The research at the Faculty of Arts does not only create academic advantages, it also influences the society positively. The spin-offs Fluent.ai, Textgain and Textkernel are important examples.

 

Historical urban agriculture at the Stadscampus

For the research project Hofstad, researchers and history students cultivate vegetables like farmers did in the Middle Ages, the eighteenth century and in the period after World War II. The demonstration plot is located at the faculty building Het Brantijser.

Antwerpen à la carte at the MAS

Ilja Van Damme (Centre for Urban History) took care of the scientific ground for the MAS exhibition 'Antwerpen à la carte', about food in the city starting from the sixteenth century. With Leen Beyers he wrote the accompanying book Antwerpen à la carte: On Cities and Food.

GIStorical Antwerp

The Centre for Urban History's research project GIStorical Antwerp uses GIS (Geographical Information Systems) to construct historical maps of Antwerp. These interactive maps contain data on the level of individual houses in the city, from 1500 to 2000.

 

Opera with audio description for people with a visual impairment

People with a visual impairment can now enjoy the opera at Opera Vlaanderen even more thanks to the audio description, developed by Aline Remael (chairperson Department Applied Linguistics), PhD researcher Nina Reviers and students applied linguistics Victoria Hopchet and Shana De Winter.

Samuel Beckett's online library

The Centre for Manuscript Genetics digitised the Irish writer Samuel Beckett's private library. "We scanned all the reading tracks in the books from Beckett's private library in his appartment in Paris and then deciphered them and linked them to his manuscripts. This makes it possible to study how he has included other authors' works in his own writing," prof. dr. Dirk Van Hulle explains.

You can visit the Beckett Digital Library here.

The Flemish literature update

The research in Flemish literature never ceases; in 2016 new books were published by and about Hendrik Conscience, Gerard Walschap, Felix Timmermans, Louis Paul Boon, and the publishing house Meulenhoff|Manteau.

Language technology might reveal real author of the Dutch anthem

Mike Kestemont (CLiPS research centre) has put the University of Antwerp's language technology to the test in the search for the author of the Dutch national anthem. Kestemont acknowledges that it is improbable to ever find the ultimate evidence for the real author, but thanks to his research, we have never been closer to the truth.

Hadewich's songs

Veerle Fraeters and Frank Willaert (Ruusbroecgenootschap) have brought Hadewich's songs from the 13th into the 21st century. Listen to the mystic's songs on the Ruusbroecgenootschap website.