New chapter: Why Would We Model and Simulate History?

Malte Vogl | Jan 1, 2025 min read
Flowchart of the decision steps of a simulated letter-sending agent, from activation to sending a letter, moving or deactivation.

Working with archival material always raises the question of what circumstances produced a given document or collection — and what is missing from it. This chapter makes the case for agent-based modeling and simulation as ways to uncover possible biases and structurally represent historical knowledge, working through what it actually means to “model and simulate” history rather than just describe it.

Read the paper

  • Authors: Aleksandra Kaye, Jascha Schmitz, and Malte Vogl
  • In: Briefe in Literaturwissenschaft und Digital Humanities: Quantitative und qualitative Analyseperspektiven für eine digitale Briefforschung, ed. Aline Deicke and Jochen Strobel (De Gruyter, 2025), pp. 309–332
  • DOI: 10.1515/9783111675732-013
  • Featured image: figure from the chapter (decision flow of the simulated letter-sending agents)