Digital Futures for Holocaust Memory

How can we ensure the sustainability of Holocaust memory in the digital age?

Presented by Dr Victoria Grace Walden SFHEA FRSA MILM.

How will Holocaust museums and memorial sites move from a “living memory” to a solely “mediated memory” (James Young 2000)? What are some of the new technologies that are being used and developed, and how effective are they? The widespread use of social media has also made denial, distortion and hate more visible to staff as part of their daily work and emotional labour and poses a challenge to traditional delivery of education.

For all of us who wonder about how effective all this new technology is, in museums, and in the teaching of Holocaust and other histories, digital media and Holocaust expert Dr Victoria Walden will address the value and the limitations of technology during this transformational phase of Holocaust education.

Dr Walden will present case studies of digital Holocaust memory projects including recorded walkthroughs of these works. She will introduce a new venture launching at the University of Sussex this May: The Digital Holocaust Memory Innovation Lab. The Lab has 5-year funding for a series of activities which seek to support digital Holocaust memory in a sustainable way taking a global, sector-wide and interdisciplinary approach.