Summer Institute: Digital Humanities for Hellenic Studies – Visualizing the Past: Mapping Athens’ Lost Neighborhood
July 7 to July 11, 2025

Overview

This workshop is designed for scholars interested in exploring digital humanities methods for mapping and spatial visualization. Mapping in the digital humanities provides new perspectives on sources, enables spatial analysis, and offers visual representations of arguments and narratives. Participants will be introduced to key topics, including spatial data collection, geocoding, georeferencing, data wrangling, different types of maps, mapping and visualization platforms, and hosting.

Workshop participants will work collaboratively to create a digital map of the Vrysaki neighborhood of Athens before its demolition, which made way for expanded access to ancient ruins such as Hadrian's Library and the Roman Agora. This work will draw on a unique collection of historic photographs and maps from the 1930s, created by photographer M. Messinesi and held in Princeton’s Art and Archaeology Department’s Visual Resources collection (https://visualresources.princeton.edu/research-support/projects).

Through seminar discussions, hands-on instruction, collaborative mapping, and site visits, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges of spatial humanities while engaging with the complex history of Athens' urban landscape. By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped to develop their own mapping projects and will have the opportunity to connect with leading scholars in Greece’s dynamic digital humanities and cultural heritage communities.

The workshop is open to scholars from all disciplines, regardless of technical background. Experience with mapping or GIS methods, tools, and concepts is welcome but not required. This workshop will be of particular interest to those in Hellenic Studies, History, Art and Archaeology, Urban Studies, Architecture, Cultural Studies, Public Humanities, and Photography. Knowledge of Greek is not necessary.

Instructors will include scholars from Princeton’s Center for Digital Humanities (CDH), Princeton University Library, the Visual Resources division of Princeton’s Department of Art and Archaeology, and the MSc Program in Digital Methods for the Humanities at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB).

The workshop will take place at the Princeton Athens Center in Athens, Greece.

Funding

All participants attend this workshop tuition-free.

Selected Princeton affiliates, as well as those from Greek universities who do not reside in Athens, will have the chance to apply for funding to cover all or part of their travel and accommodation expenses. The funding application will comprise a short budget estimate and a statement as to whether the applicant plans to combine this workshop with other activities, as the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies will only cover expenses related to the workshop.

Selected participants will be given instructions on how to apply for funding when they are notified of their selection.

This program is sponsored by the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University in collaboration with the Center for Digital Humanities at Princeton; Princeton University Library; Princeton’s Department of Art and Archeology; the UNESCO Chair on Digital Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences at AUEB; the MSc Program in Digital Methods for the Humanities at AUEB; and the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH-EU).