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Project

Towards the Integration of DH/AI-Methodologies in the Study of the Transmission of Text, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (LECTIO)

The main objective of LECTIO (Leuven Institute for the Study of the Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance) is to bring interdisciplinary research in the field of pre-modern intellectual history and the science of text editing to the next level. It builds on the strong and unique Leuven tradition of philology-based historical, philosophical, linguistic, juridical and theological research, reaching back to the foundation of the Collegium Trilingue (1517). As a Leuven Institute, LECTIO aims at brokering a methodological renewal in intellectual history which is now urgent because of developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Humanities (DH). This methodological renewal allows for new interpretations of existing sources. Moreover, there is a constant stream of new source material that becomes available as new texts are being discovered (e.g. papyri, medieval manuscripts, student notes from the Renaissance). Since its recognition as a centre of excellence in 2010, LECTIO has successfully stimulated collaboration between researchers from the Institute of Philosophy, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, and experts from KU Leuven Libraries. Over the next three years, then, LECTIO wants to extend its collaboration to experts in the Group of Science and Technology and experts in the history of the Faculty of Medicine from Biomedical Sciences.

Date:1 Apr 2020 →  Today
Keywords:digital humanities
Disciplines:History of ideas, Philology, History of economic thought, History of law, History of medicine, Ancient history, Medieval history, Early modern history, Data mining, Computational linguistics, Theory and methodology of language studies not elsewhere classified, History of art, Artificial intelligence not elsewhere classified