Open Philology and a Global Dialogue among Civilizations

Humanists have at least grand challenges. First, they must advance the intellectual life of their societies as broadly and deeply as possible. Experts in Greek Literature or on Bach, for example, have an obligation not only to communicate to specialist colleagues but also to advance the role that their subjects play in intellectual discourse in society as a whole. At the same time, humanists must encourage a dialogue among, as well as within, civilizations and the understanding that human cultural heritage from anywhere in the world advances all human activity. These obligations reflect ancient, if unevenly pursued, traditions but digital technologies have transformed our ability to imagine and to realize these obligations. Philology in particular, when conceived as the use of linguistic sources to understand human culture as fully as possible, plays a critical role and this must be a philology in the broadest sense of the term. This lecture describes the Open Philology Project, supported by the Humboldt Chair for Digital Humanities, and its planned contributions to this larger effort."