June 3rd-5th, 2026 | Université de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)

The 2026 CSDH/SCHN Annual Conference focuses on the notion of “Untranslatable.” Digital Humanities explore and mobilize cultural objects that undergo digitization, modelling, or editorialization. These digital representations result from translation or remediation processes that can introduce biases, reductions, and simplifications. Drawing on the notion of the “untranslatable” proposed by the French philosopher Barbara Cassin, the conference will examine the things that either resist translation, or cannot be translated, due to their materiality and/or cultural specificity.

Each translation opens a problem of meaning-making, context, and conceptual association. For Digital Humanities, “untranslatable” emphasizes that computing implies not only the impossibility of one-to-one equivalence but also layered, modelled, and often probabilistic relations. In particular, when large language models marketed as “artificial intelligence” seem to encompass the entire human knowledge and even generate new ones, it is necessary to discuss how those models could be appropriate for humanistic investigation.

The conference theme also considers the Canadian context, in which French–English bilingualism shapes scholarly communication, culture and politics, and the urgency of Indigenous matter. When Digital Humanities projects engage with knowledge practices and systems of representations, they imply reflexivity and responsibilities for distinct values, selfdetermination, and stewardship.

Does the untranslatable in Digital Humanities arise from its inherent qualities or from the technology itself? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to being untranslatable or translatable? Finally, what are the stakes of translation in contemporary Digital Humanities?

Program

The conference program is available on the ConfTool conference platform. https://www.conftool.net/csdh-schn-2026/sessions.php

Conference venue

The Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur les humanités numériques (CRIHN) are very pleased to welcome you to Montréal, Québec.

The conference will take place from June 3 to 5, 2026, in Montréal at the Université de Montréal (link).

Université de Montréal
Pavillon Jean-Brillant
3200 Jean-Brillant Street,
Montréal

Registration

The CSDH annual conference will take place in just under a month. If you have not already done so, we kindly ask that you register for the conference through the Eventbrite platform: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/csdhschn-annual-conference-intraduisibleuntranslatable-tickets-1986990868175

To benefit from the member rate, you will need to provide your CSDH/SCHN membership number. Membership in the Society is available through the Oxford University Press (OUP) webpage: https://csdh-schn.ca/about-csdh-schn/membership/

We are aware that some users may have encountered difficulties with the Oxford University Press (OUP) platform. Should this be the case, please do not hesitate to indicate it when registering at the member rate, using the field provided for your OUP membership identifier.

This year, we are pleased to organize our conference in parallel with INKE 2026, which will take place in the same venue. Registration for the conference provides access to both events.

INKE 2026 Re-Defining Open Social Scholarship in an Age of Generative ‘Intelligence’ https://inke.ca/re-defining-open-social-scholarship-in-an-age-of-generative-intelligence-canada