University of Sussex gets £3.5m for Holocaust digital research project
It's set to be the biggest of its kind in the world
The University of Sussex has announced plans to establish one of the world's largest Holocaust remembrance research projects, following a massive donation.
The Landecker Digital Memory Lab will focus on researching how digital technology can be used to memorialise the Holocaust.
The project is being funded with a £3.5 million grant from the Germany-based Alfred Landecker Foundation, established in Berlin in 2019, to remember the Holocaust, fight antisemitism and defend democracy.
It is the Foundation’s largest ever grant in the field of Holocaust Remembrance research, and the project is set to become one of the biggest Holocaust Remembrance research projects globally.
Over the next five years. the Lab will explore how Holocaust museums, memorials and archives can make better use of digital technologies like virtual, augmented and mixed reality, computer games, and AI and machine learning to ensure the Holocaust continues to be commemorated long into the future.
One of its core aims will be to help professionals in Holocaust education and memory organisations to better understand and make use of digital media.
Dr. Victoria Grace Walden, Senior Lecturer in Media at the University of Sussex, and Principal Investigator for the Landecker Digital Memory Lab project, said:
“We are honoured to spearhead this pivotal project, which seeks to harness the power of digital technologies to preserve and perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust on a global scale.
The establishment of the Digital Memory Lab heralds a new chapter in the digitalisation of Holocaust memory, marking a shift in how we engage with this important history. With its ambitious objectives and collaborative ethos, the project holds promise in shaping the future of Holocaust remembrance internationally”.
The Landecker Digital Memory Lab will focus on four key objectives:
• Undertaking the first major academic study to explore Holocaust memory on a large scale.
• Curating a collection of projects and experiences to form a 'living database' that serves as a valuable resource for academics, professionals, and technological innovators.
• Establishing an online journal and a series of international networking events, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among stakeholders.
• Enhancing digital capacity within the Holocaust memorial sector through new initiatives and a suite of training and activities.
Lena Altman, Co-CEO of the Alfred Landecker Foundation, said:
"When we deeply understand the Holocaust and what led to it, we are better able to recognize threats to democracy today. We are therefore very pleased to help establish the Landecker Digital Memory Lab at the University of Sussex.
"The Lab will promote research on digital Holocaust memory and bring together the international expertise needed to make Holocaust commemoration fit for the digital age.”