Topic
Who owns our data? Who controls the algorithms that tap into our sources, search through our archives and analyse our texts? And what agency do researchers, institutions and societies have in an increasingly data-driven world?
These questions are at the heart of the 2026 International Summer School. Under the theme ‘Digital Sovereignty’, we will explore together what it means, in the humanities and cultural studies, not only to work with digital tools but also to…
Digital sovereignty is more than a technical concept. It describes the ability of individuals, communities and institutions to make self-determined decisions about their digital resources, infrastructures and practices. For the humanities and cultural studies, this means: Who decides which texts, images and objects are digitised and made discoverable? What interests lie behind the platforms on which we conduct research and publish? And how can the reusability of research data be reconciled with the protection of sensitive or culturally significant collections?
ISS 2026 addresses these areas of tension – from practical, theoretical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Through workshops, lectures and group discussions, we will not only explore concepts such as data sovereignty, open infrastructures, Linked Open Data and algorithmic transparency, but also test and scrutinise them using concrete examples from libraries, archives, museums and research in the humanities.
The week is aimed at first-year students on the Master’s programme ‘Digital Methodology in the Humanities and Cultural Studies’, as well as at all researchers who are wondering what a sovereign, critically reflective digital research practice might look like. Prior knowledge of computer science is welcome but not a prerequisite – what is needed above all is curiosity, a willingness to engage in discussion, and an interest in understanding digital tools not as ‘black boxes’ but as instruments that can be shaped.
Welcome to orbit.
Time and Schedule
Monday, 05.10.26, 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM (Humanities Class)
| 10:00 – 10:45 | Torsten Schrade Welcome and Introduction / Orientation |
| 10:45 – 12:00 | Kai-Christian Bruhn and Peter Niedermüller Information session by program management and study management, followed by Q&A |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch break (Snacks provided) |
| 1:00 – 1:30 | Agnes Thomas and Kai-Christian Bruhn Introduction to mainzed |
| 1:30 – 2:00 | Kai-Christian Bruhn Focus Area Presentation Module 209A: Digital Archaeology |
| 2:00 – 2:30 | Stefanie Acquavella-Rauch and Albert Gräf Focus Area Presentation Module 209B: Digital Musicology |
| 2:30 – 3:00 | Coffee break |
| 3:00 – 3:30 | Gerhard Lauer and Christoph Rösener Focus Area Presentation Module 209D: Digital Text and Translation Studies |
| 3:30 – 4:00 | Patrick Brookshire Focus Area Presentation Module 209D: Digital Philology of Editions |
| 4:00 – 4:30 | Michael Wand Focus Area Presentation Module 209E: Modeling (Computer Science) |
Tuesday, 06.10.26, 8:15 AM – 8:00 PM (University of Applied Sciences / 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 BruhnJoined tour |
| afterwards | Lunch break (Self-catering) Transfer to the Academy |
| 3:00 – 4:30 | Coffee chat with the student council |
| 5:00 | Claudius Geisler (Secretary General of the Academy) Welcome Address |
| afterwards | Mini concert: Jennifer Klein |
| 5:30 | N.N. Keynote |
| from 7 PM | Networking evening in the foyer (Registration requested) |
Wednesday, 07.10.26, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Plenary Hall)
| 9:00 – 10:30 | Torsten Schrade and Dominik Kasper Basic Tools I |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | N.N. TBA |
| 12:30 – 1:30 | Lunch break (Snacks provided) |
| 1:30 – 3:00 | N.N. TBA |
| 3:00 – 3:30 | Coffee break |
| 3:30 – 5:00 | N.N. TBA |
Thursday, 08.10.26, 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Plenary Hall / Mainz City Center)
| 9:00 – 10:30 | Torsten Schrade and Dominik Kasper Basic Tools II |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | N.N. TBA |
| 12:30 – 1:30 | Lunch break (Snacks provided) |
| 1:30 – 2:30 | N.N. TBA |
| 2:30 – 3:00 | Coffee break |
| 3:00 – 4:00 | N.N. TBA |
| afterwards | Transfer to the city center |
| 5:00 – 6:30 | City tour Meeting point: Gutenberg Monument on Gutenberg Square |
| afterwards | Wind down at the restaurant “El Burro” |
Friday, 09.10.26, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Humanities Class / Plenary Hall)
| 9:00 – 10:30 | N.N. TBA |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Torsten Schrade Wrap-up / Official closing of ISS 2026 |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Peter Niedermüller Questions about the study program |
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, 2026. 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 July 31, 2026 to: ISS_mz@uni-mainz.de.
People
Many people are again involved in the planning and implementation of the ISS this year.
Degree program
- Prof. Dr. Kai-Christian Bruhn is program coordinator (“Studiengangsbeauftragter”) for the degree program.
- Prof. Dr. Peter Niedermüller is research manager (“Studienmanager”) for the degree program.
- Prof. Torsten Schrade is head of the Digital Academy. He is particularly responsible for the area of web technologies in the degree program. He has overall responsibility for the ISS.
Digital Academy
- Dominik Kasper is an employee of the Digital Academy in the DevOps department. Together with his colleagues he is also responsibly for the technical infrastructure (Pi-Lab).
- Martin Sievers supports the planning and implementation of the ISS as overall coordinator of the Digital Academy.