The Center for Integrated Japanese Studies (CIJS) at Tohoku University will host an international workshop offering practical training on applying AI and Digital Humanities methods to humanities research.

This workshop invites researchers leading international research projects on multilingual texts across Eurasia to serve as instructors and provide practical training in the latest AI and Digital Humanities methods.

We invite graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and assistant professors affiliated with universities in Japan, regardless of their field of specialisation, to apply.

【Workshop Overview】

• Event Title: AI and Digital Humanities: Applications to Classical Text Research (Japanese: AIとデジタル・ヒューマニティーズ：古典テキスト研究への応用)

• Dates: December 5–9, 2026, 9:00–18:00

  • Saturday, December 5 & Sunday, December 6: Closed Workshop (Invited researchers and participating students only)
    Workshop Application Form

  • Monday, December 7: Open International Symposium: "AI and Digital Humanities for Classical Texts"
    Symposium Registration Form

  • ※Priority will be given to workshop participants who can attend the full schedule (December 5–9).

• Organisers:

  • Harvard-Yenching Institute

  • Dharmamitra Project

  • Center for Integrated Japanese Studies (CIJS), Tohoku University

• Venue: Espace, 2nd Floor, Katahira Kitamon Hall, Katahira Campus, Tohoku University (2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan)　Campus Map (*Building A01)

• Language: English

  • ※Lectures, discussions, and hands-on practical sessions will be conducted primarily in English. Applicants must be able to understand lectures in English and participate in discussions and collaborative work.

• Eligibility: Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and assistant professors affiliated with universities in Japan (regardless of field of specialisation)

• Number of Participants: Limited seats are available.

  • ※Selection will be made based on application details, taking into account the overall composition of participants. We will send selection results in late November , 2026, to the email address registered at the time of application.

• Travel Expense Support: For participants from outside Tohoku University, travel and accommodation expenses will be provided up to a maximum of 130,000 JPY per person.

  • ※Participants are requested to arrange and pay for their own transportation tickets and accommodation in advance. Expenses will be reimbursed after the workshop in accordance with Tohoku University's travel expense regulations.

  • ※Details regarding receipts and required documentation for reimbursement will be provided to accepted participants separately.

• Participation Fee: Free

【How to Apply】

• Application Form: Google Form Application Link (Please apply via the QR code on the flyer or the URL)

• Application Deadline: Saturday, November 7, 2026

【About the Workshop】

This workshop is devoted to teaching the ways humanities scholars can apply current AI methods to the study of texts in under-served languages across Eurasia.

It will be taught by an international group of researchers from the Schmidt Sciences Foundation-funded project “Connectivity and Individuality in Textual Traditions: Augmenting Retrieval for Eurasian Languages.” The workshop will focus on methods that can be applied to a multi-lingual corpus of texts.

【Target Languages and Literature】

The workshop focuses on analytical methods applicable to multilingual text corpora, mainly covering the following languages and texts:

• Buddhist literature: Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese

• Chinese literature: Classical Chinese, Literary Chinese (Kanbun), Modern Chinese

• Middle Eastern & Mediterranean literature: Medieval and Modern Arabic, Medieval Hebrew, Armenian, Ottoman Turkish, Greek, Latin

【Main Lecture and Hands-on Topics】

• Creating multilingual 'Critical Editions'

• Building multilingual interfaces

• Machine translation, reliable search, and information extraction

• Methods for benchmarking and evaluating Large Language Models (LLMs)

• Running LLMs in a local environment (on your own PC)

• Using the ChatGPT Application Programming Interface (API)

• Utilising Agentic Methods

【What to Bring】

Participants must bring their own laptop computers on the day of the workshop. Information regarding programs that need to be installed in advance will be communicated via email prior to the event.