HRC presents LitFest 2023 from August 30 to September 2
The Humanities Research Center is pleased to announce the program for our fall literary festival at DKU. The festival features four keynote speakers including authors and critics, and provides students with the opportunity to engage in small seminars with the keynote speakers over a two day conference on Friday and Saturday, September 1-2.
In addition, students can learn about the research labs and projects that are sponsored by the HRC. This is a good way to discover opportunities for research and to meet the faculty and students who are involved.
The festival also celebrates the launch of the new creative writing track as part of the Global Cultural Studies major.
The conference will be preceded by two award-winning film screenings introduced by DKU students and will conclude with literary readings from DKU students, faculty and guests.
Register to attend the LitFest here by Monday 28 August at 9am.
Please note that the program may be subject to modification. (more…)
Call for Proposals for Academic Year 2023-2024
The DKU Humanities Research Center (HRC) invites proposals from all DKU/Duke faculty and affiliates working on humanities-related projects. Projects should be based at DKU and/or connect Duke and DKU faculty. Proposals should be sent to James Miller <jem122@duke.edu> by June 15, 2023, with decisions to be announced by July 1, 2023.
- Small Events
- Large Events
- Book Manuscript Workshops
Third Space Lab – DKU Multilingual Storybook
Launched on May 11th, DKU Multilingual Storybook is an intercultural project initiated by the Third Space Lab in which DKU students create, translate, and illustrate. The children’s stories are written in Professor Stephanie Anderson’s LIT109: Writing Stories for Children classes and translated in Professor Emmanuelle Chiocca’s French102: Beginning French 2 classes, with illustrations from a small number of DKU student illustrators and CISK students. This is a non-profit project and the content contained in it is licensed and not for commercial use.
You can find the DKUY Multilingual Storybook here.
Bonne lecture!
2023 Computational Humanities Symposium
Please join us on May 12th, 2023 at the Computational Humanities Symposium at Duke Kunshan University – a hybrid event that will bring together leading experts on the intersection of computational studies and the humanities! (more…)
Computational Humanities Seminar Series: Estimating Remaining Lifespan from the Face
Computational Humanities Seminar Series
Date: Feb 24 (Friday) 10 AM, China time
Meeting ID: 987 3096 4006
Passcode: 2023
Abstract: The face is a rich source of information that can be utilized to infer a person’s biological age, sex, phenotype, genetic defects, and health status. All of these factors are relevant for predicting an individual’s remaining lifespan. In this study, we collected a dataset of over 24,000 images (from Wikidata/Wikipedia) of individuals who died of natural causes, along with the number of years between when the image was taken and when the person passed away. We made this dataset publicly available. We fine-tuned multiple Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models on this data, at best achieving a mean absolute error of 8.3 years in the validation data using VGGFace. However, the model’s performance diminishes when the person was younger at the time of the image. To demonstrate the potential applications of our remaining lifespan model, we present examples of using it to estimate the average loss of life (in years) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to predict the increase in life expectancy that might result from a health intervention such as weight loss. Additionally, we discuss the ethical considerations associated with such models. (more…)
You’re invited to Humanities Research Lunch
You are cordially invited to attend the Humanities Research Lunch. The event, hosted by DKU’s Humanities Research Center, will be showcasing humanities research at DKU. You will meet the humanities faculty, learn what the humanities are, and what humanities research looks like.
Registration is open. To participate, you must register by Wednesday, February 1, 9am China time. Scan the QR code to register, or visit: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0HxNnm8jxflzf7M
Date: Friday, February 3, 2023
AB Ballroom
1100 Lunch buffet opens
1130-1230 Presentations about Humanities Research at DKU
1300 Lunch buffet ends
We look forward to seeing you!
Film Night: Chungking Express
Date/Time: Wed, Jan 11, 6:30pm
Location: IB Auditorium
Food (good pizza) & drinks will be provided
Wednesday night will be the screening of Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express (1994). Prof Richard Davis and Prof Seth Henderson will both say a few words of introduction to the film and facilitate a discussion after the screening.
There will be free pizza (from a GOOD place for pizza) starting at 6:20pm. The screening will be at the IB Lecture Hall.
See you there!
Statelessness Conference: Part Two – Refugees in Asia and the Pacific during the Second World War
‘Statelessness’ meeting part two will be held in Melbourne from December 15-16, 2022. Learn more about part one of ‘Statelessness’ and the conference that just concluded in Barcelona on December 1-2, 2022.
This meeting is organized by Kolleen Guy and Jay Winter, co-sponsored by the Humanities Research Center and the Arts and Humanities Division at Duke Kunshan University.
Melbourne Conference Dates: December 15-16, 2022
Location: Catholic University of Australia, Level 3, 250 Victoria Parade, in Fitzroy.
Zoom: 680 6042 755
Program
HRC Presents: Mysticism Colloquium, Dec 2-3, 2022
Humanities Research Center’s Mysticism Colloquium led by Professors Ben Van Overmeire, Bryce Beemer, and Yitzhak Lewis, featuring keynote speakers Boaz Huss (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) and Benoît Vermander (Fudan University)
*Recordings for this event is now available. Please scroll down to the program below.
Dates: December 2-3, 2022
Location: AB 1079
Zoom ID: 92946097674
See program below.
Student Report: Research Lab Presentations and Guide to Undergraduate Student Research
Reported by Shivam Mani, Class of 2025.
Oct 7, 2022 Research Lab Presentations and Guide to Undergraduate Student Research was presented as part of 2022 Humanities Fall Conference: Ciencia y Caridad.
After a series of student research presentations, James Miller, Co-Director of the HRC led us into a presentation of the several research labs within the HRC. Prof. Miller began by praising the students for their research and said that the Humanities labs provide a beginning for undergraduate students interested in conducting research.
The Humanities labs are time limited and receive funding for only 2-3 years, after which they are closed, and new projects are started. (more…)
