ICOS Summer School 2026: Digital Tools and Databases in Onomastics
The International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS) will host its third Summer School in Helsinki, Finland, from 24 to 28 August 2026, bringing together a new generation of onomastic scholars for an intensive, forward-looking week of training, exchange, and collaboration. This year’s theme, “Digital tools and databases,” reflects the profound transformation that digital methods, large datasets, and AI are bringing to the study of names.
Designed primarily for PhD students (with motivated Master’s students also welcome), the Summer School offers a rare opportunity to learn from leading international experts while working hands-on with contemporary onomastic data. Participation is exclusive to ICOS members, and the programme is hybrid, with up to 25 on-site and 25 online participants. Thanks to support from ICOS and the University of Helsinki, the course has no participation fee, and all attendees will receive a diploma and a recommendation for 5 ECTS credits (to be validated by their home universities).
A week where names meet data
The programme opens on Monday, 24 August, with an orientation day that immediately immerses students in how traditional fieldwork and observation connect to digital research. Terhi Ainiala introduces how interviews and observations can be transformed into onomastic data, followed by Leena Kolehmainen, who explores how multilingual cemetery landscapes move from visual reality to structured digital databases. Group activities then help participants get to know one another and build a collaborative learning environment.
On Tuesday, the focus shifts squarely to data. A dedicated session on research data management is followed by lectures on working with imperfect historical name data (Minna Nevala), the challenges of digital tools in minority-language onomastics with a focus on Saami (Taarna Valtonen), and the role of generative AI in higher education (Kalle Juuti). The day concludes with an onomastics-themed city walk, turning Helsinki itself into a living dataset.
Wednesday is devoted to presentation workshops, giving participants the chance to practice not only presenting their own research but also chairing sessions - key academic skills rarely taught formally. A recreational outing in the afternoon adds an important social dimension to the academic programme.
On Thursday, lectures highlight the breadth of digital onomastics: from place names in Helsinki literature (Lieven Ameel) to names in the video game Alan Wake II (Lasse Hämäläinen & Milla Juhonen), from street-name ideologies visualised over time and space (Isabelle Buchstaller & Seraphim Alvanides) to online and offline linguistic landscapes (Väinö Syrjälä). An excursion to the Institute of the Languages of Finland rounds out the day.
The week culminates on Friday with a fully hands-on focus: working with the digital Names Archive (Jaakko Raunamaa), exploring onomastic terminology via the Helsinki Term Bank (Harri Kettunen), and discussing the opportunities and challenges of automatic pseudonymisation (Therese Lindström Tiedemann & Lisa Södergård). The closing discussion ties together methods, ethics, and future directions for digital name research.
Apply and be part of the future of name studies
Applications for the ICOS Summer School 2026 will be open 12–31 January 2026, with results announced by 13 February. With only 50 places available in total, early and well-prepared applications are strongly encouraged. Questions can be directed to the course organizer Milla Juhonen at the University of Helsinki.
For anyone working with names in a digital age - from databases and GIS to AI and visualisation - the ICOS Summer School 2026 promises to be a landmark event, combining cutting-edge methods with the collegial spirit that defines the global onomastics community.
The application form for the ICOS Summer School 2026 is now open. You can access it via the following link: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/
Applications can be submitted until 31 January 2026. Applicants will be informed of the results by 13 February 2026.
For further information, please contact Milla Juhonen (milla.juhonen@helsinki.fi).
No comments:
Post a Comment