Dear all,

We are excited to announce that the third DocNetCH workshop will be taking place at the University of Neuchâtel!

Our third installment, "Computational Approaches to Literary Studies: From Close to Distant Reading", explores how digital humanities approaches can complement and extend traditional close reading practices. The main focus of the event will be on what large-scale textual analysis can reveal that conventional literary analysis cannot.

The workshop will be led by two digital humanities scholars from Cornell University (NY):

• Prof. Dr. Lindsay Thomas, Associate Professor in the Department of Literatures in English. Professor Thomas will give a talk on Measuring the Long Novel: Popularity and Prestige in the 20th Century, exploring how shifts in novelistic length intersect with questions of cultural consumption, as well as readership and the literary market.

• Sanghoon Oh, M.A., Doctoral Candidate in the same department, will give a talk on the Computational History of Free Verse, using computational analysis of a large corpus of poems to work toward a more precise and historically grounded definition of free verse, a form whose boundaries have long resisted easy categorization.

No prior programming experience is required. The workshop is designed to offer accessible entry points into computational methods. During a final open discussion, DocNetCH members will be invited to bring questions from their own research and explore, together with the speakers, how computational approaches might apply to their specific projects.

When: 8 May 2026, 12:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Where: Université de Neuchâtel – Institut de Langue et Littérature Anglaises (FLSH), Neuchâtel

To register, please contact mattia.ferraro@unine.ch.

Registrations close on 5 May, 2026.

The workshop is open to all doctoral students and early-career researchers in literary studies, cultural studies, media studies, and related humanities fields across Switzerland. While you need to be a member of DocNetCH to attend the final discussion (4:30-5:30 p.m.), the lectures are open to all, regardless of academic background or career stage.

DocNetCH is a self-organized network for PhD students in Literary Studies across Switzerland, founded in 2024. Our aim is to foster exchange and build a broader support system, connecting researchers working on literature across institutions. More information about the network can be found here.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch. 

Warm regards,

Matttia Ferraro