Call for applications: Working with wartime testimonies: practical workshop in digital humanities

24-25 May 2024, Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prague

During the workshop „Working with wartime testimonies: practical workshop in digital humanities" organized within a Charles University 4EU+ student mini-grant, the participants will explore existing digital archives housing wartime testimonies, especially regarding the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but also the archives of Holocaust survivors’ testimonies as well as those who survived the Syrian Civil War. Ethical considerations loom large in this discussion, with the project addressing the sensitive nature of working with wartime testimonies. The workshop seeks to showcase the opportunities digital tools offer for preserving and analyzing wartime testimonies. Through practical exercises, keynote lectures, panel discussions, and student presentations, participants will gain insight into utilizing digital tools effectively, enabling them to engage with testimonies in innovative and interdisciplinary ways. Participants will explore issues of trauma, consent, and privacy and learn strategies for ethically collecting, preserving, and disseminating testimonies in a way that respects the dignity and agency of those involved while considering their own psychological well-being, too.