Tutorial and Workshop: Phylometric and Phylogenetic Methods in the Humanities

Call deadline: 20 September 2012
Event Dates: 22-24 November 2012
Event Location: Bern, Switzerland
Event URL: http://www.germanistik.unibe.ch/personen/gabriel_viehhauser/bernphylogeny.html

The analysis of large sets of genetic data with phylogenetic algorithms has a long tradition in biology. In the recent past, these methods have also been gaining increasing importance in the humanities, e.g. linguistics (e.g. Warnow and Nichols 2008; McMahon and McMahon 2005), literary studies (e.g. Windram, Shaw, Robinson and Howe 2008) or anthropology (e.g. Tehrani, Collard and Shennan 2010) where they have been used for the visualisation and analysis of different kinds of data such as comparative word lists, manuscript traditions or other types of cultural artefacts. 

The tutorial ‘Phylometric and Phylogenetic Approaches in the Humanities’ is designed for doctoral students, post-doc researchers and others who would like to get acquainted with these innovative approaches. The tutorial offers a hands-on introduction to application possibilities of these methods based on data sets from different disciplines. While the focus is on data from linguistics and literary studies, participants from other subject areas are especially welcome since we believe that interdisciplinary exchange on the use of such methods in non-genetic application domains is beneficial for all parties involved. 

The tutorial will provide: 

- an overview on phylometric approaches in the humanities. 
- an introduction to the use of relevant computer programs (Paup, SplitsTree). 
- the opportunity to practice the application of the methods by means of prepared data sets. 

There might be the possibility for the participants to work on their own data during the tutorial. This will, however, depend on the number of participants and other factors. More information considering this option will follow in a later circular. The tutorial will be taught by Heather F. Windram (Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge) and Christoph Wolk (FRIAS, Albert-Ludwig-Universität Freiburg). 

The tutorial will be followed by a one-day workshop on the same topic on November 24, 2012. Participants in the tutorial are encouraged to attend the workshop as well. The participation is free of charge and made possible by a grant by Bern University’s Mittelbauvereinigung and funding by the Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS). 

Please send your application by October 1, 2012 to bernphylogenygmail.com. Please include your name and affiliation and a short statement concerning your background and your interest in the tutorial. Specifically, it is important to us to understand how well you are acquainted with phylogenetic and/or other quantitative or computational methods, and what data you are interested in working with. 

Feel free to contact us if there should be any remaining questions.