Snapshots from the First Digital Spritz: Adrian van der Weel Takes the Stage

Adrian van der Weel in cattedra per il primo digital spritz

The Digital Spritz 2024 initiative kicked off on Wednesday, 17 January, with a series of meetings focused on digital topics and Digital Humanities in the teaching and research of foreign languages and literatures. The guest for the first event was Prof. Adriaan Van der Weel from Leiden University, co-author of the Ljubljana Manifesto on the importance of higher-level reading, also known as deep reading.

His talk, titled The Screen Challenge: Deep Reading in the Digital Age”, delved into topics related to reading on digital devices, contrasting deep reading—a slow, immersive experience rich in sensory and emotional details—with fast reading. He also explored the reading crisis and the connection between democracy and reading.

As a reminder, the next Digital Spritz will take place on Wednesday, 21 February, featuring Prof. Fabio Ciotti from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, who will present on “GPT as Model Reader: LLMs and Narrative Comprehension”.