FIN-CLARIAH Summer meeting: Networks and communities

The FIN-CLARIAH Summer meeting takes place in Joensuu on 11 and 12 June, 2026. This year’s program brings together thematic plenary sessions and dedicated time to share ongoing work across the consortium. Our focus is on the relationships between digital materials, from texts to multimodal content and their creators, and the networks and communities that emerge around them.

We have two invited speakers. Ruth Ahnert is Professor of Literary History & Digital Humanities at Queen Mary University, London. She works at the crossroads of literary studies and computational linguistics, with an interest in networks.

Tuija Saresma is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Eastern Finland. Her work focuses on e.g. language tensions and hate speech on social media.

The program also includes presentations of tools and services developed within the FIN-CLARIAH network, and an impact roadshow showcasing research outputs of the infrastructure.

Welcome to Joensuu!

Venue: Aurora building, Yliopistokatu 2, Joensuu Campus, University of Eastern Finland (map)

Register by 29 May, 2026 here: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/EP/ACBF9189CE773E03

Preliminary program:

Thursday 11 June, 2026:

16.00-16.10 Opening and welcome (Mikko Laitinen)

16.10-17.10 Prof. Ruth Ahnert (Queen Mary University): Letter networks and the problem of aliases

Abstract: How do you reconstruct a network designed not to be seen? This talk will introduce a computational method for identifying aliases in early modern correspondence and demonstrates its value through the intelligence networks of late Elizabethan England. This network-based approach generates candidate alias matches by analysing shared correspondents and structural patterns, which can then be tested against manual analysis of handwriting, textual detail, and documentary context. Applied to the British State Papers, the method both supports existing scholarly identifications and produces new, testable proposals, while also revealing the logistical strategies — letter bundling, role[1]sharing, and controlled information flow — that underpinned these networks

17.15-18.15 FIN-CLARIAH Board meeting

19-21 Get together (for FIN-CLARIAH partners, self-funded)

Friday 12 June, 2026:

9.00-11.00 Select infrastructure tool/services presentations (UEF, COMHIS, Semantic Computing Research Group)

11.00-12.00 Prof. Tuija Saresma (University of Eastern Finland): Title TBA

12.00-13.00 Lunch break (self-funded)

13.00-14.15 Research output harvest (short presentations of published research using the infrastructure: please contact us if you’d like to present your work!)

14.15-14.30 Farewell coffee

For any questions, please contact Mikko Laitinen and/or Paula Rautionaho (firstname.lastname at uef.fi).