Methods" seminar | Computational approaches to meaning change
Semantic change, i.e. the evolution of word meanings over time, offers crucial information about historical, cultural and linguistic processes. Language acts as a mirror of societal change, reflecting evolving values, norms and technological advances. Understanding how the meaning of words evolves enables us to trace these transformations and gain a deeper understanding of our distant and recent past.This seminar explores how computational methods are revolutionizing our ability to analyze semantic change in historical texts, addressing a major challenge in the field of digital humanities. While advanced computational methods enable us to analyze vast datasets and uncover previously inaccessible patterns, few natural language processing algorithms fully take into account the dynamic nature of language, particularly semantics, which is essential for research in the humanities. As AI systems develop to better understand the historical context and dynamics of language, human annotation and interpretation remain essential to capture the nuances of language and its cultural context.In this presentation, I will show how computational and human-centered approaches can be effectively combined to examine semantic change and its links to cultural and technological developments. I will present examples illustrating how semantic change can be analyzed across temporal, cultural and textual dimensions."Methods "seminarsThe Methods Seminar is a series of seminars organized at the University of Namur with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. All seminars take place in a hybrid format.This seminar series focuses on advanced methodological approaches, particularly in the fields of natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), video and image analysis, and multimodal analysis.To stay informed about details of upcoming seminars, please subscribe to our mailing list below.
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Methods" seminar | Philine Widmer
More info to come."Methods "seminarsThe Methods Seminar is a series of seminars organized at the University of Namur with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. All seminars take place in a hybrid format.This seminar series focuses on advanced methodological approaches, particularly in the fields of natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), video and image analysis, and multimodal analysis.To stay informed about details of upcoming seminars, please subscribe to our mailing list below.
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TRANSDEM Seminar | Markus Hermann Meckl
Victimization and identity: the post-heroic society
More info to come
All TRANSDEM seminars
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Preparing the ground. Gestures, supports and discourses of exploratory work in literature and film
The colloquium will be held on Tuesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at the University of Namur (Belgium). Proposals for papers (programmatic title and abstract of 500 signs, followed by a biobibliography) can be sent by November 15, 2024 to Jean-Benoit.Gabriel@unamur.be and Denis.Saint-Amand@unamur.be.
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21 new F.R.S.-FNRS grants for research at UNamur
The F.R.S.-FNRS has just published the results of its various 2024 calls. Equipment calls, research credits and projects, FRIA doctoral grants and Mandant d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS), there are many instruments to support fundamental research. Find out more about UNamur's results.
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Former UNamur doctoral student featured in The Economist
The research of Dr. Nitin Bharti, a former PhD student in the Economics Department of the EMCP Faculty at the University of Namur, is covered in "The Economist", the prestigious international business magazine. The article deals with one of his favorite research themes: understanding the development of education systems and their link with economic growth and long-term inequality.
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Academic writing" training
The 5-session program
Session 1: Friday, May 23, 2025, 10:00-13:00 | Improving structure and styleSession 2: Friday, June 6, 2025, 10:00-13:00 | Writing an introduction and literature reviewSession 3: Friday, June 13, 2025, 10:00-13:00 | Writing a methods, results and discussion section; peer review of participants' papersSession 4: Friday, June 20, 2025, 10:00-13:00 | General and individual feedbackSession 5: Friday, June 27, 2025, 10:00-13:00 | Communicating your research to a wider audienceSpace is limited and priority will be given to early registration.Price: 200€Deadline for registrations: 31/01/2025
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Research centers
DeFiPP is a research institute that fosters the sharing of academic research through interactions between its three constituent centers.
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Center for Research in Development Economics (CRED)
The CRED is a research entity dedicated to the study of development economics. More specifically, researchers work on issues related to micro-institutions, collective action, market development and political economy. Much of CRED's research is based on first-hand data collected by researchers in numerous countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Theoretical and empirical work is regularly produced by a team of 6 permanent academic researchers as well as 10 to 15 PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.
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Center for Research in Finance and Management (CeReFiM)
The CeReFiM studies issues of finance and macroeconomics. In recent years, several research programs have been conducted on specific topics such as complex financial systems, sustainable finance and systemic risk in the mutual fund industry. In most cases, research questions are approached from an empirical perspective using modern econometric techniques. Currently, CeReFiM consists of a balanced group of senior and junior members who work in close collaboration with each other, as well as with academics and financial practitioners from numerous universities and financial institutions in Belgium and abroad.
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The theses
Theses in progress
AGBA Komlan (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Essays in international Finance (Supervisor: GNABO Jean-Yves; Co-supervisor: BENANNI Hamza) ALVAREZ Pablo (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays on development economics with a focus on gender inequality (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine) ALVAREZ Pablo (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays on development economics with a focus on gender inequality (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine) AYACHI Syrine (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Essays on green bonds BARAKA KUSINZA Doux (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays in gender economics (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine)DEBROISE Auguste (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays on behavioral political economicsERNAELSTEEN Christophe (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays in public economics and regional competitiveness (Supervisor: DEJARDIN Marcus) FERRONI Giorgio (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays on platforms and sharing economy (Supervisor: TOULEMONDE Éric)GUEBEN Marine (CRED) | Thesis title: To Be AnnouncedJOLIVET Anna (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays in development economics and household decision-making (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine)LÜLLE Angela (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays in Development EconomicsMOHAMED SULIMAN Ammar (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: To Be AnnouncedPEREZ RIAZA Baptiste (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Essays on Crypto-assets and financial stability (Supervisor: GNABO Jean-Yves)RENK Andréa (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays on institutional change in India and Nepal (Supervisor: BALAND Jean-Marie)RICHARD Quentin (CRED) | Thesis title: Intergenerational transmission of life expectancy (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine ; Co-supervisor: BALAND Jean-Marie)SCHRAVERUS Louise (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Three essays on Sovereign Wealth Funds SOUDANT Joey (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Applications of complex systems in macro-finance topicsTCHINDA Charlie (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays in the economics of self-employment (Supervisor: DEJARDIN Marcus)
Past theses
All theses completed in the last five academic years.2022-2023BAILY Camille: Climate Change: Impact and Challenges for the Financial SystemBHARTI Nitin: Essays on Socio-Economic Inequality and Development in India and China: A Historical & Institutional PerspectiveFARÈ Luca: Entrepreneurship, Small Businesses' Innovation and ContextsLEDRU François-Xavier: On the financial attributes of impact investments and the behavior of socially minded agentsMANUEL Clarice: Essays on women empowerment and norms in developing countries: the case of Nepal and the PhilippinesWOITRIN François: Three Essays on Mechanism Design and Family Economics2021-2022BEQUET Ludovic: Essays on agricultural productivity and intrahousehold dynamics in the PhilippinesKITUMBA Guylord: Coping strategies by microentrepreneurs in Kinshasa2020-2021DAYE Modeste: Essays in Development Economics: On Agents' Prosocial and Financial Behaviors. Supervisors: Profs. Romain Houssa and Paul Reding.2019-2020MICHELS Anne: Migration and Bequest Decisions: Theory and Evidence from the Bolivian Altiplano. Supervisor: Prof. Jean-Philippe Platteau.VANHOMWEGEN Henri: Distinctives Strategies in the Equity Mutual Funds Industry. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Oscar Bernal.2018-2019MOHIMONT Jolan: Business Cycles and Monetary Policy in a Small Open Emerging Economy. Supervisor: Prof. Romain Houssa.LAURENT Hélène: Essays in Public and Entrepreneurship Economics: Taxation and Corruption. Supervisor: Prof. Marcus Dejardin.HUBERT Olivier: Heterogeneous Effects of Fiscal Policy on Sovereign Yields. Supervisor: Prof. Romain Houssa.GROSS Jérémie: Individual and Family Behavior in Poor Households: Evidence from Semi-Arid Burkina Faso. Supervisors: Profs. Catherine Guirginger and Jean-Philippe Platteau.DELMEZ Françoise: Jobless Recoveries: No Jobs for the Unemployed, Longer Hours for Workers? Supervisor: Prof. Alain de Crombrugghe.2017-2018DAHLQVIST Carl-Henrik: Essays in Econophysics and Applied Econometrics: Modeling Complexity in Finance. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Sophie Béreau.SCHOLTES Nicolas: Interbank Networks and Financial Stability. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Sophie Béreau.2016-2017GONNE Nicolas: Consequences of Firm-Level Heterogeneity for Corporate Financial and Tax Policy. Supervisor: Prof. Eric Toulemonde.SIMILON Astrid: Essays on the Economics of Nonprofits and Philanthropy. Supervisor: Prof. Gani Aldashev.MERGESA Kelbesa: Government Finances and Financial Shocks in Developing Economies. Supervisor: Prof. Romain Houssa.GERACI Marco: Essays on Complexity in the Financial System. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Davy Paindaveine.
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Working documents
Following are links to working papers from the DeFiPP Research Institute. This series of working papers was launched in September 2021.
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