[Afridig] CfP Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence in African Studies workshop, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Wed Mar 18 07:37:39 SAST 2026

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CALL FOR PAPERS
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A DFG Programme Point Sud Workshop

Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence in African Studies:
Towards Sustainable and Equitable Practices

21–24 September 2026  ·  STIAS, Stellenbosch, South Africa

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ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

The integration of digital humanities (DH) and artificial intelligence
(AI) is transforming the production of knowledge in African Studies,
offering new opportunities for innovative analysis, dynamic
visualisation and cross-cultural research. Yet this shift raises urgent
questions regarding equitable access, the representation of African
languages, and the suitability of methodologies. Current large language
models underrepresent African languages, digital scholarly
infrastructures remain optimised for English, and digitisation
pipelines
that produce AI-ready data are themselves shaped by political choices
about what to digitise, how to describe it, and who controls access.
While recent initiatives on digital sovereignty in Africa have centred
on policy and regulation, this workshop shifts attention to
methodological practice. It asks how DH methods and AI transform
research in African Studies, and how we can design, evaluate, and
sustain these methods under African conditions. By bringing together
scholars, independent researchers and practitioners from Africa,
Europe,
and beyond, the event will foster North–South and South–South dialogue
at the intersection of African epistemologies and digital methods,
moving from description to design.

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CONVENORS

  - Frédérick Madore, University of Bayreuth
  - Vincent Hiribarren, King's College London
  - Emmanuel Ngue Um, University of Yaoundé 1
  - Menno van Zaanen, South African Centre for Digital Language
Resources (SADiLaR)

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THEMATIC AXES

The programme is structured around the following thematic axes:

1. Transforming Research Methods through AI and Digital Tools in
African Studies

This axis asks a fundamental question: how are AI and DH methods
changing the study of African cultures, languages, and histories?
Participants will present concrete uses of AI to analyse multilingual
texts, employ computer vision to study visual culture and historical
artefacts, and develop digital mapping to trace cultural movements and
connections. We will evaluate what works for different kinds of African
cultural materials, identify adaptations required for local contexts,
and specify where computational approaches can complement—rather than
replace—interpretive scholarship. The goal is clear: practical guidance
for integrating these methods while preserving the interpretive
richness
that defines the humanities.

2. Building Sustainable Research Infrastructures from African
Perspectives

Moving beyond policy discourse, this axis asks what it takes to build
and sustain digital research capacity within African institutions and
communities. We will examine practical obstacles—limited connectivity,
unstable funding, and scarce training data for local languages—and
showcase South–South collaboration models that have navigated these
constraints. Participants will share strategies for developing tools
that utilise available resources rather than assuming high-end
infrastructure. Key questions include how to keep research outputs
accessible to the communities being studied, how to train the next
generation of African DH scholars, and how to secure sustainable
funding
that does not depend solely on institutions in the Global North. The
focus is on concrete, scalable approaches to durable capacity.

3. Centring African Knowledge Systems in Digital Research Design

This axis poses a methodological challenge: how can digital research
tools respect and incorporate African ways of knowing? Rather than
retrofitting existing techniques to African materials, we explore how
African epistemologies can shape the tools themselves. Case studies
will
show community knowledge informing database structures, oral traditions
testing text-centred analytical frameworks, and local classification
systems improving standard metadata schemas. We will consider protocols
for culturally sensitive materials, interface design that does not
privilege European languages, and criteria to ensure that AI systems
trained on African data primarily serve African research needs. Here,
decolonisation moves from critique to construction.

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WORKSHOP FORMAT & LANGUAGE POLICY

The workshop will run in a hybrid format to maximise participation and
impact. In-person sessions at STIAS will be paired with remote access
via Zoom for those unable to travel. Participants will pre-circulate
draft papers in English or French one month in advance, each with a
bilingual abstract to support preparation. To address language
barriers,
the workshop will operate bilingually in English and French. Presenters
may speak in either language; where possible, a bilingual chair will
moderate discussion and provide brief consecutive interpretation where
needed. Recent advances in AI speech recognition and machine
translation
now enable near-real-time captioning; we will deploy these tools in the
room and on Zoom. All presenters will supply slides with bilingual
titles and key terms, and a one-page terminology handout in both
languages. Together, these measures encourage meaningful participation
in Africa’s Anglophone and Francophone communities, which are often
divided by institutional and linguistic boundaries, and provide
immediate, practical benefits for multilingual colleagues.

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

We invite proposals for individual papers (20-minute presentations).
Submissions may be in English or French. Proposals of up to 500 words
should be emailed to the convenors by 30 April 2026. Each submission
must include: (i) a title; (ii) an abstract outlining the context,
central question, and methodological approach; and (iii) a 100-word
biographical note indicating the applicant’s discipline and
institutional affiliation.

Please send your proposals to the following addresses:

  - Frédérick Madore: frederick.madore at uni-bayreuth.de
  - Vincent Hiribarren: vincent.hiribarren at kcl.ac.uk
  - Emmanuel Ngue Um: ngueum at gmail.com
  - Menno van Zaanen: menno.vanzaanen at nwu.ac.za

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PUBLICATION

Our goal is to publish selected papers from the workshop as a special
issue in the Journal of the Digital Humanities Association of Southern
Africa (JDHASA), subject to agreement with the journal’s editorial
board. All submitted full papers will undergo peer review. Authors
whose
papers are selected for the special issue will be expected to revise
their manuscripts in line with reviewer feedback before final
publication.

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SELECTION CRITERIA & INCLUSIVITY

Selection will prioritise gender equity, support for early-career
scholars based in sub-Saharan Africa, and balance across disciplines
and
regions. In addition to scholars, we will include
practitioner-developers by directly engaging the teams behind DH tools.
Their participation will help us to assess user needs and the
feasibility of embedding African ways of knowing in tool design. DH
remains gender-imbalanced; accordingly, the open call will explicitly
encourage applications from women and weight gender equity in review.
We
will intentionally include Africa-based, diasporic, and returning
scholars. Recognising uneven DH capacity, particularly in several
Francophone regions, we will aim for a majority of Africa-based
participants and amplify Francophone voices through targeted outreach
and reserved places for early-career researchers. The workshop will
uphold equal opportunity regardless of gender, religion, or other
sociocultural differences.

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KEY DATES

  - Submission Deadline: 30 April 2026
  - Notification of Acceptance: 15 May 2026
  - Deadline for Full Papers: 15 August 2026
  - Workshop Dates: 21–24 September 2026

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https://fmadore.github.io/stias-dh-ai-workshop-2026
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Prof Menno van Zaanen     menno.vanzaanen at nwu.ac.za
Professor in Digital Humanities
South African Centre for Digital Language Resources
https://www.sadilar.org
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