Abstract
The CUDAN Research Group collaborates within the CUDAN Open Lab initiative to build a novel approach of Cultural Data Analytics. This approach systematically integrates a broad spectrum of qualitative, quantitative, computational, and aesthetic methods, which complement each other in a meaningful way. The methods include aspects of art history, cultural history, cultural semiotics, creative industry studies, and digital culture studies; computational linguistics, computational social science, network & complexity science, and science of science; data science, informatics, and machine learning; data visualization, generative art, and process design. The grand challenge is to systematically understand cultural interaction and dynamics via the analysis of materials that range from historical sources to contemporary media. Individual projects currently cover the study of pseudohistory, socio-cultural & urban dynamics via visual social media, language evolution, social networks & innovation practices in creative industries, self-representation in online dating platforms, the semiotics of the cultural other, data use practice in public policy and industry, concepts for a new digital art school, algorithmic art curation using semantic networks, and generative art for latent space navigation. In this DH pizza session, the CUDAN team hopes to spark a discussion by giving a taste of ongoing research via a series of brief pitches, following an equally brief intro by the CUDAN ERA chair. The CUDAN project is generously funded through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program of the European Commission (Grant no. 810961). Info & events see https://cudan.tlu.ee/