The first DiGA workshop aspires to establish and consolidate dialogue among scholars variously engaged in South Asian studies and Digital Humanities. Drawing sharp borders between disciplines and fields of research negatively affects the progress of knowledge; at DiGA we advocate for interoperability and exchange. 

The DiGA project does not intend to exist in isolation; it aims at exploring similar initiatives, focusing on the common objective of bringing collections to the Digital Space. The first DiGA workshop wants to showcase examples of best practice in South Asian studies in connection to the use of digital tools for dissemination, sharing and preservation of cultural heritage. Such an approach has long been adopted for manuscripts studies both in Buddhist and Brahmanic contexts; these results and ongoing endeavors cannot be ignored by archaeologists and art historians. This is particularly relevant when bridging collections of images and texts, one of DiGA's objectives. Key to the interoperability between databases of collections originally in various media is the implementation of vocabularies.

The DiGA workshop is organized in four thematic sessions and includes two roundtables for end of the day discussions. Our project will be introduced at the opening, then the floor for the following sessions is left to invited experts. The first session, devoted to Gandharan studies, will present recent studies and projects dedicated to this specific cultural area from the point of view of material culture. In the second session renowned experts in Digital Humanities will share their best practices and present a range of digital possibilities that have the potential to improve research in Gandharan studies and more broadly in South Asian studies. The third session includes projects focused on South Asia to surpass over-compartmentalization and aiming at a full interchangeability of data. The fourth and last session, is dedicated to current projects of Digital Humanities in Greater Gandhara and Central Asia, and shows how this field continuously progresses into the Digital Space. DiGA is already part of a network of DH applied to Buddhist studies, but intends to further cultivate its network, opening to other facets of digital South Asian studies, archaeology, art history, Indology. The sessions are split over two days, and, on both days, discussions will be concentrated in group roundtables that will invite participants to converse about selected topics. A key objective of the roundtables is to generate a network of scholars sharing common views on the future of South Asian studies and to build a community with a common interest in the intersection between South Asian Studies and Digital Humanities.

Places are only available with registration and can be booked via this link:

https://ruhr-uni-bochum.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Akdu2trj8sGNIhrmslrL8LIVorzIyb2ahO

Time specification: UTC/GMT +1 | Subject to change without notice 

Download the PDF Version here. 

The Roundtables Format is available here.