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A selection of tools and curricula (co-)developed by our members, aimed to seek, cultivate or study serendipity.
Software and Data as Culture - Cultivating a serendipity mindset CURRICULUM
Sabrina Sauer
This course introduces critical forms of cultural production and research using software and data. New ideas often spring from seemingly coincidental insights. However, you can only see something coincidentally useful or serendipitous if you are prepared to take notice. This is important in a world that is increasingly dominated by digital technologies that use algorithms to make decisions based on statistical predictions and that therefore seem to leave less room for coincidence. Students are taught to critically evaluate algorithmic technologies, to “catch” serendipitous user-technology interactions, and reflect on serendipity in making practices such as in the creation of media products like videos, podcasts, and academic video essays.
The target audience are master students, specifically in the field of Digital Humanities.
The course has been developed in 2025-2026.
Values Taking Shape Toolkit TOOL
Samantha Copeland
The toolkit is used in a workshop, a series of steps whereby groups begin talking about what is important to them about a shared topic, project, event or goal, then transfer those values into shapes from the toolkit (a box that contains several objects in varying shapes, sizes and weights), and then collaborate with the shapes and discuss the relationships between values that have become transparent through the activity. Serendipitous insights arise during the activity, when participants are asked to elaborate on choices or to collaborate abstractly via the shapes over value relationships and priorities.
The tool is developed by Samantha Copeland, from a prototype developed by master's students at TU Delft and later funded and refined by co-PIs at TU Delft.
More information will be available soon. If you have questions about the tool, don't hesitate to contact Samantha Copeland.
Serendipity Cards TOOL
Annelien Smets
A practical card set for designers, facilitators, educators, and changemakers who want to design environments that make serendipitous events more likely. The cards are designed to support exploration, conversation, and idea generation.
They can be used to:
spark new ideas on how to design for serendipity
reflect on an existing concept or environment
support design workshops, brainstorming sessions, strategy work, and education
You can download the workshop instructions in English or Dutch.
The card set is developed as part of the Serendipity Engine research project, supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO). The concept is based on research by Annelien Smets at imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and builds on Lennart Björneborn's work on affordances for serendipity. The card set was developed with support from Knowledge Centre Data & Society. More information on the Serendipity Cards is available here.
Tools and Methods CURRICULUM
Sabrina Sauer
Several lectures and teaching modules were developed about serendipitous information encountering within the Master's course Tools and Methods, offered by the Master's Digital Humanities at the University of Groningen (2021-2022). Teaching materials include openly accessible video lectures. The modules were developed in the context of the CLARIAH Teaching Fellowship about the discovery and evaluation of serendipitous information encountering afforded by CLARIAH's Media Suite.
The target audience are master students, specifically in the field of Digital Humanities.
These modules were used in the Master's Digital Humanities (University of Groningen) curriculum in 2021-2022, and have been made openly accessible via Zenodo.
Are you a SerSoc member and do you have developed any tools or teaching resources? Let us know!
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