Sanskrit inscriptions as tangible artefacts: exploring digital tools
Speaker: Francesco Bianchini (Cambridge University)
Date: Tuesday June 3, 2025. 16:00–17:15 BST. Online only.
In recent years, hundreds of South and Southeast Asian inscriptions from the premodern period have been digitised and made available through online repositories. The talk explores the various digitisation strategies adopted, arguing for a need to capture the materiality of epigraphic writing in a more comprehensive and detailed manner. A related line of inquiry is represented by the circulation of Indic scripts across Asia, captured in both epigraphic and manuscript writing. New digital tools, from photography to dedicated softwares and platforms, open exciting possibilities for charting early cultural interconnectivity on a transregional level.
The Material Digital Humanities seminar is organised by Gabriel Bodard (Digital Humanities Research Hub, University of London, UK) and Chiara Palladino (Department of Classics, Furman University, USA) in 2025. This seminar series will present a range of discussions around materiality and the research possibilities offered by digital methods and approaches. Beyond just the value of digitization and computational research to the study of material culture, we are especially interested in theoretical and digital approaches to the question of materiality itself. We do not restrict ourselves to any period of history or academic discipline, but want to encourage interdisciplinarity and collaborative work, and the valuable exchange of ideas enabled by cross-pollination of languages, areas of history, geography and cultures.
All welcomeThis event is free to attend, but booking is required. It will be held online with details about how to join the virtual event being circulated via email to registered attendees 24 hours in advance.
This page was last updated on 6 March 2025
