Gerben Zaagsma

AI assistants in the archive and the lure of ‘instant history’ AI assistants are increasingly used for navigating and analysing the contents of major archives. Applying Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to existing

Next week (19.11), @finolafinn.bsky.social 's presentation at @c2dh.uni.lu @uni.lu

#AI #Archive #DigitalHumanities

www.uni.lu/c2dh-en/even...

Released 37 years ago
Fugazi, also known as EP 7 Songs, is Fugazi's eponymous debut release, available in record stores in November 1988 with this opening track

Waiting Room – live at the Wilson Center 1988

#punk #punkrock #hardcorepunk #fugazi #history #punkrockhistory #otd

Sudan civil war spiralling out of control, UN secretary general says António Guterres calls for the violence to end but there appears little appetite for ceasefire proposed by US The UN secretary general, António Guterres has said the war in Sudan is spiralling out of control as he called for a halt to the fighting and an end to the violence. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are reportedly backed by the United Arab Emirates, seized El Fasher in Darfur last week after a near 18-month siege. Some of its soldiers have posted videos of civilians being shot, including in the town’s maternity hospital. Continue reading...

Sudan civil war spiralling out of control, UN secretary general says

There must be consequences: Accountability for war crimes can help stop attacks on hospitals Dr Suleiman Qaoud at the Rantisi Specialist Hospital after Israeli attacks on the facility on 6 November 2023 (Photo: Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera) The doctors assumed that a well-marked hospita…

The world has collectively refused to hold accountable those who attack hospitals in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Gaza, and now Sudan 👇

Without consequences and accountability, such attacks on sacred sites of healing a s care won’t stop: justiceinconflict.org/2025/07/02/t... #KeepEyesOnSudan #NotATarget

thank you @miaout.bsky.social 😁

History of Digital History between East and West This workshop will address the history of digital history by enlarging the scope outside of the United States and Western Europe, taking into account crucial developments elsewhere which have often be...

👉 The program for our workshop History of Digital History between East and West is online.

5-6 february 2026 at the @c2dh.uni.lu, remote participation is possible. More information in the link below.

#digitalhistory
#dhist
#digitalhumanities
www.uni.lu/c2dh-en/even...

De cover van mijn proefschrift laat een bladzijde zien uit een muziekmanuscript van Ignace Lilien. Tussen de regels heeft hij een ooggetuigenverslag geschreven: ‘Ik komponeerde dit werk toen de vreselijke razzia’s op de joden in 1941 plaats hadden. Nu – terwijl ik het copieer wordt door de Duitse soldaten (net tegenover mijn huis) een huiszoeking gedaan, en de man gearresteerd! 12.4.1945. De vrouw staat met 2 kinderen huilend voor het huis. Hij schijnt wapens bezeten te hebben? Dus doodsoordeel??’

Op 29 oktober verdedig ik mijn proefschrift ‘Caught in a web of silence: composers in Dutch music history 1920-1955 and the impact of World War II’. Bijna 5 jaar deed ik fulltime onderzoek naar componisten die in de Tweede Wereldoorlog vervolgd werden. Meer informatie: tinyurl.com/3r3jt645. 🧵

Opinie: ‘Amsterdams Stadsarchief staat op het punt onbruikbaar te worden’ Het Stadsarchief van Amsterdam, essentieel voor onderzoekers én burgers, staat op het punt een nieuw, ondoorgrondelijk zoeksysteem in te voeren. Dat zou grote gevolgen hebben, schrijven hoogleraren Ju...

Er dreigt iets helemaal mis te gaan in het Amsterdamse stadsarchief, zeggen Charles Jeurgens, Fred van Lieburg en ik in Het Parool www.parool.nl/columns-opin...

Do not use a football match to start equating fans of a specific Israeli football team with all Jews, because that is supposed to be what responsible politicians are trying to avoid in condemning Israeli bombing but not associating this with a religion.

Can we hope that when (if?) the war in Gaza in over the world, and especially the West will finally turn their attention to this mass murder. The violence is bankrolled by the West's closest allies/partners, it's not like there is no leverage and it is just a local fight. Or am I just too naive?

46 years ago
Members of British ska groups The Selecter, Madness and The Specials on Brighton Beach at the first date of the 2 Tone Tour in October 1979.

Photo by Chalkie Davies

#punkrock #ska #thespecials #madness #theselecter #history #skahistory

The second History of Knowledge Conference has come to an end. Over three intense days in Lund, around a hundred researchers have explored the history of knowledge from various perspectives.

It has been a real pleasure to host this conference and organise it with my wonderful colleagues at LUCK.

skål Henk, en groeten uit Lund waar History of Knowledge morgen begint :)

Look at our lovely autumn/winter @ihr.bsky.social Digital History seminar schedule, including talks from @bamcshane.bsky.social @jeroenputtevils.bsky.social @rubenros.bsky.social @thomassmits.bsky.social @melvinwevers.bsky.social and more! #dhist

@gerbenzaagsma.bsky.social and I are looking for a good wiki hosting partner. Any tips? #wiki #academicbsky #mediawiki

Open call for PhD candidates, Post-Docs and Senior Researchers
We offer 3 fellowships for visiting researchers in 2026
Seize the opportunity and apply before 15.10.2025
www.uni.lu/c2dh-en/news...

This by Alex de Waal is incisive as usual:

Israel’s food points are not just death traps – they’re an alibi for the starvation of Gaza | Alex de Waal

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The EU deserves a credible antisemitism coordinator.

After von Schnurbein's deeply troubling statements - framing bake sales as antisemitic and suggesting that Hamas is behind mass protests across Europe - she lost all credibility.

We call for her immediate replacement 👇

An important read that includes some very pertinent observations on the abuse of antisemitism accusations in relation to Gaza, moral selectivity, and the future of Holocaust studies and genocide scholarship.

Hoho-zang uit 1930 keert terug naar Indonesisch dorp: ‘Ik kon niet vermoeden hoeveel emoties de overdracht zou losmaken’ Terugkeer: Cultureel musicoloog Barbara Titus is twee weken in Indonesië voor het restitutieproject ‘Stemmen die naar huis terugkeren’: ze brengt oude geluidsopnames van lokale zang, die in Amsterdam ...

Lees dit stuk:

Cultureel musicoloog Barbara Titus is twee weken in Indonesië voor het restitutieproject ‘Stemmen die naar huis terugkeren’: ze brengt oude geluidsopnames van lokale zang, die in Amsterdam lagen opgeslagen, terug naar het dorp waar ze zijn opgenomen.

www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

‘The American system is being destroyed’: academics on leaving US for ‘scientific asylum’ in France Almost 300 researchers have applied for positions at Aix-Marseille University after Trump unleashed his attack on academia

The term “scientific asylum” is gross. None of these people are individually targeted and most can continue to work in more luxury than most colleagues in Europe.

I understand their desire to leave — I want to leave too — but I really wish this topic was addressed more critically by the media.

De zichtbare en onzichtbare invloed van Israël in de Tweede Kamer Politici en Israël: Pro-Israëlische lobbyisten worden in de Tweede Kamer warm onthaald, terwijl VN-functionarissen worden geweigerd. Over de pro-Israëlische lobby in de politiek en de AIVD die…

Pro-Israëlische lobbyisten worden in de Tweede Kamer warm onthaald, terwijl VN-functionarissen worden geweigerd. Israël heeft zowel zichtbaar als onzichtbaar invloed op Tweede Kamerleden. De AIVD benoemt Israëls heimelijke invloed niet. buff.ly/rww1K1r

Cultuurvernietiging als oorlogsdoel in Gaza, Oekraïne en elders: de identiteit van een volk uitwissen, en dan het volk zelf Cultuurvernietiging: Het bewust vernietigen van een cultuur – historische gebouwen en kunst, maar ook taal en eetgewoonten – is een vast onderdeel van oorlogen. In Gaza is het volgens aanklagers onder...

Cultuurvernietiging als oorlogsdoel in Gaza, Oekraïne en elders: de identiteit van een volk uitwissen, en dan het volk zelf www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Call for Papers: Workshop History of Digital History between East and West This workshop will address these blind spots by focusing attention on the question of how the local and the transnational intersected in the technology-inflected reshaping of historical research pract...

Workshop History of Digital History between East and West (5-6 February 2026)
📣❗ Extended deadline for abstracts: 27 June
#digitalhistory #dhist #digitalhumanities
www.uni.lu/c2dh-en/news...

So much to say about this topic, but perhaps a good framework to reference here:

LLMs ultimately intensify global inequalities already established by existing infrastructures, be it archives, platforms or otherwise.

See this article by @gerbenzaagsma.bsky.social :
academic.oup.com/dsh/article/...

NIOD Rewind Episode 43 - Hunger as a Weapon of War & Genocide NIOD Rewind Podcast on War & Violence · Episode

Executive Director Alex de Waal recently sat with @niodamsterdam.bsky.social to discuss how #hunger can be used as a political-military instrument of #power —from the Dutch Hunger Winter of WWII to Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, and Gaza today.

Listen to the podcast here: open.spotify.com/episode/581t...

Zeer lezenswaardig interview met Uğur Umit Ungör vandaag in de Volkskrant:

Erg goed stuk waarin definitiekwesties helder worden uitgelegd en gecontextualiseerd, inclusief de vraag naar de neveneffecten van een fixatie op het begrip genocide. Aanrader.

1) The PKK leadership has announced the organisation’s disarmament&dissolution. A couple of points stand out from the statement:

i) Criticism of the Lausanne Treaty that marks the foundation of the Republic of Turkey&the 1924 Constitution as the landmarks of denying Kurdish existence as a people

👉 reminder for our call for papers:

Workshop History of #DigitalHistory between East and West

- 5-6 February 2026 @c2dh.uni.lu
- Deadline for abstracts: 29 May

#dhist #digitalhumanities @hdsmtudarmstadt.bsky.social @juliannenyhan.bsky.social @cinehisto.bsky.social