Programme online historical networks conference out now

A must-attend for historians and archaeologists interested in networks. This conference brings together English-, French-, and German-language communities, to offer a rich and inspiring programme. CANNOT WAIT!!!!

Via the HNR conference team:

The conference „Historical Networks – Réseaux Historiques – Historische Netzwerke“ co-organised by the Historical Network Research group and Réseaux et Histoire will take place from Wednesday, June 30th until Friday, July 2nd, 2021. The complete programme is now online and registration is open. For more information about the programme, registration and more details about the conference, please visit our conference website (http://hnr2021.historicalnetworkresearch.org/).

Questions, suggestions, notes regarding the conference? Write us at conference@historicalnetworkresearch.org. 

WORKSHOPS – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30TH, 9:30 A.M. CET – 4:15 P.M. CET

On Wednesday, June 30th, HNR+ResHist 2021 will offer four workshops for beginners as well as advanced network researchers:

Analysis of Two-Mode Networks with Python
Demival Vasques Filho

Exponential Random Graph Models: Theory and Applications on Historical Networks
Antonio Fiscarelli

From historical source to network data
Claire Lemercier

Introduction to Social Network Analysis: Basics and Historical Specificities
Martin Grandjean

Registration for the workshops takes place through EventBrite. Please note that the number of participants per workshop is limited and that the deadline for registering is 23 June (23:30 pm CEST).

KEYNOTES

HNR+ResHist2021 is proud to present two keynotes which will be delivered by Marion Maisonobe (CNRS, Paris) and Matteo Valleriani (MPIWG, Berlin). You can find their abstracts here below. To attend the keynotes, please register for the conference (deadline: 23 June, 23:30 pm CEST).

OPENING KEYNOTE – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30TH, 4:30 P.M. CET

THE SPHAERA CORPUS IN ITS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONTEXT

MATTEO VALLERIANI, MARYAM ZAMANI, MALTE VOGL, HASSAN EL-HAJJ, HOLGER KANTZ

The lecture will first provide an overview of the corpus and of its historical meaning from the perspective of the main research question of the project, namely the question concerned with the mechanisms of knowledge homogenization in the early modern time and, therefore, with those processes that allowed for the emergence of a scientific identity of Europe.

Secondly, the major results concerned with the semantic analysis of the corpus and based on a formalization of the data in terms of a multiplex network will be shown. In particular it will be shown a) how a family of historical sources was detected that then executed a hegemonic role all over Europe therefore greatly contributing to the process of homogenization, b) how treatises, denominated “great transmitters”, allowed for the perpetuation of traditional knowledge for about 200 years however in the context of continuous innovation, and c) how different treatises were identified that are the main responsible for the impactful and enduring innovations.

Third, the lecture will present a new network model able to display the process of knowledge transformation in its social and economic context. The lecture therefore concludes by showing analyses conducted in order to understand correlations between families of treatises (semantic knowledge) on one side and societal groups on the other.

CLOSING KEYNOTE – FRIDAY, JULY 2ND, 3:30 P.M. CET

«LES LIEUX QUI FONT LIENS»: SEVERAL WAYS TO INTEGRATE PLACES IN NETWORK ANALYSIS

MARION MAISONOBE

We identify three traditional ways of integrating places in network analysis. Firstly, it is common to start from relationships between individuals, families and businesses and to aggregate these relationships to consider the interactions between places that they create (A). Secondly, places can be the instrument of network construction. In other words, the co-presence in certain places makes it possible to deduce relationships between entities (B). Thirdly, the network can be immediately „spatial“ in the sense that the entities in relation as well as their links are materially anchored in space (for example, a hydrographic network, a metro map or a road network) (C). We will see that the sources, analytical issues and methods, and types of visualisation associated with these different networks vary. Our presentation will focus more specifically on type A and B networks by taking up, detailing and updating the methodological proposals of a collaborative research work on the visualization of scholarly worlds from Antiquity to the present day (Andurand et al., 2015).

«LES LIEUX QUI FONT LIENS»: DIFFÉRENTES MANIÈRES D’INTÉGRER LES LIEUX EN ANALYSE DE RÉSEAU

Nous distinguons trois manières classiques d’intégrer les lieux en analyse de réseaux. Premièrement, il est fréquent de partir de relations entre individus, familles, entreprises et d’agréger ces relations pour considérer les interactions entre lieux qu’elles dessinent (A). Deuxièmement, les lieux peuvent être l’instrument de la construction du réseau. Autrement dit, c’est la co-présence en certains lieux qui permet de déduire des relations entre entités (B). Troisièmement, le réseau peut être immédiatement « spatial » au sens où les entités en relation ainsi que leurs liens sont matériellement ancrés dans l’espace (par exemple, un réseau hydrographique, un plan de métro ou une trame viaire) (C). Nous verrons que les sources, les enjeux et méthodes d’analyse ainsi que les types de visualisation associées à ces différents réseaux varient. Notre exposé se concentrera plus particulièrement sur les réseaux du type A et B en reprenant, détaillant et actualisant les propositions méthodologiques d’un travail de recherche collaboratif sur la visualisation des mondes savants de l’Antiquité à nos jours à partir de différentes sources (Andurand et al., 2015).

We look forward to welcoming you online!

The Historical Networks – Réseaux Historiques – Historische Netzwerke 2021 Organisers:
Laurent Beauguitte (CNRS | Paris)
Aline Deicke (Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz)
Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg)
Antonio Fiscarelli (University of Luxembourg)
Claire Lemercier (CNRS | Paris)
Ingeborg van Vugt (University of Utrecht)

CfP history/archaeology session at Sunbelt NetSci

Sunbelt is the main Social Network Analysis community, and NetSci is the main complex networks conference. I’ve attended these conferences since 2013 and love them both. Next year they will be held jointly, how great is that 😀 Come present in our session and let’s make it clear archaeology and history are part of network science and here to stay!

Via the HNR newsletter:

The session “Networks and the Study of the Human Past” is part of Networks 2021: a joint Sunbelt and NetSci Conference. The conference takes place in Washington D.C. on July 6-11, 2021. The organisers are planning a hybrid in-person and remote (online) conference.

You can find the session “Networks and the Study of the Human” under number 19 in the list of organized sessions for Networks 2021. Deadline for submissions is January 24, 2021.

Networks and the study of the human past 

A growing number of studies in history and archaeology have shown that network research can constructively enhance our understanding of the human past. Moreover, it is becoming clear that archaeological and historical data sources pose interesting challenges and opportunities to social network analysis and network science. How did human social networks change over huge timescales? How can old texts and material artefacts help in answering this question? The aim of this session is to present new findings and approaches within historical and archaeological network research, and promote contacts between the various disciplines that approach past phenomena using methods derived from network analysis and network science.

This session explores the challenges and potential posed by such network studies of past phenomena, including: network modelling of past phenomena; data collection from archival evidence; incomplete and missing data; computer-assisted network extraction from texts; big data analytics and semantic network analysis based on fragmented sources; material sources as proxy evidence for social phenomena; exploration of long-term changes in past systems vs. mid-term or short-term processes; etc.

The session invites contributions from various disciplines applying the methods of formal network analysis and network science to the study of the human past. We welcome submissions concerning any period, geographical area and topic, which might include but are not limited to: migration; interpersonal relations; economy; past revolutions; covert networks of the past; industrialization; transport systems; diffusion processes; kinship; conflict and conflict solving; religion and science.

Session organizers:

Julie M. Birkholz (Ghent University & Royal Library of Belgium), Tom Brughmans (Aarhus University), Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg), Ingeborg van Vugt (University of Utrecht), Martin Stark (ILS Dortmund), David Zbíral (Masaryk University)

Virtual keynote event of HNR 2020, June 19th 2020

Save the Date: Virtual keynote event of HNR 2020, June 19th 2020

By Ingeborg van Vugt on May 21, 2020 12:31 pm

Dear all,

After all the cancellations of events due to COVID-19, we are pleased to announce that the HNR 2020 conference may be moved to 2021, but the keynotes will be delivered online this year! On June 19th, our three keynote speakers have kindly agreed to record their papers to help us all think about how network theory and analysis can be applied in historical research.

As we have written before, the HNR conference will no longer take place in Luxembourg on 16-19 June 2020, but has been rescheduled to summer 2021. Precise dates and a new deadline for a second Call for Papers will be announced later this year. The HNR conference series explores the challenges and possibilities of network research in historical scholarship and serves as a platform for researchers from various disciplines to meet, present and discuss their latest research findings and to demonstrate tools and projects. To keep up-to-date about the state of HNR2021, please visit our conference website: http://hnr2020.historicalnetworkresearch.org/

Even if the planned presentations had to be moved, the keynote speakers event of the 2020 edition of the HNR conference will still take place and be entirely online. Keynotes will be streamed on Zoom and afterwards, uploaded to the HNR Youtube channel. There will also be Q&A-sessions following each presentation on Zoom.

To give attendees the best possible experience, we will use three programs/channels of communication:

Zoom – program and Q&A

Slack – HNR-gang.slack.com (see instructions below)

Youtube – Trailers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2QFG7uIVxkFQ3xZbohKl-Q?view_as=subscriber

Please do not hesitate to contact the organising team for any questions you may have at HNR2020@historicalnetworkresearch.org or direct your questions directly at our HNR Slack channel #hnr2020 (see instructions bellow)

Registration

To attend, please register before June 17, 2020 so we can share the online conferencing channel with you and keep you updated about the virtual keynote event: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/historical-network-research-30207659732

Program, June 19th 2020

Keynotes will be 30 minutes with 30 minutes Q&A-session.

14:30-15:00 (CET): Welcome

15.00-16:00 (CET): Marieke van Erp – KNAW Humanities Cluster DHLab – https://twitter.com/merpeltje

16:00-17:00 (CET): Ruth Ahnert – Queen Mary University London – https://twitter.com/RuthAhnert

17:00-18:00 (CET): Petter Holme – Institute of Innovative Research at Tokyo Institute of Technology – https://twitter.com/pholme

18:00-19:00 (CET): Closing Remarks and Virtual Reception (bring some wine!)

HNR-gang slack workspace

The virtual event continues in the HNR-gang slack workspace! It has been created to give researchers from various disciplines a space to meet, to ask questions, to share their knowledge, to discuss their latest findings, or to simply talk about anything related to networks and more. To join the channel, follow these instructions:

1 – Follow the invite link: https://join.slack.com/t/hnr-gang/shared_invite/zt-erd4n2wg-OKYZy951_CSN1xrYVGrUXA

2 – Enter HNR-gang.slack.com or add HNR-gang as a workspace to the Slack app (https://slack.com)

3 – Change your “Display Name” to Firstname Lastname – Affiliation.

4 – Use the #general channel as you would use a regular conference lobby.

6 – Visit the thematic channels.

7 – Right-click a channel to mute it.

8 – Engage in one-on-one conversations with anyone inside HNR2020 slack.

CFP: Historical Network Research 2020 Luxembourg 17-19 June 2020

Join us in Luxembourg for a fantastic new edition of the Historical Network Research conference! This is also a great venue for archaeologists to present their work.

CFP deadline: 20 February 2020.

Call for papers for HNR2020

The Historical Network Research community is very pleased to announce the call for papers for the next Historical Network Research conference which will take place at the University of Luxembourg, from Wednesday 17 until Friday 19 June 2020. The conference will run over three days opening with a workshop day and two conference days.

Social network analysis theories and methods have emerged as a persuasive extension of purely metaphorical uses of network concepts in historical research. The HNR conference series explores the challenges and possibilities of network research in historical scholarship and serves as a platform for researchers from various disciplines to meet, present and discuss their latest research findings and to demonstrate tools and projects.

The Historical Network Research community has its roots in the year 2009 when the first in a series of workshops on the application of network analysis in the historical disciplines took place. In 2019, the thirteenth workshop on „Networks Across Time and Space: Methodological Challenges and Theoretical Concerns of Network Research in the Humanities“ was hosted by the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, Germany. In 2013, the European Digital Humanities research network Nedimah enabled us to organize the first international conference on Historical Network Research in Hamburg. This was followed by conferences in Ghent 2014, Lisbon 2015, Turku 2017, and Brno 2018. From 2013 onwards, we organised sessions on historical networks at the International Sunbelt Conferences of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), and from 2014 on at the corresponding European Regional Conferences (EUSN). The year 2017 saw the publication of the inaugural issue of the Open Access Journal of Historical Network Research (www.jhnr.uni.lu). JHNR is devoted to the study of networks (social or otherwise) from a specifically historical perspective and encourages the exchange between different areas of historical research (in the broadest sense), the (digital) humanities at large as well as the social, information and computer sciences. These events and activities are supplemented by the website Historical Network Research (www.historicalnetworkresearch.org), which provides a bibliography, a calendar of events and an email newsletter.

For our 2020 conference, we welcome submissions for individual contributions discussing any historical period and geographical area. Authors may be historians, linguists, librarians, archaeologists, art historians, computer scientists, social scientists as well as scholars from other disciplines working with historical or archaeological data. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Cultural and intellectual networks
• Geospatial networks
• Citizen science, crowdsourcing and other forms of public engagement
• Networks extracted from texts
• Networks and prosopography
• Methodological contributions with immediate relevance for Historical Network Research such as missing data, temporality, multilayer networks, ontologies, linked data
• Pedagogy, teaching, and digital literacy in Historical Network Research

Keynotes

The closing keynote will be delivered by Petter Holme, Specially Appointed Professor at the Institute of Innovative Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the speaker for the opening keynote will be announced in the near future.

 

Workshops

Participants are invited to take part in one or two of three half-day-workshops:

• Introduction to Social Network Analysis (Matthias Bixler, Independent Researcher)
• Exponential Random Graph Models for Historical Networks (Antonio Fiscarelli, University of Luxemburg)
• Analysis of Two-Mode Networks with Python (Demival Vasques Filho, Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz)

Formats

For HNR 2020 we welcome three types of proposals: (1) individual papers; (2) software/tool demonstrations and (3) posters. Abstracts should clearly state the title, name and affiliation of the authors and the presenters; if you have one please include your Twitter username, too.

1) Individual papers:

abstract (500-1000 words maximum, plus 3 citations) will be required for 20-minute papers (presentation 15 mins + 5 minutes for questions). The content of your abstract should be appropriate for the nature of the paper you intend to present. Your abstract should include:

• Background – an overview of the topic and the research questions that will be addressed by your paper
• Methods and data – an overview of the data used and the methods employed in your research
• Findings – a description of the results of your research

You may also include a single figure that shows the key results or main argument of your paper. Figures should be submitted in a format that can be displayed in a standard web browser and should have a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. Citations should use the Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition Author Date style.

2) Software/tool demonstrations:

HNR provides an opportunity for demonstrations of software and tools for historical network analysis. Accepted demonstrations and tools will be presented within a main conference session (presentations 15 mins + 5 minutes for questions) and at demo booths during the poster presentations. Abstracts (200-500 words maximum) will be required and should include information on the novel contribution it makes, its state of development and licensing.

3) Posters:

Abstracts (200-500 words, plus 3 citations) will be required for posters. Your abstract should include:

• Background – a brief overview of the topic or research questions addressed by the poster
• Methods and data – a description of the data used and the methods employed
• Discussion/findings – a discussion of the wider implications of your research for network analysis in history.

Submissions

Please submit your abstract by Thursday 20 February, 2020 (23:59 CET) via EasyChair (https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=hnr2020#). Papers for presentation will be selected following a double-blind peer review procedure. Notifications of acceptance/rejection will be announced by 15 March 2020. The conference language is English.

Selected papers and posters will be invited to prepare a submission  for a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Historical Network Research (https://jhnr.uni.lu/).

Please do not hesitate to contact the organising team for any questions you may have at HNR2020@historicalnetworkresearch.org. Additional information on workshops, keynotes, and programme together with further practical information will be available shortly on the conference website.

Key dates

• 20.02.2020: deadline for submissions via Easychair
• 15.03.2020: notification of acceptance
• 01.04.2020: registration opening
• 15.06.2020: latest possible registration for participants
• 17-19.06.2020: conference (1 day workshops, 2 days sessions)
• 15.07.2020: invitation of selected articles to JHNR

Further information on the workshops will be provided on the conference website shortly.

Travel bursaries

Scholars without access to sufficient travel funds may apply for a travel bursary in parallel to submitting a paper or poster. A bursary will cover travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the conference. Please email a motivation letter together with a CV to HNR2020@historicalnetworkresearch.org. Only authors of accepted papers are eligible for bursaries.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

With best wishes,

The HNR 2020 Organisers:

Tom Brughmans (Aarhus University)
Aline Deicke (Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz)
Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg)
Antonio Fiscarelli (University of Luxembourg)
Ingeborg van Vugt (University of Utrecht)

13th Historical Network Research workshop

Where? Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz
When? 27.-28.05.2019

If you want to attend this workshop, send the information mentioned below to contact-nats@protonmail.com before 28 February.

Networks Across Time and Space

Methodological Challenges and Theoretical Concerns of Network Research in the Humanities

From the trade networks of the bronze age to the kinship ties of medieval ruling houses, from the exchange of scientific knowledge through letters to the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases, people throughout the ages have been acutely aware of how their integration or exclusion from networks could impact their lives. Yet only with the invention of digital tools has it become possible to reconstruct, visualize, and analyse these relational structures on an unprecedented scale. They have transformed the way we think about groups and societies, space and culture. Not only economists, political scientists or researchers in literary and cultural studies but also historians and archaeologists have adopted the concept of “networks” to study certain forms of information as part of a broader whole. Rather than looking at data in isolation, the focus is shifting to the links that unite different entities, and to the structures that emerge from their connections. Especially for archaeologists and historians, who are often dealing with large amounts of data that stand in a complex relation to each other – be it objects, sites or people – network theory and formal network analysis can be very powerful tools for study.

Particular constraints, however, surround the use of network-theoretic methods in the historical sciences. The analysis usually deals with fragmentary datasets, examines data of different types (sites, objects, landscapes, institutions), or unites data from different regions or periods of time within one study. Finding a common denominator that unites disparate and sometimes problematic datasets within one network that sustains a valid historical hypothesis can be a challenge. It is not always clear which analytical tools, e.g., different centrality measures, can be applied to gain a deeper understanding of a dataset and what exactly their use implies for the conceptional framework of the research in question. To which kind of historical questions can we find answers through a formal network analysis? Is a more fluid approach dealing with metaphorical networks more useful? Which new perspectives on existing data can network research open up to different disciplines?

In order to provide prospective and more advanced network scholars and students in the historical sciences with a sound background and solid arguments for structuring a network-related hypothesis, a two-day workshop is organized to:

• provide basic training (day 1)

• provide in-depth discussion on the application of network theory for specific datasets and research questions (day 2)

The first day of the workshop aims at novices and prospective students in network analysis in the historical sciences and archaeology (no previous knowledge required). Participants can bring own research ideas to the workshop to receive feedback, but this is not obligatory.

The second day of the workshop is devoted to in-depth theoretical discussion for advanced scholars, who already have an understanding of network concepts and are applying it to their own case studies. A general discussion will conclude the exchange within small groups focusing on specific case studies and central issues in historical and archaeological network research. Students participating in the first day are welcome to attend the second day of the workshop to broaden their understanding.

There are three points of focus for discussion on the second workshop day:

1. Objects as Actors

2. Fragmentary data – fragmentary networks? Implications of source criticism for archaeological and historical network analysis

3. One theory fits them all? Critical reflections on theorizing about social networks across time and space

Participation in the workshop is free of charge; however, participants are required to provide for their accommodation and travel.

The number of available places in the workshop is limited. To be considered for participation, prospective participants should send an abstract of their project or a statement concerning their motivation of participation (about 300 words) to the workshop email address:

contact-nats@protonmail.com

Submissions are due February 28th. As the aim of this workshop is to initiate a critical discourse across disciplines, we encourage all participants to contact us if you would like to propose further topics for discussion on the second workshop day.

 

Programme HNR2018 Brno

The 2018 Historical Network Research conference will be held in Brno, Czechia, from 11 to 13 September. The programme is impressive and is out now. Plenty of interesting papers for those with an interest in archaeology as well.

http://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/hnr2018/#program

 

Historical Network Research conference 2018 Brno

The HNR conference series is in its fifth edition now. It’s a great event and a perfect venue for presenting archaeological network research as well.

CFP Deadline 31 March

More info on the conference website and below.

Historical Network Research Conference 2018

Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic

10th September 2018 (pre-conference tutorials and workshops)

11th-13th September 2018 (conference)

Organizing institutions

• Historical Network Research ( http://www.historicalnetworkresearch.org)

• Department for the Study of Religions ( http://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/en/)

• Czech Association for the Study of Religions ( http://www.casr.cz/indexen.php)

Program Committee

• Dr. Aleš Chalupa (Masaryk University)

• Dr. Kimmo Elo (University of Helsinki)

• Dr. Ivo Veiga (New University of Lisbon)

• Dr. Martin Stark (ILS – Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development)

• Dr. David Zbíral (Masaryk University)

Call For Papers

The Historical Network Research group is pleased to announce its 5th annual conference. After the previous conferences that which took place in Hamburg in 2013, Ghent in 2014, Lisbon in 2015, and Turku in 2017, the 5th conference will be hosted by Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, on 10th-13th September 2018. The 5th Historical Network Research Conference seeks to foster historians’ awareness of the possibilities of network research and create opportunities for sharing cross- and multidisciplinary approaches to the networked past by bringing together historians, social scientists and computer scientists. The organizers welcome proposals for papers discussing any historical period and geographical area. Topics might include, but are not limited to:

• Social network analysis in historical research

• Network analysis in archaeology

• Network analysis and text mining in historical research

• Modeling diffusion on historical networks

• Modeling and simulation in historical research

• Religious networks

• Cultural and intellectual networks

• Networks in economic and business history

• Technological and research networks, scientific networks and collaborations

• Social movements and political mobilization

• Social networks in war, conflict, and peacemaking

• Methodological and theoretical issues of the network analysis in historical research

The language of the conference is English. There is no conference fee. Those who wish to participate in the optional social event on 12th September 2018 will be asked for a contribution of 25 € (625 CZK) collected at the registration desk during the conference.

The deadline for submissions of abstracts is 31st March 2018. All abstracts are to be submitted through the form in the Registration section. We kindly ask prospective participants without papers to register as well.

The presentations for the conference will be selected, after a peer review process, on the basis of abstracts. Notifications of acceptance/rejection will be announced in the second half of April 2018.

The list of pre-conference tutorials and workshops will be announced in the second half of April 2018. After the announcement, the registration for participation in these tutorials and workshops will be opened.

Types of presentations

• Regular papers (20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion). Regular papers should present a) results of a completed research; b) innovative research methods and their application; or c) a discussion concerning theoretical questions. An abstract should be 300-500 words long.

• Short papers (10 minutes + 5 minutes discussion). Short papers should present ideas, approaches and projects that have started only recently or are currently being prepared (e.g. grant projects, research initiatives etc.). A short paper should be audience-friendly and generate conference participants’ interest in the presented topic and/or attract potential partners for future collaboration. An abstract should be 200-400 words long.

• Posters should inform about completed research, research in progress or present new methods and/or research tools. Posters (format A0 portrait orientation) will be displayed throughout the conference at the venue site and introduced during the poster session. A poster abstract should be 200-400 words long.

• We welcome proposals for pre-conference tutorials and workshops which are to take place on Monday, 10th September 2018 (a day before the conference) in two time slots: 9-12 am and 2-5 pm. Proposals should include the workshop/tutorial title and a short description of its topic + contact information of the lecturer. An abstract should also include the information about a minimum and maximum number of participants, the type of audience (beginners, intermediate, advanced etc.), length and the type of necessary technical equipment participants should have (the organizers can provide only basic infrastructural support, e.g. suitable classrooms with a projector, whiteboard etc., not technical equipment such as laptops, specialized software etc.). The lecturer will be responsible for communicating necessary information to the registered participants. An abstract should be 200-400 long words.

Historical network research conference: registration and program

The fourth HNR conference will take place in Turku, Finland, from 17 to 20 October 2017. Registration is open now and it’s FREE! Have a look at the programme here: plenty of interesting papers and a number of really useful workshops. I really like this conference series because of its friendly and exciting atmosphere, so I will definitely recommend you to attend if you can.

We are pleased to announce that the registration to the “4th Historical Network Research Conference” is now OPEN. Please go to the following page and proceed according the guidelines:

http://www.utu.fi/en/sites/hnr2017/Pages/Programme.aspx

Please note: there is no conference fee, but if you want to participate in the conference dinner on 19 October 2017 it will cost 50,00 euro. In this case you will be forwarded to the online payment portal.

The preliminary programme is also published and online:

http://www.utu.fi/en/sites/hnr2017/Pages/Programme.aspx

We will update the programme with information on seminar rooms within the next couple of weeks.

Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us by sending an e-mail to: hnr2017@utu.fi.

We look forward to seeing you in Turku in October.

Best regards,

Members of the organising committee

Archaeology and history at the EU SNA conference

There’s a huge surge in archaeological and historical networks papers presented at the main networks conferences. This is a trend that has been going strong for a few years now. This year’s EU social network analysis conference will feature no less than three sessions on the topic! Virtually a satellite conference in its own right, the sessions cover a huge chronological and methodological range. I strongly recommend attending the conference to see these papers. But also because I always find it hugely inspiring myself to attend these inter-disciplinary conferences. You never know which paper is going to trigger new exciting ideas: Vietnamese trade networks in the late 20th century? Networks of gameboy musicians? That paper with all the scary maths in it? I always find 90% of the papers I see totally uninteresting or incomprehensible, but there’s always one that fundamentally changes my direction of research and that I refer back to for years afterwards.

What? EUSNA conference

Where? Mainz, Germany

When? 26-29 September 2017

Here’s the announcement of the archaeological and historical programme, via the HNR list:

This year’s European Conference on Social Networks (EUSN2017) comes with 3 sessions on network analysis in Archaeology and History, for details see the full programme here:

https://converia.uni-mainz.de/frontend/index.php

See an overview below:

Networks in Archaeology and History (OS_4.1)
Room: P205 (02 445P205)

Topic:
Networks in Archaeology and History

Chair(s):
Aline Deicke (Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz)

Co-chair(s):
Martin Stark
Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg)

09:05 am
A formal network approach to ancient Mediterranean urbanisation process
Lieve Donnellan | VU University Amsterdam | Netherlands

09:25 am
Agent Based Modeling and Archeological Networks – Refining the Material Based Approach
Lennart Linde | Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main | Germany

09:45 am
Modeling innovation spread in archaeological networks
Natasa Conrad | Zuse Institute Berlin | Germany

Networks in Archaeology and History (OS_4.2)
Room: P205 (02 445P205)

Topic:
Networks in Archaeology and History

Co-chair(s):
Aline Deicke (Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz)
Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg)

Chair(s):
Martin Stark

The social dimension of credit relations: an application of SNA to an early modern merchant firm
Cinzia Lorandini | University of Trento | Italy

Mass genealogy: Top 1% of 19-th century Polish society as a single family network (PageRank-like analysis)
Marek Jerzy Minakowski | Dr Minakowski Publikacje Elektroniczne | Poland

Embeddedness of Periodicals in Illustrated Fashion Press in the Nineteenth Century
Julie Birkholz | Ghent University | Belgium

The Network of zemstvo’ deputies in the Perm province in the second half of the 19th century: Dynamics and features of the formation
Nadezhda Povroznik | Perm State National Research University | Russian Federation

Networks in Archaeology and History (OS_4.3)
Room: P205 (02 445P205)

Topic:
Networks in Archaeology and History

Co-chair(s):
Aline Deicke (Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz)
Martin Stark

Chair(s):
Marten Düring (University of Luxembourg)

01:35 pm
: ‘O Rus! Elite networks and gentry politics in pre-revolutionary Russia: The blacksoil nobles, 1861-1905’
George Regkoukos | King’s College London | United Kingdom

01:55 pm
Hidden Archives and Lavish Libraries: Promises of Social Network Analysis for Research on Twentieth-Century China
Henrike Rudolph | Germany

02:15 pm
Building a Scientific Field in the Post-World War II Era: A Network Analysis of the Renaissance of General Relativity
Roberto Lalli | Max Planck Institute for the History of Science | Germany
Dirk Wintergrün | Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

02:35 pm
The elephant in the room of political parties: how patronage networks influenced leadership. A historical approach
Isabelle Borucki | University of Trier | Germany

CFP 4th Historical Network Research Conference

Delighted this amazing series of conferences will have its fourth edition already. It’s a cornerstone of those of us archaeologists and historians mad about networks. The call for papers is out now and I strongly recommend presenting and attending the event. It is an inspiring conference series with a friendly and constructive atmosphere.

Where? Turku, Finland

Deadline CFP: March 31 2017

We are very happy to announce the 4th international HNR conference, this year in Turku, Finland together with the annual conference of Finnish historians. We are particularly grateful to Kimmo Elo for the conceptualisation and organisation of the conference.   CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS 4th Historical Network Research Conference University of Turku, Finland 17-18 October 2017 (pre-conference workshops) 19-20 October 2017 (conference) The Historical Network Research group is pleased to announce its 4th annual conference. Following conferences in Hamburg in 2013, Ghent in 2014, and in Lisbon in 2015, the 4th conference will be held at the University of Turku in Turku, Finland, on 17-20 October 2017 (see http://historicalnetworkresearch.org/hnr-conferences/). The 4th Historical Network Research Conference seeks to further strengthen and foster the awareness of historians for the possibilities of network research and create possibilities for cross- and multidisciplinary approaches to the networked past by bringing together historians, social scientists and computer scientists. The organisers welcome proposals for individual contributions discussing any historical period and geographical area. Topics might include, but are not limited to: historical social netwoks, policy networks, kinship and community, geospatial networks, cultural and intellectual networks, and methodological innovations. The deadline for submissions of proposals is March 31, 2017. For more information, please visit www.utu.fi/hnr2017

Historical networks session at Sunbelt

Sunbelt is the anual social network analysis conference, and for a few years now it’s been host to history and archaeology sessions. Do consider contributing to this year’s session, I was told by the organisers that archaeology talks are very welcome.

What? History session at Sunbelt

Where? Beijing

When? 30 May – 4 June 2017

Deadline 10 January

Session on “Historical Network Research” at Sunbelt 2017 in Beijing, 30 May – 4 June 2017

The XXXVII Sunbelt conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis, held in Beijing from 30 May to 4 June 2017 (http://insna.org/sunbelt2017/), will host a panel dedicated to Historical Network Research. All scholars interested in presenting a paper or poster within this session are cordially invited to submit an abstract by 10 January 2017 8 p.m. EST = 11 January 2017 1 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time through the conference website. Guidelines for the abstract, travel & accommodation information, FAQ, and the submission form are available at http://insna.org/sunbelt2017/ and the abstract submission is now open. The conference does not require submitting the text of the paper at any stage, only the abstract is needed. The abstract should be 200-500 words long (the limit of the relevant field in the form is about 1,400 characters), and should not contain bibliographic references. When submitting your abstract, please select “Historical Network Research” as the session title in the relevant drop-down menu.

 

Historical Network Research: Session Abstract

The methods of Social Network Analysis (SNA) have recently started to find their place in the historians’ toolkit, thus giving birth to the burgeoning discipline of Historical Network Research (HNR). After a successful series of smaller workshops devoted to HNR, an international conference explicitly focused on HNR was held in Hamburg (2013), followed by conferences in Ghent (2014), Lisbon (2015), and Turku (upcoming 2017). In addition, sessions devoted to the application of SNA to historical research have been organized at Sunbelt since 2013, and at EUSN since 2014. In 2016, the institutionalisation of HNR was marked by the creation of a new academic journal, the Journal of Historical Network Research (http://historicalnetworkresearch.org/journal/), whose first issue will be published in the summer of 2017.

The aim of this session is to contribute to this emerging field by bringing together historians and other scholars applying SNA to their respective research areas, and by enhancing international and interdisciplinary exchange. We invite papers that explore the application of the formal methods of SNA to historical research and/or delve into the added value of this approach. Topics may include, but are not limited to, network analyses of historical data (from any period) on social, political, and religious groups, movements, cliques, and organizations; communication; economic and intellectual exchange; kinship; social and political upheavals, conflicts, wars, and peace-making; the diffusion of representations, practices, and artefacts through social networks; the reconstruction of past social networks through material culture; etc.

 

Session organizer:

David Zbíral, Masaryk University, david.zbiral@mail.muni.cz

 

Session chairs:

Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel, University of Barcelona, delfinieto@ub.edu

David Zbíral, Masaryk University, david.zbiral@mail.muni.cz

CFP: archaeology-history session at EU SNA conference in Paris.

It’s with great pleasure that we can announce the first ever conference session which is organized by the Res-Hist, The Connected Past and the Historical Network Research group:

Historical and Archaeological Network Research

Submission deadline 16 February 2016.

Submissions via the conference website.

Network analysis, be it inspired by sociology or physics, is making its way in historical and archaeological research on all periods and topics. Over the last decades, a substantial number of studies has shown that both network theories and network methods derived from other disciplines can be fruitfully applied to selected bodies of historical and archaeological data and go beyond the metaphorical use of network-related metaphors. However, most of this work has paid little attention to the specific challenges skills of historical and archaeological research, e.g. concerns with sources, missing data, data standardization, as well as the situation of networks in time and space.

In recent years, a burgeoning community of historians and archaeologists have taken on these challenges and begun to adapt and develop formal network techniques to address the substantive questions and challenges key to their disciplines. This has been made possible thanks to collaboration and interaction with scholars from other disciplines.

The aim of this session is to further develop this community by promoting contacts between the various disciplines that aim at making sense of past phenomena through methods derived from network analysis; and between the various geographic and language-based communities in Europe.

We welcome papers on any period, geographical area, and substantive topic, using any network research method. The authors may by historians, archaeologists, as well as scholars from other disciplines. To be eligible, the proposals should:

• Address and clearly formulate research questions concerning past phenomena.
• Critically address issues related to the sources/materials/construction of data used.
• Explain why it is substantively interesting to consider their topic in formal network terms (i.e. as ties between nodes), what the added value of such a view is, and what methodological choices it implies.

Paper which address questions related to time or space in networks are encouraged but not a requirement.

This call for papers is jointly issued by The Connected Past, Historical Network Research, and Res-Hist – but feel free to submit if you don’t know any of these groups! It will be an opportunity to meet them.

The working language for the conference will be English, but the organizers will be happy to help those who do not feel confident with their English during the discussions. Please note that the oral presentation will be short (ca. 15 minutes, as there will be at least 4 papers per 2-hour time slot, and we want to keep some time for discussion). The papers are not intended to be published together. Feel free to present either work in progress, so as to receive useful suggestions, or work that has already been published, but not in English or not widely circulated: the EUSN will allow a wider audience to discover your research.

The proposals will be selected by: Tom Brughmans (University of Konstanz); Marten Düring (CVCE, Luxembourg); Pierre Gervais (University Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, Paris); Claire Lemercier (CNRS, Sciences Po, Paris).
Proposals can be submitted via the conference website.

Historical Network Research vol. 3 in Lisbon

It’s been three years since the first edition of the international Historical Network Research conference, in Hamburg. The success of the first edition sparked an awesome second edition in Ghent, set in an amazing restored abbey complex. Now it’s time for episode III in Lisbon. The call for papers is open, please note the submission deadline of 30 June, details below. The Historical Network Research community is going strong and growing, along these conferences they promised to keep on organizing the smaller workshops they’ve been hosting in Germany for years now, so keep an eye out for that. I can definitely recommend attending the conference, I found the Ghent edition I attended a great experience.

CFP deadline: June 30 2015

Website

Call for papers

The Historical Network Research is pleased to announce its 3rd Annual conference. Having been held in Hamburg in 2013 and Ghent in 2014, this year it will be held in Lisbon, on 15-18 September 2015.
This will be an opportunity to present historical research embedded in the field of social network analysis, as well as a chance to benefit from workshops designed to acquire analytic and visual tools.
Naturally, the Conference will be open not only to arts and humanities researchers, but also to social, formal, applied and natural scientists, who are interested in historical research and processes.
 
We welcome proposals for individual papers discussing any historical period and geographical area. Some of the topics include but are not limited to: Economic and business history; Scientific networks and collaborations; Technological and research networks; Social movements and political mobilization; Social network theory and historical research; Policy networks; Social network analysis, war and conflict; Kinship and community; Social networks and health; The geographical scope of networks; Cultural and intellectual networks; Methodological explorations

Submissions

Papers for presentation will be selected, after peer review, on the basis of abstracts (up to 500 words). To apply please also include the title, 3 keywords, institutional affiliation, contact details and a brief CV or bio.
Each presentation will last no more than 15 minutes. The default language is English.

CFP Historical Network Research Conference 2014

The Historical Network Research team has been organising workshops for years. In September 2013 they hosted a great conference in Hamburg, and now it’s time for the sequel in September 2014 in Ghent. The team follows its usual recipe of hands-on workshops, keynotes and talks. The keynotes include Claire Lemercier (Paris Sciences-Po) and Emily Erikson (Yale University). I can only recommend sending in an abstract and/or attending. More info below or on the website.

Abstract submission deadline 10 May 2014

Historical Network Research Conference 2014

Ghent University, Belgium, 15-19 September.
This conference follows up the Future of Historical Network Research (HNR) Conference 2013 and aims to bring together scholars from all historical disciplines, sociologists, other social scientists, geographers and computer scientists to discuss the emerging field of historical Social Network Analysis. The concepts and methods of social network analysis in historical research are no longer merely used as metaphors but are increasingly applied in practice. With the increasing availability of both structured and unstructured digital data, we should be able to analyze complex phenomena. Historical SNA can help us to cope with the organization of this information and the reduction of complexity.
We invite papers from ancient to contemporary history, which integrate social network analysis methods and historical research methods and reflect on the added value of their methodologies. Since most historical data is unstructured, we seek innovative ways to derive, mine or prepare this kind of data (historical and literary texts, images, …) for SNA. Social scientists or computer scientists working with historical sources or longitudinal perspectives are also welcome. Topics could cover (but are not limited to) the following strands:
The spatial dimensions of networks; the role of transport in social interaction, on spatial distance and compensation by alternative proximities, and on the use of spatial analytical techniques in quantitative network analysis.
Relational approaches towards collective action; for instance transnational or global (social) movements, dynamics of contention, etc.
The history of science and knowledge circulation; including the dynamics of citation networks, policy networks, discipline formation and relational approaches towards scientific and intellectual movements
History of elites; for instance the meaning of kinship, political elites and policy networks, (trans)national elite formation, global elites, cultural elites and consumption, etc.
The role and organization of historical economic networks established by economic actors in the broadest sense, including networks of individual entrepreneurs, business elites, cities and states. We invite case studies of domestic networks, long-distance trade networks, networks created by migration, patronage networks etc.
Use and abuse of distant reading practices and the promises of ‘big data’ in literary and cultural history
Historical networks and theory: assessments of the theoretical and historiographical foundations of social network analysis in historical and sociological research: a relational turn, paradigm or a method?
…

Confirmed keynotes: Claire Lemercier (Sciences Po, Paris) and Emily Erikson (Yale University)

To propose a paper, panel, or poster, please email hnr2014@ugent.be by May 10, 2014. Proposals should take the form of a 250-words abstract accompanied by a short CV; in the case of complete panels, proposals should consist of an abstract and short CV for every panelist together with a short CV for the chair (if different). The conference is free for presenters. The admission fee for other participants is 35 Euro/day without dinner.

Pre-conference workshops:
A general introduction in SNA: the main concepts and the basic techniques of social network analysis
NodeXL (Marten Düring, UNC Chapel Hill)
How to prepare or extract data for a network analysis: a general introduction (Mark Depauw with Yanne Broux or Silke Van Beselaere, Leuven University)
Cleaning up messy data and a practical introduction to Named-Entity Recognition for historical research using Open Refine (Seth Van Hooland and Simon Hengchen)
Data modeling and network visualizations in Gephi (Clement Levallois, EMLYON Business School)
Social network analysis using UCINET (Bruce Cronin, University of Greenwich and Elisa Belotti, University of Manchester)
The Science of Science (Sci2) Tool (tbc)

The workshops will seek to provide as much practical skills and knowledge as possible. The fee for participation in the workshops is 75 EUR/day. We take registrations on a first come first serve basis, so if you are planning to (or thinking about) attending, it is best to register early. As from April 15 you can find more information regarding the workshops and registration details on our website (LINK). More info: hnr2014@ugent.be
Conference locations: Ghent University (workshops) and Ghent City Museum (http://www.stamgent.be/en, conference).

Provisional Programme:

Monday 15 Tuesday 16 -Workshops Wednesday 17 – Workshops Thursday 18 – Workshops Friday 19 – Workshops
Morning
– Data preparation- SNA – Node XL – Gephi 2- UCINET 2- Sci2 1 Conference Conference
Afternoon
– Gephi 1- UCINET 1- Open Refine / NER – Gephi 3- UCINET 3- Sci2 2 Conference Conference
Evening Registration
Public lecture reception Conference dinner

Organizing committee
Hans Blomme (Department of History, Ghent University)
Dr. Wim Broeckaert (Department of History, Ghent University)
Fien Danniau (Department of History, Ghent University)
Dr. Karen De Coene (Department of Geography, Ghent University)
Dr. Marloes Deene (Department of History, Ghent University)
Prof. dr. Mark Depauw (Department of Ancient History, University of Leuven)
Dr. Thorsten Ries (Ghent Center for Digital Humanities)
Prof. dr. Seth Van Hooland (Information and Communication Science department, Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Prof. dr. Ronan Van Rossem (Department of Sociology, Ghent University)
Prof. dr. Christophe Verbruggen (Department of History, Ghent University)

Scientific committee; organizing committee +
Prof. dr. Philippe De Maeyer (Department of Geography Ghent University)
Dr. Tom De Smedt (Clips, University of Antwerp)
Dr. Marten Düring (UNC Chapel Hill)
Dr. Ulrich Eumann (Center for the Documentation of National Socialism, Cologne)
Prof. dr. Claire Lemercier (SciencesPo, CNRS, Paris)
Linda Keyserlingk (Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr Dresden)
Florian Kerschbaumer (Universität Klagenfurt, Österreich)
Dr. Martin Stark (University of Hamburg)
Dr. Lieve Van Hoof (Department of History, Ghent University)
Prof. dr. Raf Vanderstraeten (Department of Sociology, Ghent University)