Sussex Digital Humanities Lab

The View From: Visiting Researchers

Last term, the Landecker Digital Memory Lab welcomed visiting researchers from University of Bern, Dr Mykola Makhortykh and Maryna Sydorova who specialise in humanities and data science with a particular interest in machine learning and AI. Find out about the productive knowledge exchange that took place. by Prof. Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden, in conversation with Dr Mykola Makhortykh and Maryna Sydorova Prof. Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden: So, Mykola and Maryna, what did you do during your time with us at the University of Sussex? Dr Mykola Makhortykh: We did a lot in two weeks. We agreed to do a symposium on the use of AI for producing historical knowledge and possible considerations regarding it, and a guest lecture about some of our ongoing projects on the use of AI for (mis)representing modern armed conflicts. We also brainstormed future collaborations with the Lab team and possible funding applications. The Lab’s director Prof. Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden prepared a schedule of daily to-dos, so we got our fellowship period planned in lots of detail. For me, it worked really well and I think we had an incredibly productive time both in terms of networking with Lab members and other Sussex scholars. We got a [...]

2024: A Year in Review

By Prof. Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden The year 2024 will be unforgettable to us, as the year we launched the Landecker Digital Memory Lab. We look back at what we’ve achieved. It was at a public lecture held at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in April that we were finally able to announce the Landecker Digital Memory Lab was coming into existence. Since then, we’ve been non-stop! My two-week residential at the museum also included co-hosting a symposium on ‘Preserving Truth in the Digital Age’ and led to us confirming the Melbourne Holocaust Museum as an official project partner. We’re looking forward to collaborating with them further. Read our ‘Spotlight’ piece on the museum to find out more about their digital work past and present. The Melbourne trip was followed in September by further fieldwork in Riga, Latvia at the Žanis Lipke Memorial where we explored their use of VR. Engagement with intergovernmental organisations, policymakers and funders was a dominant thread of our first few months, particularly with the hype about ‘AI’. In June, we hosted the workshop ‘Policy and Funding Sustainable Interventions in Digital Holocaust Memory and Education’ together with the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme. The event was attended by [...]