Topic
The International Summer School on the topic “From collecting to discovering: Data Literacy for GLAM and Science” serves as an introductory week for students of the Master's program ‘Digital Methodology in the Humanities and Cultural Studies’. The focus is on imparting practical and theoretical knowledge about data management, analysis and interpretation, especially in dealing with digital data from galleries, libraries, archives, museums (GLAM) and research projects in the humanities and cultural studies.
In cooperation with the joint project HERMES – Humanities Education in Research, Data, and Methods, the Summer School also offers those interested in DH outside of the degree program the opportunity to get to know various facets of data collection and data analysis and to take their first steps in programming with Python.
The aim of the Summer School is to build up specialist knowledge of fundamental concepts, methods and tools that are used in a variety of humanities and cultural studies disciplines. At the same time, participants are encouraged to take a critical look at the opportunities and challenges of digital methods and to reflect on and discuss their impact on the research process, particularly with regard to questions of data ethics and the reusability of data and tools.
Students on the Master's degree program also have the opportunity to find out about the course in general and how it works.
Time and Schedule
Monday, 06.10.25, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Humanities Class)
| 10:00 – 10:45 | Franziska Klemstein, Torsten Schrade Welcome and Introduction / Orientation |
| 10:45 – 11:30 | Kai-Christian Bruhn, Peter Niedermüller Information session by program management and study management, followed by Q&A |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Refreshment break |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch break (Snacks provided) |
| 1:00 – 1:30 | Agnes Thomas, Kai-Christian Bruhn Introduction to mainzed |
| 1:30 – 2:00 | N.N. Focus Area Presentation 1: |
| 2:00 – 2:30 | N.N. Focus Area Presentation 2: |
| 2:30 – 3:00 | N.N. Focus Area Presentation 3: |
Tuesday, 07.10.25, 8:15 AM – 8:00 PM (University / Humanities Class / Kalkhof-Rose Hall / Foyer)
| 08:15 – 11:30 | Computer Science Lecture and Exercise (Mainz University of Applied Sciences) |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Kai-Christian Bruhn Guided tour (University campus) |
| afterwards | Lunch break (Self-catering) Transfer to the Academy |
| 2:00 – 2:30 | N.N. Focus Area Presentation 4: |
| 2:30 – 3:00 | N.N. Focus Area Presentation 5: |
| 3:00 – 3:30 | N.N. Focus Area Presentation 6: |
| 3:30 – 5:30 | Coffee chat with the student council |
| 6:00 | Claudius Geisler (Secretary General of the Academy) Welcome Address |
| afterwards | Mini concert: Jennifer Klein |
| 6:30 | N.N. Keynote (Registration requested) |
| from 8 PM | Networking evening in the foyer (Registration requested) |
Wednesday, 08.10.25, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Plenary Hall)
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Torsten Schrade, Dominik Kasper Basic Tools I |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | N.N. Introduction to Metadata for the Humanities (Part 1) |
| 12:30 – 1:30 | Lunch break (Snacks provided) |
| 1:30 – 3:00 | N.N. Introduction to Metadata for the Humanities (Part 2) |
| 3:00 – 3:30 | Coffee break |
| 3:30 – 5:00 | N.N. Datenbereinigung mit OpenRefine |
Thursday, 09.10.26, 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Plenary Hall / Mainz City Center)
| 9:00 – 10:30 | Torsten Schrade, Dominik Kasper Basic Tools II |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | N.N. The Humanist's Guide to Data Analysis Basics |
| 12:30 – 1:30 | Lunch break (Snacks provided) |
| 1:30 – 2:30 | N.N. Introduction to Python for the Humanities (Part 1) |
| 2:30 – 3:00 | Coffee break |
| 3:00 – 4:00 | N.N. Introduction to Python for the Humanities (Part 2) |
| afterwards | Transfer to the city center |
| 5:00 – 6:30 | City tour Meeting point: Gutenberg Monument on Gutenberg Square |
| afterwards | Wind down at a restaurant |
Friday, 10.10.25, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Mainz City Center / Plenary Hall)
| 09:00 – 12:00 | Visit to the Mainz City Archives |
| afterwards | Transfer to the Academy |
| 12:30 – 1:00 | Coffee break |
| 1:00 – 2:00 | Peter Niedermüller Questions about the study program |
| 2:00 – 3:00 | Dr. Franziska Klemstein Wrap-up and farewell |
Venue
The International Summer School is organized as an on site event. All events will take place at the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz.
Participation
Organizational notes
The Summer School addresses an international audience and is open to all students and/or researchers with a BA degree in the humanities, cultural sciences, computer science or information science. For a successful participation, credits according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) will be awarded. The working languages are German and English. The number of participants is limited to 40 people. Out of these, 25 spots are initially reserved for first-year students of the Mainz Master's program. 15 places will be open for application through the official call. A waiting list will be maintained to ensure that all spots can be filled.
Costs
There is no fee for the Summer School. We kindly thank NFDI4Culture and IEG Mainz for the financial funding of the event.
Registration
Students of the program are requested to register bindingly for the entire week via email until October 1, 2025. Please confirm, that we are allowed to forward your email address to the student council for further information about the course of study and the upcoming winter semester.
In addition, there are up to 15 places available for external applicants for the dates of October 8th to 10th. Please submit your application in electronic form (a brief letter of motivation and CV in PDF format) by June 30, 2025 to: ISS_mz@uni-mainz.de.
People
Many people are again involved in the planning and implementation of the ISS this year.
Degree program / Digital Academy
- Dr. Franziska Klemstein is responsible for the introductory courses as a tandem professor of the degree program. She has overall responsibility for the ISS.
- Prof. Torsten Schrade is head of the Digital Academy. He is particularly responsible for the area of web technologies in the degree program.
- Dominik Kasper is an employee of the Digital Academy in the DevOps department.
- Martin Sievers supports the planning and implementation of the ISS as overall coordinator of the Digital Academy.
Team HERMES
The content of this year's ISS on Wednesday and Thursday will be largely organized by employees of the HERMES project.