Computational analyses play an increasingly important role in the study of religion due to advancements in technology and the availability of vast amounts of digital data. By leveraging these tools, scholars can analyze large datasets, uncover patterns that would be difficult or impossible to identify through traditional methods, and generate new insights into religious phenomena. At the same time, looking at religious phenomena through a computational lens helps reflect on the nature of data in religious studies, and on the ways we can make use of the computational power of today’s devices.
This seminar is designed specifically for students of religious studies with little or no previous knowledge in computational methods. The course aims to provide an introduction to advanced computational techniques that can be applied to the study of religion. Students will learn how to write simple commands in the Python programming language as well as explore large language models like ChatGPT for generating insights in religious studies research.
Objectives: By the end of this seminar, students should be able to:
- Write simple scripts using Python programming language to analyze data from various sources.
- Apply large language models like GPT-3 for generating insights in religious studies research.
- Develop a critical perspective on the use of computational methods in religious studies research.
- Kursleiter/in: Frederik Elwert