Events


Please find here a selection of the events at the Walter Benjamin Kolleg in the spring semester 2026. More events will be added during the course of the semester.

Coffee Lectures Unitobler+

This spring semester you again have the opportunity to learn about new and useful information about research in the humanities in 15 minutes during the lunchtime coffee at 13:00. Participation in our Coffee Lectures - a cooperation with the University Library - is possible in person at the Walter Benjamin Kolleg as well as online over Zoom.

Slides of past Coffee Lectures on ILIAS

Coffee Lectures in Spring Semester 2026

AI for audio transcription and beyond

MA Ahmad Alhineidi (Data Science Lab), Dr. Gero Schreier (Humanities Data Steward)

 

Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Place: only online

 

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, can save a significant amount of time on tasks such as text and audio transcription. However, services offered by major providers like OpenAI raise serious concerns regarding data protection and research ethics. Therefore, the University of Bern offers TextLab, a service that makes technologies such as OCR, transcription, and LLM-assisted data analysis available in a secure environment managed by the university. In this talk, we’ll show what TextLab can do today, how it’s used in practice, and what we’re planning next.

Events of the WBKolleg, the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Research Network (IPN, german IFN), the Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities GSAH (doctoral programs ICS, GS, SLS and SINTA), the Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS) and the Center for Global Studies (CGS)