MeTe digital: Mediterranean networks between texts and contexts

The AIUCD 2024 conference is dedicated to the Mediterranean, understood as an inclusive space for cultural, literary, artistic, philosophical and scientific exchange. The primary objective is to privilege the role of the digital as both medium and methodology, through which it is possible to link texts and peoples, to foster dialogue between diverse cultures, and to generate virtual spaces for the sharing of texts and artefacts with shared cultural roots. Viewed in this way, the role of the digital can be conceived both with reference to the idea of textuality in its broadest sense and to the organisation of knowledge. Space will be given to theoretical and methodological reflections in digital philology and computational analysis, the organisation and preservation of digitised and born-digital collections, the application of Artificial Intelligence methods, and challenges in digital heritage conservation.

Without precluding the possibility of presenting work on other topics, we particularly welcome proposals on the following key themes of the conference:

1)    Digitised cultures of the Mediterranean

We welcome proposals regarding the organisation and management of digital collections relating to literary and philosophical texts, audio and oral materials pertaining to Mediterranean countries. This theme is intended to embrace all methodological aspects and issues relating to the application of Digital Humanities to the management of cultural objects.

2)  Digital archives and editions

We welcome both theoretical and applied proposals on (a) the representation and organisation of techniques and problems in the fields of digitisation, the organisation of born-digital heritage and methods for its archiving; (b) themes, issues, and applications pertaining to digital critical editions, to modes of visualisation and interrogation of online texts, and alternative means of encoding.

3)  Computational analysis of texts

We welcome proposals addressing methods and tools for the computational analysis of texts, including considerations on recent theoretical frameworks. Under this heading, we include the analysis of literary texts and corpora studies, be those about computational models for literary criticism or research into computational linguistics and natural language processing. Proposals on theoretical aspects and applications of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence techniques to material and immaterial cultural heritage are also welcome.

4)  Ontologies and the Semantic Web

Special attention will be given to knowledge representation and the use of Semantic Web and Linked Open Data technologies. We welcome proposals concerning the design of conceptual models, knowledge graphs, ontologies and technologies of the Semantic Web with respect to cultural heritage and the Digital Humanities, the creation of datasets and applications that conform to the FAIR principles, the production of Linked Open Data in these domains, as well as the automated extraction of metadata, named entities and models from cultural heritage resources.

5)  Preservation of memory and digital cultural heritage

We welcome proposals concerning memory and digital cultural heritage preservation, particularly relating to the research outputs in the Digital Humanities. We also encourage proposals addressing the challenges of digital infrastructure and the problems of sustainability posed by projects involving digitisation and the conservation of born-digital collections, as well as proposals on the implementation of best practices for the preservation of, and effective access to, cultural heritage.

Guidelines for the submission of proposals

Participation is possible in the form of an oral presentation (paper) or a poster.

Contributors must indicate whether their proposal is meant for an oral or a poster presentation. Following the peer review process, the Programme Committee will decide whether a proposal is better suited to an oral or a poster presentation. There is no qualitative difference between the two forms of presentation: oral presentations are generally more appropriate for theoretical and methodological work, including that relating to actual applications; posters, optionally presented with a demo, are better suited to the description of projects, tools or digital resources.

All proposals must be between three (3) and five (5) pages in length, including bibliography. Should the proposal be accepted, the maximum length of the camera-ready version will be six (6) pages, excluding bibliography.

Proposals must conform to the template provided and to the instructions given on the ‘information for authors’ page.

Proposals that do not adhere to the template or the instructions will be rejected.

Proposals must be submitted through the EasyChair platform.

Proposals must be anonymised. Author names and any internal references should be removed to the extent possible so as to not compromise reviewers' assessment of the proposal.

A maximum of 2 proposals per author are permitted across the 5 themes of the call. At the conference, authors will be allowed to present a maximum of two accepted contributions as either first or co-authors.

The official languages of the conference are Italian and English. Authors can present in either language, regardless of the one used in their written proposal.

Review criteria

The conference adopts a ‘double blind’ review process. Each proposal will be assessed by two reviewers, and a third one will be called upon to resolve conflicting reviews. Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• adherence to the template and related instructions;
• relevance of the proposal to the conference theme(s);
• innovation and significance of the proposal;
• methodological soundness;
• critical analysis of relevant literature, and an up-to-date bibliography;
• appropriateness of the theoretical and conceptual approach with respect to the domain under discussion;
• narrative and structural quality of the proposal;
• critical approach towards the methods and tools employed;
• reproducibility of the reported results (not relevant for theoretical discussions).

Publication of conference proceedings

Accepted proposals will be published ahead of the conference as Conference Proceedings in open access with a DOI and ISBN under the Proceedings heading of the “Umanistica Digitale” website. After the conference, authors will be given the opportunity to submit an extended version of their proposal to the “Umanistica Digitale” journal. Submissions to the journal will be subject to peer review.

The “Giuseppe Gigliozzi” Prize

AIUCD awards two prizes of 300 euros each, one for posters and one for presentations, to early career scholars (students, doctoral students, scholarship or grant holders) presenting at the conference.

The jury is composed of the two Chairs of the Conference, the President of AIUCD and two members of the Programme Committee.

To be eligible for the prize, candidates must:

• be young scholars on a fixed-term position (scholars, doctoral students, scholarship or grant holders);
• request to be considered for the prize by ticking the relevant box in the submission management portal of the conference (EasyChair);
• be the first author of the paper or poster proposal submitted (for multiple author proposals, the candidate’s specific contribution must be clearly indicated);
• present the paper/poster at the conference themselves.

Before the conference, the award jury will check submissions against these criteria and identify a shortlist of candidates. The winning paper and poster will be selected by the jury based on the quality of both content and delivery, and the winners will be announced during the conference.

Important Dates

The deadline for proposal submission is set to 23:59 on 19 January 2 February 2024 (CET/GMT+1).

Acceptance notifications will be sent out to the authors by 15 March 22 March 2024.

A camera-ready copy of the proposal must be submitted no later than 4 April 19 April 2024.