fortext lab

#DH2026 CFP is now live! Submit your work on fostering meaningful connection between communities, cultures and emerging technologies.

🔗 Visit to learn more and submit your entry: dh2026.adho.org/cfp/: dh2026.adho.org/cfp/

🗓️ Deadline: Dec 8, 2025
#DigitalHumanities #DH2026 #Engagement

But our primarily non-digital courses will surely also contain some computational elements (we just can't do without). We're looking forward to an exciting and insightful term! (4/4)

➡️ @julianhaeussler.bsky.social will run a seminar on "Computational Narratology". For our mostly non-digital audience we also provide a seminar on "Scandal and conflict" as well as the usual introduction to German Literary Studies. (3/4)

➡️ @evelyngius.bsky.social will teach a practical course titled "Manual Annotation and more: CATMA and GitMA" as well as a seminar on "Artificial intelligance in literary studies and literature teaching". (2/4)

What can students of #ComputationalLiteraryStudies and #DigitalHumanities @tuda.bsky.social expect in the coming months? A brief overview of the fortext lab's teaching activities: (1/4)

It’s already clear how vital and successful the Priority Programme has been for advancing CLS in Germany! It’s inspiring to see how much the projects have achieved — and how many exciting new collaborations and ideas have grown from this network. We can’t wait to see what’s next! (4/4)

First slide of a presentation titled "PLANS Project Report. October 2025".

Haimo Stiemer standing in front of a slide outlining a talk. The slide reads as follows: "Agenda, 1. Key Challenges of Computational Narratology, 2. ChiA (Characters in Action) and REA (Actantial model), 3. Narrative Similarity, 4. Data exploration plot units, 5. Ongoing cooperation & planned output".

As part of the program, @hanshatzel.bsky.social, @evelyngius.bsky.social & @haimostiemer.bsky.social presented our current work on the PLANS project — including analyses based on our full dataset on modeling Plot Units. Our @narrativesimtask.bsky.social also sparked lively discussion! (3/4)

We especially appreciated the evening talks:
➡️ Jan Rybicki (Jagiellonian University) asked whether #ChatGPT could imitate Hemingway,
➡️ Katherine Bode (Australian National University) explored the materiality of #computing,
➡️ Damien Garreau (University of Würzburg) introduced #explainableAI. (2/4)

Entrance to the Zentrum Philologie und Digitalitität at the University of Würzburg.

At this week’s closing meeting of the DFG Priority Programme Computational Literary Studies at @uni-wuerzburg.de, 19 talks were presented and discussed over 4 days with more than 40 participants. An inspiring week full of exchange and ideas! #ComputationalLiteraryStudies #CLS #DH (1/4)

Pieces from the game Bananagrams spelling "fortext".

In the evenings we strolled around the old town of Fulda and had dinner together. And the last point of order always had to be a round of Bananagrams! From now on a must for all future team retreats! (4/4)

The view of Fulda from the Tagungskloster Frauenberg.

The second day was also dedicated to talking about a grant proposal to come. We brainstormed claims, impact and outputs we would like to see covered in the project. (3/4)

A flip chart which reads, in German, "Good Morning", "How am I doing today?" and "1 thing that excited me the most this year".

Everyday started with a quick check-in to warm up (see an example below), followed by either project discussions or planning sessions. Twice a year we review the projects and tasks of the last six months and make a preliminary plan for the next six. (2/4)

The fortext lab. Six people standing on a lawn in front of some trees.

Small sign on a table that says "fortext".

Last week we got together for our yearly lab retreat! For 2,5 days we planned, discussed and brainstormed together, tucked away in a monastery (no joke) in beautiful Fulda. (1/4)

A big thank you to the organizers of “Network as Method”: @lealiese.bsky.social, Urs Büttner & @yasharmohagheghi.bsky.social – to @hjischauer.bsky.social, and to everyone in the discussion. It was inspiring! 🙏 (5/5)

➡️ With Kleist’s "The Earthquake in Chile", ChiA shows how Josephe & Jeronimo shift from active figures to passive objects. A network graph makes such dynamics visible and opens new views on narrative structure, power, and complexity. (4/5)

➡️ In this way, ChiA takes up Franco Moretti’s idea that plots can be quantified through character constellations. And it even goes further: Instead of focusing only on presence or relations, it adds a new dimension – the varying degrees of agency that characters display. (3/5)

➡️ ChiA (Character in Action) models character networks based on agency and goes beyond frequency counts: It traces agency – the intentional action of characters and the assumption of low-level or passive roles. This makes shifts in character's participation in events visible across the text. (2/5)

Title slide of a presentation on "Handlungsmacht in Figurennetzwerken" (Agency in character networks)

At #Germanistentag 2025's panel "Network as Method", @haimostiemer.bsky.social presented the ChiA project, developed at @fortextlab.bsky.social in collaboration with @evelyngius.bsky.social. #germanistik #CLS #fortextlab @tu-braunschweig.de (1/5)

We are looking forward to many more CRETA-Werkstätten. Should you be interested in taking part in the CRETA coaching, check their socials regularly: @cretaverein.bsky.social! (4/4)

A meeting room. Three people seated and looking at a slide projected on the wall. The slide depicts several logos of the CRETA association.

They have presented projects on Computational Literary Studies, Knowledge Representation and Computational Social Science. A small part of the first day was also dedicated to a look back on ten years of the CRETA community, including a sneak peek at the development of the CRETA logo! (3/4)

The sign at the entrance of the University of Stuttgart's Eulenhof with the shadow of a person standing in front of it.

The CRETA-Werkstatt took place at University of Stuttgart's lovely Eulenhof. Most of the time was dedicated to discussing current projects and collecting informal feedback. At the heart of the CRETA-Werkstatt, however, lies the presentation of the dissertation projects of the CRETA coachees. (2/4)

The entrance to the University of Stuttgart's Eulenhof.

Good research needs strong scientific communities! That's why earlier this week, fortext lab members @evelyngius.bsky.social, Stefanie Messner and @julianhaeussler.bsky.social attended the CRETA-Werkstatt. A gathering of the Centre for Reflected Text Analysis (@cretaverein.bsky.social). (1/4)

In Würzburg, we’ll also reflect more broadly on the challenges of computational narratology using NLP methods. Exchange with colleagues from other projects has been - and remains - an essential part of our work. (3/3)

Yesterday @evelyngius.bsky.social, @hanshatzel.bsky.social & @haimostiemer.bsky.social discussed the project’s milestones for the coming months. We’re especially excited about our DFG Priority Program’s final conference in early October @uni-wuerzburg.de! (2/3)

A medium-sized boxy building, signs on the lawn indicate that the building is located on a University campus.

We are in the university campus quiz category. Who knows where the PLANS project met yesterday? In PLANS we explore text phenomena relevant for action and tackle CLS challenges like segmentation. #fortext #CLS #DigitalHumanities #DH #CompLit (1/3)

Thanks to Cody Kommers, Drew Hemment & all co-authors for a thought-provoking debate 🙏
Grateful to Alan Turing Institute, Univ. of Edinburgh, AHRC-UKRI & partners for supporting this vital work.
The conversation is just beginning – excited to continue! (4/4)

➡️ The white paper calls for the humanities, arts and qualitative social sciences to be seen as integral and not just supplementary to technical innovation. It outlines key action areas and next steps to make this vision real. #DoingAIDifferently #ResponsibleAI #HumanCenteredAI (3/4)

➡️ As AI becomes ever more embedded in healthcare, education, culture, and daily life, it’s not enough for systems to be efficient or accurate. They also need to engage with cultural complexity, contextual nuance, and the richness of human experience...(2/4)

A lot has happened over the summer break. One highlight: the white paper Doing AI Differently from the Alan Turing Institute – co-authored by @EvelynGius along with 50+ international colleagues.
Core message: We need a fundamental shift in AI development! 👉 www.turing.ac.uk/news/publica... (1/4)

Getting ready for next semester or curious if your idea fits our call? Check it out and join the conversation – We’re excited to hear from you! 👉 journal.fortext.org/article/id/4... (3/3)