About

.txtlab is a laboratory for cultural analytics at McGill University directed by Andrew Piper.

My lab uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to study how humans tell stories. We combine literary insight, citizen participation, and computational methods to build transparent, interpretable models of narrative meaning. Our projects span narrative emotion, multilingual story morals, and children’s illustrated books, exploring the many ways storytelling reflects human experience.

Students come from a variety of backgrounds, including computer science, linguistics, languages and literatures, cultural studies, digital humanities, media and communication studies, math and statistics to some combination of the above.

If you are interested in working with me, you are encouraged to apply to our Master’s Program in Digital Humanities. If you are already at McGill and want to get involved, the best place to start is by taking one of my classes: LLCU 312 (AI and Storytelling) or LLCU 602 (Introduction to Digital Humanities). If you already have experience with text and data analysis, and are comfortable doing independent work, learning on your own and participating in group activities, then get in touch!

To learn more about past projects check out our publications and follow me on X @_akpiper.