Computing in humanities education: a Eureopean perspective (panel discussion)

In some disciplines and in some countries, computing is already coming to be seen as an indispensable component of the humanities curriculum both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In some institutions, specialised 'humanities computing' courses are offered; in others, computing techniques are incorporated into 'standard' history or literature courses, for example, or such courses include specific modules, e.g 'history and computing'. There are a few institutions where both approaches are in operation.
In recent years the European Commission has sponsored a number of 'thematic network' projects, with the aim of encouraging institutions involved in related activities to inform themselves of what is going on and to establish frameworks for formal or informal collaboration. One such project is 'ACO*HUM' (Advanced Computing in the Humanities), with the University of Bergen, Norway as the lead institution, and involving more than 100 European institutions of higher education.
ACO*HUM has as its goals to establish a framework for:
collecting and maintaining information about computing in humanities curricula in undergraduate and taught masters programmes across Europe;
collaboration in curriculum development and in use of common curriculum components across institutions and countries;
collaboration in development and use of common instructional materials;
exchange of students.
The ALLC is among the official sponsors of the ACO*HUM project, and its special session in the conference is devoted to this project and to the wider issues that surround its activities. The session takes the form of a panel discussion, in which members of the panel will speak briefly to report on activities and raise topics thought to be of particular interest. This will be followed by open discussion, of these or any other topics of interest to those attending the session.
Three members of the panel have key roles in the ACO*HUM project:
Manfred Thaller, Director of Humanities Computing at the University of Bergen, is a member of the ACO*HUM committee on 'History and historical informatics';
Espen Ore, University of Bergen, is Chair of the ACO*HUM committee on 'Textual scholarship and humanities computing';
Lisa-Lena Opas, University of Joensuu, is a member of the committee on 'Textual scholarship and humanities computing'.
A fourth panelist, Elisabeth Burr, University of Duisburg, is involved in developing programmes for humanities computing, and is interested in the exchange of students between Germany and other countries.
The remaining three members of the panel have been invited to address the wider geographical context within which ACO*HUM must operate:
László Hunyadi, University of Debrecen, will talk about the development of computing in the humanities curriculum in Hungary, and in Central and Eastern Europe more generally;
István Abosi, programme director of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Education will describe the national development programme for computing in Hungarian higher education, and will refer briefly to the situation in Central and Eastern Europe;
Michael Neuman, Georgetown University, will outline some aspects of the North American situation in humanities computing, and identify areas of possible transatlantic collaboration.
The session will be chaired by Harold Short, King's College London, who is Chair of ALLC and a member of the ACO*HUM Steering Committee.