"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@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)