- Csdh-schn-members - lists.digitalhumanities.org

Two more days for CSDH/SCHN nominations
by Paul Barrett 19 Jun '25

19 Jun '25

Hi everyone, Just a reminder that tomorrow is the final day to nominate yourself for positions on the Executive. We are looking for people to fill the following roles: -President -Member at Large -Student Representative (2 positions) -EDID Vice President -Deputy Treasurer (to work alongside our present treasurer in 25-26 and become Treasure for 26 - 29) Best, Paul

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Fw: Application for Student Bursary
by Khalid, A K M Iftekhar 15 Jun '25

15 Jun '25

Dear Professor, Good morning! I hope you are doing well. I am intruding on your busy schedule to remind you of the Student Bursary. My Interac email is khalidfac(a)yahoo.com. Kindly find a time for me. That will be very helpful for me. I always remember your generosity and hospitality during our meetings. Sincerely, Khalid ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A K M Iftekhar Khalid, MA in English PhD Student, Cultural Social and Political Thought Research Assistant, Humanities Innovation Lab<https://www.humanitiesinnovationlab.ca/>, Department of English University of Lethbridge 4401 University Dr W, Lethbridge AB, T1K3M4, Canada ________________________________ From: Khalid, A K M Iftekhar Sent: Sunday, June 8, 2025 7:34 PM To: Jason Boyd <jason.boyd(a)torontomu.ca> Subject: Application for Student Bursary Dear Professor Jason Boyd, I hope you are doing well. I am happy that I had the opportunity to meet you at the Congress 2025. The Congress had been a success under your strong leadership. I think everybody discerns your powerful contributions to the CSDH and the Congress. Thank you so much! Finally, I was able to submit my application for a student bursary. Please check whether I need to submit any more documents. With best regards, Sincerely, Khalid ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A K M Iftekhar Khalid, MA in English PhD Student, Cultural Social and Political Thought Research Assistant, Humanities Innovation Lab<https://www.humanitiesinnovationlab.ca/>, Department of English University of Lethbridge 4401 University Dr W, Lethbridge AB, T1K3M4, Canada

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DHSI 2026 Course Proposal
by Parham Aledavood 10 Jun '25

10 Jun '25

[Le français suit] Greetings, With the first Montréal edition of DHSI wrapped up successfully, we’re excited to announce that the call for course proposals for DHSI 2026 is now open! As in previous years, the program will feature both core offerings (repeated annually) and a selection of community-proposed courses, which rotate from year to year. We warmly invite proposals for new community offerings (in English or in French), especially from members of the DHSI community. We will release the full list of course offerings for DHSI 2026 in early fall. If you’re interested in teaching at DHSI 2026, please fill out the following form by June 20, 2025: https://forms.gle/jQfGKBZR4W8phhBN8. We ask that you also send your CV to: DHSImontreal(a)gmail.com<mailto:[email protected]>. We are especially interested in: * Single-instructor courses with a highly interactive format * Offerings that rely on hardware or software readily accessible to participants (e.g., laptops, open-source tools) * Proposals from individuals who have previously participated in DHSI (as instructors or students) Your proposal should include: * A proposed course title * A one-paragraph description of the course and its intended audience * A short note explaining how the course fits within the DHSI curriculum (e.g., “Consider this course in complement with…”) * A day-by-day overview of the 5-day course (about half a page) * Your CV (to be sent by email) If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch at DHSImontreal(a)gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and continuing to grow this dynamic community of learners and instructors in Montréal. Warm regards, Parham Parham Aledavood Associate Director / Directeur adjoint Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI)<http://dhsi.org/> [Image] Chères et chers collègues, La première édition montréalaise de DHSI s’est achevée avec succès, et nous sommes ravis d’annoncer que l’appel à propositions de cours pour le DHSI 2026 est maintenant ouvert ! Comme les années précédentes, le programme comportera à la fois des offres de base (répétées annuellement) et une sélection de cours proposés par la communauté, qui alternent d’année en année. Nous invitons chaleureusement les propositions pour de nouvelles offres communautaires (en anglais ou en français), particulièrement de la part des membres de la communauté DHSI. Nous publierons la liste complète des offres de cours pour le DHSI 2026 au début de l’automne. Si vous êtes intéressé(e) à enseigner au DHSI 2026, veuillez remplir le formulaire suivant avant le 20 juin 2025 : https://forms.gle/jQfGKBZR4W8phhBN8. Nous vous demandons également d'envoyer votre CV à : DHSImontreal(a)gmail.com<mailto:[email protected]>. Nous sommes particulièrement intéressés par : * Les cours à instructeur.rice unique avec un format hautement interactif * Les offres qui s’appuient sur du matériel ou des logiciels facilement accessibles aux participant.e.s (par ex., ordinateurs portables, outils open source) * Les propositions d’individus qui ont déjà participé au DHSI (comme instructeur.rice ou étudiant.e) Votre proposition devrait inclure : * Un titre de cours proposé * Une description d’un paragraphe du cours et de son public cible * Une courte note expliquant comment le cours s’intègre dans le curriculum du DHSI (par ex., « Considérez ce cours en complément avec… ») * Un aperçu jour par jour du cours de 5 jours (environ une demi-page) * Votre CV (à envoyer par courriel) Si vous avez des questions, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter à DHSImontreal(a)gmail.com. Nous avons hâte de vous entendre et de continuer à faire grandir cette communauté dynamique d’apprenant.e.s et d’instructeur.rice.s à Montréal. Au plaisir, Parham Parham Aledavood Associate Director / Directeur adjoint Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI)<http://dhsi.org/> [Image]

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Conference "Hermeneutica in Practice: Honoring the Work and Legacy of Stéfan Sinclair" (10-12/9/25 @ Montreal)
by Michael Eberle Sinatra 09 Jun '25

09 Jun '25

[apologies for cross-posting] The Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur les humanités numériques (CRIHN<http://crihn.org/>) is very proud to announce a call for papers for: "Hermeneutica in Practice: Honoring the Work and Legacy of Stéfan Sinclair – A Conference on Text Analysis, Tool Building, and Critical Digital Humanities" Université de Montréal, September 10th-12th 2025 Plenary spearkers: Servanne Monjour (Sorbonne Université) and Lauren Tilton (Richmond University) We welcome submissions of papers, panels, and tool demonstrations for a bilingual conference dedicated to examining and building on the scholarly contributions of Stéfan Sinclair (1972–2020), a leading figure in the field of digital humanities in Canada and internationally. Stéfan Sinclair’s innovative work in text analysis, digital tool development, and critical infrastructure design played a foundational role in shaping methodologies and pedagogical approaches that continue to influence scholars across disciplines. This conference will provide a forum for academic exchange and critical reflection on the legacy of Sinclair’s work, while fostering new directions in the theory and practice of digital humanities in alignment with the collaborative and interdisciplinary ethos that characterized his career. Conference Themes: This event explores the rich intersections of text analysis, critical infrastructure, interpretive tools, and collaborative scholarship that defined Sinclair’s career. We welcome proposals that engage with his legacy in theory and practice, including but not limited to: - Text Analysis as Interpretation: Inspired by Hermeneutica and Voyant, how can we reconceive text analysis as a form of critical reading? What new directions are emerging in computational literary studies? - Tool Building and Humanities Infrastructure: Sinclair’s work embodied a commitment to building accessible, user-focused tools. What role does tool development play in shaping scholarly practice? How do we sustain and reflect on our infrastructures? - Interface and Visualization Design for the Humanities: How do we make meaning through interface? How do visualizations support and challenge interpretive acts in cultural heritage and literary studies? - Collaborative Praxis: Sinclair’s method was always collaborative—technically, intellectually, and pedagogically. We invite contributions that reflect on or exemplify this mode of working: co-authorship, co-building, co-teaching. - Pedagogy and Programming for Humanists: From « The Art of Literary Text Analysis » to his CFI-funded lab « SHAVLAB », Sinclair reimagined how humanists could learn, teach, and play with code. What are the most compelling approaches to teaching digital methods today? - Digital Humanities and Sustainability: How does the perennity of Voyant speak to issues of sustainability in the field more generally, including environmental challenges, and scholarly stewardship? - History and Future of Digital Humanities: How do we situate Sinclair’s contributions within the broader development of DH as a field? What are the paths forward? We especially encourage proposals that directly engage with or build upon tools and projects Sinclair helped bring to life, including Voyant, HyperPo, TAPoR, CWRC, and LINCS, and others. Presentation Formats: - 20-minute papers - Posters - Hands-on tool demonstrations Submission Details: - Please submit a 500-word abstract along with a short bio (100 words) as a PDF to crihunum(a)gmail.com with the subject “Sinclair Conference” by 15 June 2025. Conference Dates: September 10–12, 2025 Abstract submission: June 15, 2025 Results announced: June 30 2025 Program unveiled: July 10, 2025 Conference Organizing Committee: Michael Sinatra (Université de Montréal), Stéphanie Posthumus (McGill University), Geoffrey Rockwell (University of Alberta), Susan Brown (University of Guelph), Diane Jakacki (Bucknell University), Emmanuel Château-Dutier (Université de Montréal), and Marcello Vitali-Rosati (Université de Montréal) <https://crihn.openum.ca/nouvelles/2025/04/13/colloque-crihn-2025-en-honneur…> [05C3B78A-84C3-4BC9-94BA-D37CC44545F7-225x225.jpeg] Colloque CRIHN 2025 en l’honneur de Stéfan Sinclair<https://crihn.openum.ca/nouvelles/2025/04/13/colloque-crihn-2025-en-honneur…> crihn.openum.ca<https://crihn.openum.ca/nouvelles/2025/04/13/colloque-crihn-2025-en-honneur…> Michael E. Sinatra<https://www.michaelsinatra.org> | Professeur titulaire et directeur Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur les humanités numériques (CRIHN<http://crihn.org>) Responsable du Groupe de Recherche sur les Éditions critiques en contexte Numérique (GREN<https://gren.openum.ca>) Responsable de l’option doctorale en Humanités numériques<https://llm.umontreal.ca/programmes-cours/humanites-numeriques/doctorat-en-…>, du microprogramme<https://admission.umontreal.ca/programmes/microprogramme-de-2e-cycle-en-hum…> et de la mineure<https://llm.umontreal.ca/programmes-cours/humanites-numeriques/mineure-en-h…> en HN, Université de Montréal Co-Chair centerNet, An international network of digital humanities centers President, ADHO (Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations)

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Elections and next year's conference
by Paul Barrett 05 Jun '25

05 Jun '25

WARNING: This email message may contain links to potentially dangerous websites. Please exercise caution and verify the link is for legitimate purposes before providing any information. If in doubt, forward suspicious emails to IThelp(a)uoguelph.ca. Hello CSDH/SCHN community, I wanted to write to thank you so much for participating in our conference this year. It was a great success with excellent panels, great plenaries and, most of all, warm and friendly conversation with all of you. Thank you all for your participation and contribution! I'm writing with some important information relevant to next year's conference and the society as a whole. First, the following positions are open on our Executive and we are accepting nominees immediately: -President -Member at Large -Student Representative (2 positions) -EDID Vice President -Deputy Treasurer (to work alongside our present treasurer in 25-26 and become Treasure for 26 - 29) Please express your interest in these positions by sending me (barrettp(a)uoguelph.ca) an email with a short biography by Friday June 20th. If we have multiple applicants for the same position, we will have an election. Secondly, please fill out our survey for next year's conference here: https://tinyurl.com/CSDH2026 Finally, we will be sending out a CFP for papers relevant to this year's conference. Look for that soon. Thanks, and all best, Paul Paul Barrett Associate Professor School of English and Theatre Studies University of Guelph MacKinnon 447

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CSDH / SCHN poll for next year's conference
by Paul Barrett 01 Jun '25

01 Jun '25

WARNING: This email message may contain links to potentially dangerous websites. Please exercise caution and verify the link is for legitimate purposes before providing any information. If in doubt, forward suspicious emails to IThelp(a)uoguelph.ca. Hi everyone I hope you're all having a good conference! Please use the following Google form to let us know how you would like the conference to proceed next year: https://tinyurl.com/CSDH2026 Best, Paul Paul Barrett Associate Professor School of English and Theatre Studies University of Guelph MacKinnon 447

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CSDH/SCHN 2025 Conference Program
by Hanieh Bakhtiari 29 May '25

29 May '25

Dear organizers of CSDH/SCHN 2025 Conference, I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding the 2025 Canadian Society for Digital Humanities (CSDH) conference. I am pleased that my paper was accepted for presentation; however, I have not yet received any follow-up communication with details about the date and time of my presentation. I wanted to inquire about the program of the conference. I have already paid the Congress registration and attendance fee and CSDH membership fees. As I will be traveling from out of town, I would greatly appreciate any information regarding the conference program so I can plan my trip to Toronto accordingly. Thank you very much for your assistance. Bests, Hanieh Bakhtiari

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Welcome to CSDH / SCHN
by Paul Barrett 29 May '25

29 May '25

Hi everyone, We are very excited to welcome you to CSDH / SCHN tomorrow! A few quick reminders before we kick off our conference: Our conference is being held on the 5th floor of Limberlost Place, George Brown Waterfront campus (WFL). All events, except for our panel with the Canadian Association of Postcolonial Studies (Sun 8:30am) are held at George Brown. Refreshments will served on a semi-regular basis in WFL-538. Conference Program: Our conference program is available here: https://amethyst-sidewalk-6b3.notion.site/CSDH-SCHN-Congress-2025-Reframing… Also available here as a Google sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IHee1rtSPr2oHd00f5v6H8zxI9o_peoeMZH… Congress Registration You can pick up your Congress lanyard and other registration information at the Congress Hub in the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences, Waterfront Campus. You can see, from this map that the registration is near the entrance closest to Dockside Drive: https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/plan-your-trip/maps Registration is open today from 3 - 5pm and then 7:30am - 5:00pm, May 30 - June 5th. AGM and Plenaries We have two exciting plenaries scheduled for the conference. Our first keynote, from Dr. Cheryl Thompson, is entitled "MOBA and the Digital Archive: From Concept to Platform and the Strategies for Building a Community." Dr. Thompson will deliver her plenary tomorrow, from 3:00 - 4:00 in WFL 538. Our second plenary, from Dr. Margot Mellet, is entitled "Switchable Anatomie of Thought." Dr. Mellet will deliver her plenary on Sunday, from 3:00 - 4:00 in WFL 538. Finally, we will hold our AGM on the first day of this conference immediately after Dr. Thompson's plenary. The AGM is open to all. Please join us! The plenaries and AGM will be streamed via the following Zoom link: Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83153433664?pwd=EoGIqQAcrpQzGpGpaKBiNGVjnH9ZLa.1 Meeting ID: 831 5343 3664 Passcode: 869076 Please note that there is limited space available to attend remotely. Support Contact If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly (barrettp(a)uoguelph.ca) You can also just flag me down at the conference. I'm happy to help! Thank you! Paul Barrett & the conference team

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INKE events at Congress
by Paul Barrett 28 May '25

28 May '25

Sending on behalf of Ray Siemens: HSS Commons Drop-in Session Location: George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Fifth Floor, Room WF 527 Date and Time: Sunday 1 June, 9.30 – 10.15 https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/hss-commons-drop-session Curious about the HSS Commons (https://hsscommons.ca/)? Whether you're brand new to it or already a member, drop by our informal session during the 2025 HSS Congress in Toronto! This is a chance to: Learn how the Commons supports open scholarship in the humanities and social sciences; Set up your profile and share your work; Explore tools for collaboration, teaching, and publishing; Chat with members of the team and fellow researchers; Ask questions or just have a coffee and say hello! No registration needed—just stop in when you can. We’d love to meet you and help you get the most out of the HSS Commons. Panel: Generative AI, LLMs, and Knowledge Structures Location: George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Sixth Floor, Room WF 607 Date and Time: Sunday 1 June, 10.30 – Noon https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/generative-ai-llms-and-knowledge-s…; community pass registration via ow.ly/onwv50VrMNl<http://ow.ly/onwv50VrMNl> Sponsored by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Implementing New Knowledge Environments Partnership (inke.ca) This panel explores the evolving relationship between commercial platforms, generative AI, and digital public knowledge infrastructures. As community-led initiatives like Wikimedia operate alongside increasingly closed and opaque commercial systems, the need for greater transparency, data access, and research tools becomes critical. Generative AI introduces new dynamics—shaping how knowledge is accessed, interpreted, and produced—while also raising ethical concerns around automation, transparency, and positionality in research. Additionally, the use of sensitive data, such as biometrics, in AI training prompts important questions about how classification systems are formed and how they impact representation and fairness. The panel addresses these challenges and emphasizes the importance of responsible, ethical approaches to studying and shaping AI-driven knowledge ecosystems. This panel is followed by the Big Thinking panel “Technologies of togetherness: Shaping an equitable future with AI.” Some light refreshments will be available at the session and nearby. Opening Remarks Karine Morin (President, CFHSS) Panel Chair Ray Siemens (U Victoria) “Observations on Wikimedia, LLMs and Information Ecosystem Observability” Amanda Lawrence (RMIT U) Dr. Amanda Lawrence (RMIT U) is the 2024–25 Honorary Resident Wikipedian, a residency co-sponsored by the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab, U Victoria Libraries, the Implementing New Knowledge Environments Partnership, and the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Lawrence is Director of the Australian Internet Observatory and former Director of the Analysis & Policy Observatory, as well as the outgoing President of Wikimedia Australia. An Affiliate of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society, her research focuses on open access, Wikipedia, public knowledge infrastructure, and digital platforms. She has led major research initiatives, developed numerous online platforms, and published widely. Although the internet is dominated by large commercial platforms increasingly operated as walled gardens, community-led initiatives like Wikimedia, open access publishing, open source software, and open source LLMs continue to carve out space in the digital public sphere. Understanding the complex, often symbiotic relationship between these domains is difficult due to limited transparency and data access from commercial platforms. Generative AI systems have been extensively trained on public resources like Wikipedia, but may now be diverting traffic from them and raising concerns about feedback loops that could affect both content quality and future training. To address these challenges, we need new ways to access and observe data from platforms like Google Search and GenAI systems. Such observability is essential for analysing the impact of digital technologies on public knowledge infrastructure. Emerging research infrastructure is beginning to support this work, using LLMs as both tools and subjects of study—an essential step toward sustaining a healthy digital information ecosystem. This paper explores how these tools can offer new insights into the evolving relationship between LLMs and Wikimedia. “Forging Interpretations with Generative AI” Geoffrey Rockwell (U Alberta, Amii) Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, appointed as a Canada CIFAR AI Chair in 2024, is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Media and Technology Studies at the U Alberta. His research encompasses video games, textual visualization, text analysis, and the ethics of technology and artificial intelligence. He co-authored Hermeneutica: Computer-Assisted Interpretation in the Humanities (MIT P, 2016) and co-developed Voyant Tools, an award-winning suite of text analysis and visualization tools. Dr. Rockwell is currently working on a book examining dialogues with AI, particularly focusing on interactions with chatbots like ChatGPT. Using large language models we can now generate fairly sophisticated interpretations of documents using natural language prompts. We can ask for classifications, summaries, visualizations, or specific content to be extracted. In short we can automate content analysis of the sort we used to count as research. As we play with the forging of interpretations at scale we need to consider the ethics of using generative AI in our research. We need to ask how we can use these models with respect for sources, care for transparency, and attention to positionality. "Ethical Data Collection for AI: Bridging Knowledge Platforms and Biometric Datasets" Lai-Tze Fan (U Waterloo) Dr. Lai-Tze Fan is an Associate Professor at U Waterloo, holding a Canada Research Chair in Technology and Social Change. She also serves as an Associate Professor at U Bergen, Norway. Her research focuses on media studies, digital culture, and critical approaches to AI, including the development of tools and methods to explore storytelling, media materiality, and technological infrastructures. Dr. Fan directs the U&AI Lab, which examines inequities in AI systems. She is also involved in various academic and artistic communities, serving on advisory boards and as an editor for open-access journals. This talk will examine ethical approaches to data collection within AI knowledge ecosystems, focusing specifically on biometric data that informs AI training datasets. For example, applications could include biometric datasets that train AI facial recognition technologies. While these specialized collections differ from traditional knowledge structures like those found on scholarly platforms or educational systems, they play a crucial role in how we categorize people, which can inform these broader platforms. The presentation will explore this symbiotic relationship, demonstrating how biometric datasets can enhance or mislead knowledge structures' representational accuracy and fairness. Paul Barrett Associate Professor School of English and Theatre Studies University of Guelph MacKinnon 447

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INKE events at CFHSS Congress, Toronto [1 June]: Commons drop-in, Generative AI panel
by Ray Siemens 27 May '25

27 May '25

Hi Everyone, Just a quick note to pass along the details of two INKE sessions at Congress in the days coming up, sponsored by the Federation. HSS Commons Drop-in Session Location: George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Fifth Floor, Room WF 527 Date and Time: Sunday 1 June, 9.30 – 10.15; https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/hss-commons-drop-session Panel: Generative AI, LLMs, and Knowledge Structures Location: George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Sixth Floor, Room WF 607 Date and Time: Sunday 1 June, 10.30 – Noon; https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/generative-ai-llms-and-knowledge-s… * Amanda Lawrence (RMIT U), “Observations on Wikimedia, LLMs and Information Ecosystem Observability” * Geoffrey Rockwell (U Alberta, Amii), “Forging Interpretations with Generative AI” * Lai-Tze Fan (U Waterloo), "Ethical Data Collection for AI: Bridging Knowledge Platforms and Biometric Datasets" Further details below. Hope you’ll consider joining us! All best wishes, Ray HSS Commons Drop-in Session Location: George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Fifth Floor, Room WF 527 Date and Time: Sunday 1 June, 9.30 – 10.15 https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/hss-commons-drop-session Curious about the HSS Commons (https://hsscommons.ca/)? Whether you're brand new to it or already a member, drop by our informal session during the 2025 HSS Congress in Toronto! This is a chance to: Learn how the Commons supports open scholarship in the humanities and social sciences; Set up your profile and share your work; Explore tools for collaboration, teaching, and publishing; Chat with members of the team and fellow researchers; Ask questions or just have a coffee and say hello! No registration needed—just stop in when you can. We’d love to meet you and help you get the most out of the HSS Commons. Panel: Generative AI, LLMs, and Knowledge Structures Location: George Brown College Waterfront Campus, Sixth Floor, Room WF 607 Date and Time: Sunday 1 June, 10.30 – Noon https://www.federationhss.ca/en/congress/generative-ai-llms-and-knowledge-s…; community pass registration via ow.ly/onwv50VrMNl<http://ow.ly/onwv50VrMNl> Sponsored by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Implementing New Knowledge Environments Partnership (inke.ca) This panel explores the evolving relationship between commercial platforms, generative AI, and digital public knowledge infrastructures. As community-led initiatives like Wikimedia operate alongside increasingly closed and opaque commercial systems, the need for greater transparency, data access, and research tools becomes critical. Generative AI introduces new dynamics—shaping how knowledge is accessed, interpreted, and produced—while also raising ethical concerns around automation, transparency, and positionality in research. Additionally, the use of sensitive data, such as biometrics, in AI training prompts important questions about how classification systems are formed and how they impact representation and fairness. The panel addresses these challenges and emphasizes the importance of responsible, ethical approaches to studying and shaping AI-driven knowledge ecosystems. This panel is followed by the Big Thinking panel “Technologies of togetherness: Shaping an equitable future with AI.” Some light refreshments will be available at the session and nearby. Opening Remarks Karine Morin (President, CFHSS) Panel Chair Ray Siemens (U Victoria) “Observations on Wikimedia, LLMs and Information Ecosystem Observability” Amanda Lawrence (RMIT U) Dr. Amanda Lawrence (RMIT U) is the 2024–25 Honorary Resident Wikipedian, a residency co-sponsored by the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab, U Victoria Libraries, the Implementing New Knowledge Environments Partnership, and the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Lawrence is Director of the Australian Internet Observatory and former Director of the Analysis & Policy Observatory, as well as the outgoing President of Wikimedia Australia. An Affiliate of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society, her research focuses on open access, Wikipedia, public knowledge infrastructure, and digital platforms. She has led major research initiatives, developed numerous online platforms, and published widely. Although the internet is dominated by large commercial platforms increasingly operated as walled gardens, community-led initiatives like Wikimedia, open access publishing, open source software, and open source LLMs continue to carve out space in the digital public sphere. Understanding the complex, often symbiotic relationship between these domains is difficult due to limited transparency and data access from commercial platforms. Generative AI systems have been extensively trained on public resources like Wikipedia, but may now be diverting traffic from them and raising concerns about feedback loops that could affect both content quality and future training. To address these challenges, we need new ways to access and observe data from platforms like Google Search and GenAI systems. Such observability is essential for analysing the impact of digital technologies on public knowledge infrastructure. Emerging research infrastructure is beginning to support this work, using LLMs as both tools and subjects of study—an essential step toward sustaining a healthy digital information ecosystem. This paper explores how these tools can offer new insights into the evolving relationship between LLMs and Wikimedia. “Forging Interpretations with Generative AI” Geoffrey Rockwell (U Alberta, Amii) Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, appointed as a Canada CIFAR AI Chair in 2024, is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Media and Technology Studies at the U Alberta. His research encompasses video games, textual visualization, text analysis, and the ethics of technology and artificial intelligence. He co-authored Hermeneutica: Computer-Assisted Interpretation in the Humanities (MIT P, 2016) and co-developed Voyant Tools, an award-winning suite of text analysis and visualization tools. Dr. Rockwell is currently working on a book examining dialogues with AI, particularly focusing on interactions with chatbots like ChatGPT. Using large language models we can now generate fairly sophisticated interpretations of documents using natural language prompts. We can ask for classifications, summaries, visualizations, or specific content to be extracted. In short we can automate content analysis of the sort we used to count as research. As we play with the forging of interpretations at scale we need to consider the ethics of using generative AI in our research. We need to ask how we can use these models with respect for sources, care for transparency, and attention to positionality. "Ethical Data Collection for AI: Bridging Knowledge Platforms and Biometric Datasets" Lai-Tze Fan (U Waterloo) Dr. Lai-Tze Fan is an Associate Professor at U Waterloo, holding a Canada Research Chair in Technology and Social Change. She also serves as an Associate Professor at U Bergen, Norway. Her research focuses on media studies, digital culture, and critical approaches to AI, including the development of tools and methods to explore storytelling, media materiality, and technological infrastructures. Dr. Fan directs the U&AI Lab, which examines inequities in AI systems. She is also involved in various academic and artistic communities, serving on advisory boards and as an editor for open-access journals. This talk will examine ethical approaches to data collection within AI knowledge ecosystems, focusing specifically on biometric data that informs AI training datasets. For example, applications could include biometric datasets that train AI facial recognition technologies. While these specialized collections differ from traditional knowledge structures like those found on scholarly platforms or educational systems, they play a crucial role in how we categorize people, which can inform these broader platforms. The presentation will explore this symbiotic relationship, demonstrating how biometric datasets can enhance or mislead knowledge structures' representational accuracy and fairness.

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