The interdisciplinary project AFROEUROPECYPERSPACE investigates how Afrodiasporic communities in Europe use the internet to establish alternative public spheres and reclaim the discourse surrounding their identities and histories. Part of the project is the development of a comprehensive, relational SQL database designed to document and analyze Afrodiasporic websites, online magazines, blogs, podcasts, video channels etc. across Romance-speaking Europe.
The project aims, among other things, to develop a typology by compiling an overview of digital platforms. To achieve this, the project team is developing a structured database catalog in which controlled vocabularies and relational metadata enable systematic categorization, classification, and evaluation of the growing body of digital sources. This is intended to make the increasing number of platforms manageable for the team as well as researchers using the data in the future.
The DSC Seed Grant supports the development of an interactive web-based research catalog built on SQL database infrastructure. Using a SQL-only data application builder, the project creates an interactive portal where researchers can explore the network through dynamic visualizations: geographic maps tracking author migrations across Romance-speaking regions, network diagrams revealing platform collaborations, and temporal analyses showing thematic evolution. The relational database structure enables sophisticated queries such as identifying authors who bridge multiple platforms, tracing theme co-occurrence patterns, or analyzing linguistic diversity across geographic regions. The system makes complex diaspora network analysis accessible through an intuitive web interface without requiring researchers to have prior programming expertise.
Hence, the initiative not only enhances the application of SQL-based methods in humanities research but also lays the foundation for future interdisciplinary projects, bringing together data science methodologies and digital humanities research.
Funding recipients:
Prof. Dr. Julia Borst (Faculty 10 - Linguistics and Literary Studies)
Liam Hurwitz (Faculty 03 - Mathematics/Computer Science)
Funding period:
01 October 2025 – 31 December 2025
Are you interested in the DSC Seed Grant?
You can find more information about the DSC Seed Grant here.
For questions, please contact:
Dr. Lena Steinmann
DSC Coordinator
Tel. +49 (421) 218 - 63941
E-Mail: lena.steinmannprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
