spots for nearly 100 applicants. The program “provides advanced and in-depth training in theories, technologies and methods applied to historical monuments, artefacts and texts” (see fuller description here).

Program

The five-day program focused on historical, archaeological, cultural, artistic, and literary materials from Venetian sites and institutions with an emphasis on gaining competency in both applying computational methods as well as digitizing sources and results. The curriculum included, inter alia, sessions on eye-tracking experimentation, imaging technologies, digital scholarly text editions, as well as keynote lectures by scholars such as Maurizio Forte (Duke University), Peter Robinson (University of Saskatchewan), and Fabrizio Nevola (University of Exeter). But rather than lecture to us in a hot classroom the whole time, the school offered a more interactive experience by also taking the participants on tours of various historic locations, museums, and cultural institutions around Venice. For example, we received guided tours of the M9 Museum of the 20th Century in Mestre, the Peggy Guggenheim Museum which houses her personal collection of modern art, and the 60th Biennale International Art Exhibition with this year’s theme “Foreigners Everywhere.” There were two sessions which I found particularly interesting: First was Fabrizio Nevola’s walkthrough of the History City Apps (see here), specifically the Hidden Venice app which is a free walking trail app that takes users on historic trails through Venice where they can hear stories about famous places and events from the first-person narratological perspective of historical (non-fiction) characters. The second was a trip to the Piraeus Lion (Italian: Leone del Pireo), one of four lion statues on display at the Venetian Arsenal (i.e., a large production center including shipyards and armories in pre-industrial Venice). Made of white marble, the Piraeus Lion was originally located in the Piraeus harbor in Athens where it was inscribed with runic inscriptions by Scandinavian merchants sometime in the 11th century before it was looted by the naval commander Francesco Morosini in 1687 during the Great Turkish War (aka The War of the Holy League; ca. 1683-1699). It is well-known, of course, that the image of the lion has long been a symbol of the Republic of Venice. Besides these, I’d be remiss not to mention how much I also enjoyed Herr Prof. Dr. Franz Fischer’s sessions on digital textual scholarship and his enlightening conversation over lunch during our “Meet the Expert” session.

Social Atmosphere

The highlight of the summer school was the social atmosphere, including its location in the beautiful and historic old city of Venice as well as the other students I had the pleasure of meeting. I’ll often think of my new friends and colleagues from Spain, Belgium, Italy, Pittsburgh and elsewhere, and I was especially pleased that a good friend from Universität Hamburg also attended. When we weren’t engaged with the summer school activities, you could often find us at one of the local bars drinking (one too many) aperol spritzes. (If I counted correctly, I surpassed 30 spritzes for the entire week, all thanks to the scorching Venetian heat, of course.)

Conclusion

Reflecting on my time at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice’s Digital and Public Humanities Summer School, I am grateful for the enriching experiences and the knowledge gained. The program enhanced my skills in the digital humanities, but even more so my appreciation for Venice’s cultural heritage. The interactive nature of the program, combined with explorations of historic sites and museums, created an unforgettable educational journey. But perhaps most worthwhile were the connections I made with colleagues and friends from around the world, our engaging conversations, and the new perspectives they provided on my research. I already can’t wait to return to Venice, although next time probably not during the summer months.

About The Author

Matthew Saunders

Matthew Saunders is a PhD student in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He researches the languages and literatures of the ancient Near East, especially Aramaic Studies, Ugaritic Studies, and Comparative Semitics.

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