Starting on 12 JuneThe Digital Lunch Seminar Series is Back

16 May 2023

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

This summer semester, the CSMC is hosting the third edition of the Digital Lunch Seminar Series. Two researchers, one hour, one topic: by bringing together different areas of expertise, the series brings the idea of cross-disciplinary research to life.

On four Mondays in June and July, two researchers from CSMC and collaborating institutions will deliver a one-hour presentation of a joint research topic. What’s special about this format is that the pairs are made up of disciplines that usually rarely work together. The talks thus exemplify how scientists from over 40 disciplines from the humanities, the natural sciences, and the computer sciences at CSMC work together on the holistic study of written artefacts.

On 12 June, the archaeologist Christof Berns and the mineralogist Stelios Aspiotis will open the programme by reporting on their joint analyses of rock-based written artefacts in Miletus, one of the most important cities in Mediterranean antiquity. A week later, the archaeometrist Claudia Colini and the Islamic scholar Konrad Hirschler explain how they can use ink analyses to understand the history of the al-Jazzar library, a significant collection of volumes that was dispersed in the early 19th century. On 26 June, materials scientist Ira Rabin and medievalist Katrin Janz-Wenig from the Hamburg State and University Library will present their project on the libraries of Hamburg’s St Catherine’s Churches. Two weeks later, the book and media historian Agnieszka Helman-Wazny and beamline scientist Sylvio Haas from DESY conclude the programme. They will talk about their recently launched cooperation to conduct X-ray experiments on written artefacts from the Bon tradition.

The schedule as well as all abstracts and more information about the contributors and how to register is available on the event's website. All lectures will be held on Zoom.