The CSDH/SCHN Executive Committee is delighted to announce the winner of the 2025 Ian Lancashire Award for Student Promise! This year’s award recipient is Yann Audin (he/him; il/lui), a PhD candidate in literature – digital humanities at University of Montreal, supported by funding from SSHRC and FRQ. Audin holds a Master in Comparative Literature from UdeM and another in physics from Bishop’s University. His latest publication appears in Digital Studies / Le champ numérique and not only is he a Student Representative for CSDH/SCHN and student member of Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur les humanités numériques (CRIHN), but he is also a project leader for Chaire de Recherche du Canada sur les Écritures Numériques (CRCEN) and co-animator and coordinator for the podcast Skholé: Théories dysfonctionnelles.

Yann Audin

Audin’s winning paper is “Computer-Assisted Hermeneutics of Philip K. Dick’s Corpus Constructing a Personal Knowledge Base with SpaCy and Obsidian for Literary Analysis,” which endeavoured to explore computer-assisted hermeneutics in Philip K. Dick’s science-fiction short stories, novels, and journals, as well as in his Gnostic influences. As Audin posited in his abstract, the project involves developing a Python library that bridges raw textual data and metadata with the Obsidian text editor to automatically generate a knowledge base using hyperlinks, indexes, knowledge graphs, context, information and timelines. More globally, the project aims to become a reusable model for computer-assisted hermeneutics, grounded in robust theoretical principles.

The Lancashire Award evaluators noted in particular how they were impressed that Audin made his code available to the audience and others, appreciating his spirit of openness. They also observed, emphatically, that “Yann is a natural presenter that makes complex materials relatable to a wide audience,” sharing that “his sense of humour and timing were perfect as he showed the progression of his work through various challenges but culminating in success.” The combination of innovative research, generosity, and adept professionalism made his presentation this year’s winner.

Thank you kindly to this year’s evaluators for their time and care! Are you interested in supporting CSDH/SCHN graduate students by reviewing for the Lancashire Award? Please inquire with Awards Chair Julia Polyck-O’Neill or any member of the executive committee!