Dr. des. Christa Schneider
Historical Sociolinguistics | Digital Humanities
Walter Benjamin Kolleg | University of Bern
Research Interests
- Historical Sociolinguistics and Language History, with a focus on language situations in Switzerland, the broader German-speaking world, England, and Lithuania.
- Swiss Early Modern History, particularly focusing on social-historical analyses in the Bern region.
- Diastratic and diaphasic varieties of Swiss German (especially multiethnolects and youth language), multilingualism – also from a diachronic perspective.
- Research at the intersection of Sociolinguistics, Digital Humanities, History, and (digital) sustainability approaches.
- Digital Editions and their potential for the Humanities.
- Natural Language Processing (NLP) – particularly the relationship between NLP and AI, their interactions, and their applications in the Humanities.
- Machine Learning and Deep Learning, especially their use in the Humanities, including ethical and philosophical discussions on their applications.
Academic Background
- PhD in Sociolinguistics (2022) – University of Bern
Thesis: "Gvätterlich oder spiusch? Dialektwandel und Dialektvariation im Berner Mittelland" - MA in Sociolinguistics (2013) – University of Bern
- BA in Linguistics & Musicology (2012) – University of Bern
- Advanced Machine Learning Training (2022) – University of Bern
Professional Experience
- Scientific Researcher, Lecturer and Admin Specialist – Digital Humanities, University of Bern (2020–present)
- Junior Fellow – Walter Benjamin Kolleg, University of Bern (2024–2025)
- Visiting Professor – University of Salzburg (2022–2023)
- Researcher and Admin Specialist– Center for the Study of Language and Society (2017–2020)
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Key Projects & Grants
- Swiss Dialect Studies – Dialect change in Bernese German & Youth language
- Historical Sociolinguistics – Analysis of Bernese judicial records & multilingualism in the early modern period.
- AI & Linguistics – NLP applications for historical text analysis and digital archives.
- Project Funding – Over CHF 600,000+ secured for sociolinguistic and digital humanities projects.