SADiLaR Elevates Its International Stature from Poland to Italy – A North-West University Milestone
In a recent academic sojourn aimed at enhancing global partnerships and knowledge sharing, Professor Menno van Zaanen took the helm of SADiLaR’s mission to the University of Gdańsk in Poland. This visit marks a significant step in SADiLaR’s journey towards fostering international collaboration and research in the digital humanities sphere.
Invited by Dr. Karolina Rudnicka from the Faculty of Languages, Professor van Zaanen’s two-week visit was part of the University of Gdańsk’s 4th ‘Visiting Professors UG’ initiative. This program strives to globalize the educational experience by bringing together esteemed scholars and the international academic community.
During his stay in May 2024, Professor van Zaanen engaged in multiple activities, including delivering guest lectures, embarking on a collaborative research project with students, and working towards an interdisciplinary research publication with Dr. Rudnicka.
Reflecting on the visit, Dr. Rudnicka remarked, “Meeting Menno last year at SADiLaR built the foundation for this enriching collaboration. Our shared interests paved the way for his visit to Gdańsk, which not only benefited our students and faculty but also provided Menno with a glimpse into our vibrant city and its natural beauty.”
In his lectures, Professor van Zaanen illuminated the intersecting paths of computer science and digital humanities. By sharing his early experiences and the challenges encountered, he underscored the potential that digital tools and computational techniques offer to humanities and social sciences.
His second lecture delved into the formal mechanisms of studying natural language learning, featuring mathematical models to understand syntax in language learning. This approach sheds light on the formalisms dictating sentence structure and the learning process itself.
The collaboration with students on analyzing the social networks within Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” brought unexpected insights, revealing differences in social networks across translations. This project not only stimulated student involvement in digital humanities research but also aimed at yielding academic outputs through conference presentations and journal publications.
Following the project, Professor van Zaanen’s venture led him to Torino, Italy, for the LREC-COLING 2024 Conference. Alongside SADiLaR’s Dr. Muzi Matfunjwa, they showcased the Fifth Resources for African Indigenous Languages (RAIL) workshop, focusing on the computational linguistic tools and data collections pertinent to African indigenous languages.
Professor van Zaanen expressed his enthusiasm for the RAIL workshop, emphasizing the urgent need for resources in African languages to advance in Human Language Technologies and Natural Language Processing tools. The workshop offered a collaborative platform for researchers to share insights and strategies for enhancing language resource development for Africa’s under-resourced languages. The event highlighted the shared challenges and triumphs in the realm of low-resource language research, fostering a community of practice eager to explore and innovate.
The journey from Poland to Italy symbolizes a leap forward for SADiLaR, showcasing its commitment to elevating the visibility and impact of digital humanities research on a global stage. This initiative not only advances SADiLaR’s mission but also highlights the critical role of international collaboration in pushing the boundaries of digital humanities and computational linguistics.
As SADiLaR continues to harness its international relations, the benefits ripple out, offering new perspectives, methodologies, and insights into the fusion of technology and humanities. This international footprint reflects SADiLaR’s dedication to pioneering initiatives that enrich the global digital humanities landscape.
