On Wednesday, December 3rd, CLARIAH-NL will organise its first Community
Connect in Utrecht. CLARIAH-NL is a network of humanities faculties,
research and heritage institutes, enhancing humanities research through
shared data, tools, workflows, and teaching materials.

This Community Connect event specifically aims to connect (potential) users,
researchers, developers and GLAM professionals to collaborate, show and tell, and
discuss future developments.

In the morning, a closed session will be held with representatives from the field to
facilitate an open dialogue, enabling the drafting of the next CLARIAH-NL Roadmap
(2026-2030). The input will help us assess the current infrastructure and develop a
clear vision for its long-term direction, fostering excellent research based on the
richness of Dutch cultural heritage resources. Specific topics that will be addressed include
identifying research opportunities, gaps in the current CLARIAH-NL landscape,
resource needs, available techniques, and robust organisation.

The afternoon is the heart of Community Connect, featuring showcases of research and teaching
conducted with CLARIAH-NL, as well as discussions on the frontier of digital
humanities research that extends beyond the current CLARIAH-NL infrastructure.
The afternoon session is open to anyone interested in attending. There will also be
ample opportunities to meet fellow researchers, GLAM colleagues, and new
colleagues. We will delve into the latest CLARIAH developments in SSHOC-NL,
future grants, and provide an outlook on the CLARIAH roadmap based on the
morning session. More details will follow and will be shared right here on the CLARIAH
website. Expect a vibrant event where the future of humanities research will take
centre stage!

Programme

Learn and Teach

Presenters:
• Susan Aasman (RUG)
• Christian Olesen (UVA)
• Vicky Garnett (DARIAH)

Moderator
• Christian Olesen

How to productively implement digital resources, tools and methods in teaching and research? And, by the same token, how to foster interdisciplinary, digital skills among students and researchers at different levels?
Taking the CLARIAH infrastructure training initiatives as its departure point, the ‘Learn and Teach’-session will approach these questions from two perspectives. First, the session will examine the ways in which CLARIAH currently supports users in learning how to avail themselves of the affordances of digital tools and data and, in dialogue with experts from other resources, discuss how to further develop CLARIAH in the direction of related, ongoing infrastructure projects. Second, the session will highlight how CLARIAH infrastructure connects to and can be an asset for research-intensive academic courses, while being mindful of curriculum development at the individual university level.

AI and Humanities Research

Presenters
• Lorella Viola (VU)
• Ishak Riali (UL)

Moderator
• Alex Brandsen (TDCC-SSH)
• Jetze Touber (DANS-KNAW)

AI (and in particular generative AI) has a profound impact on the nature of research methods and on the reuse of existing (research) data. On the one hand it has the potential to support the analysis of unimaginable quantities of heritage data, as well as to combine resources across the boundaries of modality or language. On the other hand, it requires the humanities researcher to be aware of the threat which AI poses to the confidentiality of sensitive data (IPR, GDPR), of the opaque technical and conceptual processes underlying probabilistic AI applications, and of the ethical issues inherent to the use of generative models which have been trained on problematic corpora. The session ‘AI and Humanities Research’ will explore both the potential and the pitfalls of AI applications in humanities research.

Data Flows and Data Stories

Presenters
• Marjet Brolsma (UvA)
• Vincent Kuitenbrouwer (UvA)
• Rick Mourits (IISH)

Moderator
• Sabrina Sauer
• Mary-Joy van der Deure

‘Humanities researchers do not work with data’ has been an often-heard claim – one which nowadays fewer and fewer humanities scholars subscribe to. Nevertheless, the usage of data in the humanities has some distinctive features which does set it apart from that in other research fields. The session ‘Data Flows and Data Stories’ will look into innovative ways to integrate data in publication formats that transcend the traditional book or journal article. This will draw attention to some defining aspects of data usage in the humanities: the importance of cultural heritage data which have often not been created on purpose as research data but which do serve as a primary resource to work with, and issues with intellectual property rights and privacy legislation which may pose obstacles to research.

Registration

Registration has closed. Please contact Janessa Leeuwis if you would like to attend and have not yet registered.

Location

Domstad/Cursus- en vergadercentrum Domstad: Koningsbergerstraat 9

As per their website:

Public transport directions

From Utrecht Central Station

• Walk (approx. 10 minutes) from the Jaarbeursplein exit; walk towards the ASN Bank building, keep right and walk past the building, follow Graadt van Roggenweg (with the tram tracks). Cross the road at the tram stop/traffic lights, you will see our building on your left in the side street.
• By express tram: get off at the Graadt van Roggenweg stop; you will see our building immediately in the side street to the west of the stop.

Bicycle directions

• The covered bicycle parking area is located behind the building. You can access it via the car park. There is also a charging point for your electric bicycle.

Car directions

• Domstad recommends using P+R Westraven, located on the A12, exit 17 (Kanaleneiland / Jaarbeurs / Transferium) for €7.50, and then taking the express tram (line 20 or 21, departs every 10 minutes towards Utrecht Central Station, journey time approx. 10 minutes) to our front door – Graadt van Roggenweg stop.

Parking facilities

• Please note: from 1 September 2025, paid parking will be introduced at HU Domstad/Domstad Course and Conference Centre. This applies from Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at a rate of €1.80 per hour.
• There is very limited parking available in Domstad’s own car park at the rear of our building. Places are subject to availability. Disabled guests with a disabled parking permit can reserve a space on request.
• Please note: in the neighbourhood surrounding our Course and Conference Centre, paid parking is available via payment machines (debit cards). The rates are set by the municipality and in 2025 will be €6.79 per hour, €47.59 for a day ticket (9 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and €16.30 for an evening ticket (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.).
• There are several public charging stations for your electric car in the immediate vicinity.
• Utrecht parking rules applicable to disabled persons in possession of a disabled parking permit:
• Since 1 October 2020, in addition to your disabled parking card, you also need a disabled parking permit to use your parking card on public roads in the vicinity of the Domstad Course and Conference Centre. You must apply for this permit in advance from the municipality of Utrecht via the disabled parking permit.