94. The Medium is the Method: Critical Digital Art History

Although digital and computational methods in art history are not new, it remains remarkably diffuse, with practitioners and practices arrayed across a wide array of sub-disciplines, methodological approaches, and professional settings. Yet the ties that bind—the possibilities of new understandings of data and its visualisation, the use of computational tools to ask heretofore inaccessible questions, the opportunity presented by the digital for a less hierarchical, more accessible history of art, and the role of the digital in rethinking communication and engagement, whether in scholarship, the classroom, or the gallery—and the importance of connection to broader art historical discourses makes the value of discussion across projects clear. This is all the more so as the speed with which machine learning, or AI, has put pressure on our understandings of human creativity and the humanistic project.

Organised by former and current board members of the Digital Art History Society, an organisation seeking to promote engagement with computational methods in art history and curating, this panel seeks presentations on innovative digital and computational projects to encourage critical discussion, expand conversations, and foster a sense of community and opportunities for collaboration. Proposals may include ongoing work or critical reflections on completed projects, and may address questions within the history of art, curating, or art history publishing. Presentations will be shorter or may take an alternative format to allow additional time for discussion.

Themes: Digital Art History, methodology, media

Additional format comments: Preference for 15-minute papers with longer discussion.

Lead Convenor: Stephen Whiteman, Courtauld Institute of Art, United Kingdom

Co-convenors: Paul Jaskot, Duke University, USA

To submit a Paper to this Session, please follow the guidance on our website and complete the AAH 2027 Call for Papers Proposal Submission Form.