„Measuring the Nation” – Conference Report
A month has passed since we had the pleasure of welcoming leading researchers from Poland and abroad to the international conference “Measuring the Nation. Collecting, Interpreting, and Digital Processing of Historical Data”. The conference took place from 29 September to 1 October 2026 and was organised by the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the German Historical Institute in Warsaw, and the Mazovian Local Government Centre for Teacher Training, Warsaw Branch. The first two days of the conference were held at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw (Aleje Ujazdowskie 39), while the final day took place at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Rynek Starego Miasta 31).
The conference was held in a hybrid format, allowing participants to attend in person or join via Zoom. The event was also streamed live on YouTube, attracting around 150 viewers each day. Recordings of the conference are available on the IH PAN YouTube channel:
The conference brought together representatives of various academic institutions in Poland, as well as researchers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, the USA, Hungary, and Italy. The participants presented papers on topics ranging from demography and historical geography to the history of ideas and digital humanities. A common thread running through contributions was the reflection on the possibilities offered by the use of big data in historical research.
29 September
The conference was opened by Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska and Maciej Górny. Two sessions were held that day, featuring a total of eight papers. The first paper was delivered by Maciej Janowski, who raised important questions about whether knowing an ever-increasing number of facts contributes significantly to our understanding of the past. This perspective contrasted to some extent with the presentations by Krzysztof Ostafin, Anne Knowles, and Dariusz Gierczak, which focused on the use of GIS in historical research. Tomasz Panecki chaired this part of the proceedings. The second session focused on statistical sources, with papers presented by Morgane Labbé, Phillip Kröger, Humphrey Southall, Piotr Guzowski, Radosław Poniat, and Marzena Liedke. The discussion was chaired by Wiesława Duży. The first day of the conference concluded with a keynote lecture by Bartosz Ogórek of the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, entitled ‘A Proxy or a Delusion? Variable Design in Research on Historical Human Capital’. Drawing on his own research, he explored the insights that can be gained from analysing signatures on historical documents. A recording of the lecture is available here:
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