Digital Humanities Lab

The Digital Humanities Laboratory (DH Lab) is an interdisciplinary research center within the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz that focuses on integration, utilisation and development of novel methodologies to realise the immense potential of the existing resources (e.g., photo library, library, research findings) of the institute and pursue new research questions in the Arts, Humanities and Computer Science.

DH Lab brings together different expertise and research traditions: we provide novel perspectives and enable new empirical inquiries and theoretical contributions in the Humanities by adopting and tailoring different analytical methodologies and visualisation tools from the Computer Science field, while the new requirements defined by Humanities experts offer an alternative perspective to the mainstream approaches and dated models in the Computer Science.

Our Mission

We aim at developing cutting-edge and inclusive Digital Humanities research. To this end, we adopt novel methodologies to realise the immense potential of the existing rich institutional resources and to develop new research projects through international collaboration.

The Scope of the DH Lab

The DH Lab will provide a venue for discussions related to: the appropriate technological approaches and standards considering the needs and priorities of the domain experts; the impact of technology in the Humanities, with a focus on the scholarship of art history; the potential contributions of Digital Humanities to the field of Computer Science; and the adaptation of theoretical assumptions of these areas to computational models and to provide an innovative vision to be investigated and interpreted by Humanities experts.

1. Project development and innovative directions for existing projects/resources
2. Impact assessment of technology on Art History Scholarship
3. Improvement of strategic engagement with digital technologies across all research life cycle
4. Expertise in identifying and obtaining external support for DH projects, including advising on the project/grant application process and specifying technical/implementation details
5. Joint grant applications in collaboration with relevant local, regional, national and international institutions
6. Dissemination of research results to experts and the general public
7. Supports digital humanities skills acquisition for research and teaching purposes through consultations, training, and guest lectures
8. Shared resources designed for experts that create prototypes and experiments, focusing on research questions and innovative thinking
9. Enhancing collaboration with researchers and consortia at a global level