Call for Applications for the 2026 Summer Institute: Digital Humanities for Hellenic Studies – Historic Athens in 3D

The Center for Digital Humanities is proud to be part of the Seeger Center's Summer Institute: Digital Humanities for Hellenic Studies, hosted at the Princeton Athens Center in Greece from July 6–10. This year's theme is "Historic Athens in 3D."

The deadline to apply is Sunday March 15, 2026 (11:59pm EST).

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

This workshop is designed for scholars interested in exploring digital humanities methods for representing archival information and rich narratives about historical urban spaces. Participants will be introduced to key topics, approaches, and tools, such as working with spatial data, 3D modeling, photogrammetry, data annotation, AI tools, and telling stories with data.

Workshop participants will work collaboratively to create 3D, information-enriched visualizations of the early 20th-century Vrysaki neighborhood of Athens before its demolition. This work will draw on a unique collection of historic photographs and maps from the 1930s, created by photographer M. Messinesi and held in Princeton’s Art and Archaeology Department’s Visual Resources Collection.

Through seminar discussions, hands-on instruction, and site visits, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges of communicating the history of lost city spaces through 3D visualizations, while engaging with the complex history of Athens' urban landscape. By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped to develop their own digital cultural heritage project.

The workshop is open to scholars from all disciplines, regardless of technical background. Experience with spatial data, 3D modeling, or other digital tools and concepts is welcome but not required. This workshop will be of particular interest to those in Hellenic Studies, History, Art and Archaeology, Urban Studies, Architecture, Cultural Studies, Public Humanities, and Photography. Knowledge of Greek is not necessary.

Instructors will include scholars from Princeton’s Center for Digital Humanities (CDH), Princeton University Library, the Science & Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) at the Cyprus Institute, and the MSc Program in Digital Methods for the Humanities at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB).

APPLICATION

The following material should be combined into a single file and uploaded to the application form, which can be found here [link coming soon].

• a 1-page (500 words) statement of your interest in digital reconstruction and goals for this workshop. Discuss why participating in this workshop is important for your research project, scholarly and/or professional goals. Please specify any experience with digital or computational methods, tools, or programming languages.
• a CV;
• for graduate student applicants, contact information for a faculty advisor who may be contacted as a reference (no letter of recommendation is required with the initial application).

Application Deadline: Sunday March 15, 2026 (11:59pm EST).

Questions? For questions about projects and proposals, please contact Natalia Ermolaev, Executive Director of the CDH. For questions about program logistics and eligibility, please contact Chris Twiname, administrative coordinator at the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies.

ELIGIBILITY

Current Princeton scholars (faculty, staff, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows) in the humanities, as well as graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the humanities currently enrolled at universities in Greece, are invited to apply.

FUNDING

All participants attend this workshop tuition-free.

Selected Princeton affiliates, as well as those from Greek universities who do not reside in Athens, will have the chance to apply for funding to cover all or part of their travel and accommodation expenses. The funding application will comprise a short budget estimate and a statement as to whether the applicant plans to combine this workshop with other activities, as the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies will only cover expenses related to the workshop. Selected participants will be given instructions on how to apply for funding when they are notified of their selection.

This program is sponsored by the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University in collaboration with the Center for Digital Humanities at Princeton; the Princeton University Library, the UNESCO Chair on Digital Methods for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB); the MSc Program in Digital Methods for the Humanities at AUEB; and the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH-EU).

FROM PAST INSTITUTES