Ctrl-Alt-History: (Digital) Humanities meets AI
Contemporary History Day 2026
Registration for Contemporary History Day 2026 now open!
Following the BELvue Museum, which hosted the Contemporary History Day two years ago around the theme “On the Margins of History,” this year’s edition will take place at the University of Antwerp on Wednesday, 29 April 2026. The aim of this study day is to bring together the various participants to reflect collectively on a pressing issue in contemporary history. This year’s theme, “Ctrl-Alt-History: (Digital) Humanities meets AI,” was chosen to encourage discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools.
In the last couple of years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a central reference point and even buzzword within (digital) humanities. In almost every research proposal at universities and archives, the AI possibilities and capabilities are (over)emphasized, while those same institutions struggle with its limitations and pitfalls, not in the least with the environmental consequences of its widespread use. AI impacts how research is understood, conducted, valorised, and funded. Its fast-changing abundance of digital tools—from text analysis and image recognition to generative applications—is quickly altering the way historians, archivists, and teachers deal with the past and translate it to the present.
Yet, no substantial debate has taken place on a national level to understand how these processes affect our fields, professions, and society. This 2026 edition of the Contemporary History Day, organised by the Belgische Vereniging voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Association belge d’Histoire contemporaine BVNG-ABHC and the University of Antwerp, aims to focus on the use of AI in (Belgian) historical research, heritage management, and education, and to provide a forum for exploring the opportunities, risks, and challenges of AI within the Belgian historical landscape
You will find here the schedule for the day and all the practical information.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at the following email address info@contemporanea.be