Almila Akdag

Dr. Almila Akdag is an Assistant Professor in Human-Centered Computing at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science, Department of Information and Computing Sciences. As a Digital Humanities scholar with expertise spanning new media analysis, bibliometrics, and information visualization, she combines qualitative and quantitative methods to study humanities and social data.

Research Focus

Her interdisciplinary research bridges:

• Digital Humanities: Computational analysis of cultural artifacts including paintings, poetry, and oral histories
• Human-Centered AI: Developing empathetic and accessible AI systems
• Trauma Informatics: Analyzing breathing patterns in oral histories of trauma survivors
• Cultural Analytics: Studying art communities and online creative platforms

Following the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake, she is creating an oral history archive to document collective memory of the disaster, with particular focus on Turkish, Kurdish and Syrian diaspora experiences.

Awards and Recognition

• NWO VENI laureate for 'deviantArt: Mapping the Alternative Art World' project
• Co-initiator of Mellon Grant: 'Tools for Analysis and Visualization of Large Image/Video Collections for Humanities'

Leadership and Service

• Workgroup leader of 'Visual Media and Interactivity' for DARIAH-EU
• Founding member of International Society for Knowledge Organization (ISKO LC Low Countries Chapter)