Digital Humanities

Measuring Vowels Without Relying on Sex-Based Assumptions

April 8, 2025
Amber Galvano
by Amber Galvano. This tutorial builds on my previous post on Python for acoustic analysis, this time focusing on measuring vocal tract resonances without relying on sex-based assumptions. I demonstrate how to process audio files and vowel annotations using an adaptive method that optimizes the acoustic analysis across a recording. Instead of fixing parameters based on generalized vocal tract length correlations, this approach varies them within a defined range for greater accuracy. This not only enhances measurement precision but also avoids requiring (or assuming) speakers’ sex in data collection. Finally, I show how to filter for outliers and create high-quality vowel space visualizations.

Antipodal Experiments: Digital Humanities & Social Science (D-HASS) in Australasia

May 19, 2025, 4:00pm
Professor Smithies will highlight recent initiatives, such as major national hubs like the HASS Digital Research Hub at ANU, and explore themes of collective well-being, pluralism, environmental sustainability, Indigenous data sovereignty, and human-centered design. This talk will challenge narratives of decline by presenting innovative, community-focused digital research strategies and the potential for renewal through antipodal, pluralistic, and inclusive thinking.

Teaching Data Science as a Tool for Empowerment

February 18, 2025
Elijah Mercer
by Elijah Mercer. Data literacy is a powerful tool for empowerment, especially for historically marginalized communities. Through Data Cafecito at Roadmap to Peace and helping teach Data 4AC at UC Berkeley, Elijah Mercer helps bridge the gap between data, advocacy, and justice. Data Cafecito fosters culturally responsive data practices for Latinx-serving organizations, while Data 4AC challenges students to critically analyze data’s role in systemic inequities. Drawing from his experience in education, Mercer uses interactive teaching methods to make data accessible and meaningful. By centering storytelling and community-driven insights, he aims to equip individuals with the skills to use data for social change.

Why Data Disaggregation Matters: Exploring the Diversity of Asian American Economic Outcomes Using Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Data

February 11, 2025
Taesoo Song
by Taesoo Song. Asian Americans are often overlooked in discussions of racial inequality due to their high average socioeconomic attainment. Many academic and policy researchers treat Asians as a single racial category in their analysis. However, this broad categorization can mask significant within-group disparities, leaving many disadvantaged individuals without access to vital resources and policy support. Song emphasizes the importance of data disaggregation in revealing Asian American inequalities, particularly in areas like income and homeownership, and demonstrates how breaking down these categories can lead to more targeted and effective policy solutions.

Claudia von Vacano, Ph.D.

Founding Executive Director, P.I., Research Director, FSRDC

Dr. Claudia von Vacano is the Founding Executive Director and Senior Research Associate of D-Lab and Digital Humanities at Berkeley and is on the boards of the Social Science Matrix and Berkeley Center for New Media. She has worked in policy and educational administration since 2000, and at the UC Office of the President and UC Berkeley since 2008. She received a Master’s degree from Stanford University in Learning, Design, and Technology. Her doctorate is in Policy, Organizations, Measurement, and Evaluation from UC Berkeley. Her expertise is in organizational theory and...

Field Experiments in Corporations

January 28, 2025
Yue Lin
by Yue Lin. How do social science researchers conduct field experiments with private actors? Yue Lin provides a brief overview of the recent developments in political economy and management strategy, with a focus on filing field experiments within private corporations. Unlike conventional targets like individuals and government agencies, private companies are an emergent sweet spot for scholars to test for important theories, such as sustainability, censorship, and market behavior. After comparing the strengths and weaknesses of this powerful yet nascent method, Lin brainstorms some practical solutions to improve the success rate of field experimental studies. She aims to introduce a new methodological tool in a nascent research field and shed some light on improving experimental quality while adhering to ethical standards.

The Creation of Bad Students: AI Detection for Non-Native English Speakers

January 21, 2025
Valeria Ramírez Castañeda
by Valeria Ramírez Castañeda. This blog explores how AI detection tools in academia perpetuate surveillance and punishment, disproportionately penalizing non-native English speakers (NNES). It critiques the rigid, culturally biased notions of originality and intellectual property, highlighting how NNES rely on AI to navigate the dominance of English in academic settings. Current educational practices often label AI use as dishonest, ignoring its potential to reduce global inequities. The post argues for a shift from punitive measures to integrate AIs as a tool for inclusivity, fostering diverse perspectives. By embracing AI, academia can prioritize collaboration and creativity over control and discipline.

Digital Humanities Working Group (April 2025)

April 7, 2025, 1:00pm
The UC Berkeley Digital Humanities Working Group is a research community founded to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations in the digital humanities and cultural analytics. Our gatherings are participant driven and provide a place for sharing research ideas (including brainstorming new ideas and receiving feedback from others), learning about the intersection of computational methods and humanistic inquiry, and connecting with others working in this space at Berkeley.

Digital Humanities Working Group (March 2025)

March 3, 2025, 1:00pm
The UC Berkeley Digital Humanities Working Group is a research community founded to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations in the digital humanities and cultural analytics. Our gatherings are participant driven and provide a place for sharing research ideas (including brainstorming new ideas and receiving feedback from others), learning about the intersection of computational methods and humanistic inquiry, and connecting with others working in this space at Berkeley.

Digital Humanities Working Group (February 2025)

February 3, 2025, 1:00pm
The UC Berkeley Digital Humanities Working Group is a research community founded to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations in the digital humanities and cultural analytics. Our gatherings are participant driven and provide a place for sharing research ideas (including brainstorming new ideas and receiving feedback from others), learning about the intersection of computational methods and humanistic inquiry, and connecting with others working in this space at Berkeley.