Digital Common Ground:
Community, Inclusivity and New Heritage Paradigms


Panel Organizer: Robert Parthesius, Head, Heritage and Museum Studies & Co-Director, Dhakira Center for Heritage Studies, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.


This panel considers how we define digital heritage and how it works within and among communities to bridge the classical divide between tangible and intangible heritage– as well as natural and cultural heritage– to create space for more diverse heritage narratives and therefore more inclusive heritage. Technology can help create a contact zone (Pratt, 1991) for grassroots heritage as opposed to merely authorized heritage. It can give voice to those not part of government, NGO and corporate heritage management. This includes discovery and negotiations around shared and contested heritage. Presenters in this panel will share digital technologies they have used to create new heritage paradigms, as well as consider the synergy this allows between authorized heritage, heritage academics, artists and community-based heritage. Within these practices are issues of socio economics, gender and race/religion, as well as the environmental and financial issues surrounding digital heritage platforms and how they play into inclusivity. These platforms allow us to go past the expert-based framework, experimenting with possibilities such as 3D images, scanning and mapping. These digital tools are evolving at a pace never experienced before in history.

We look for submissions that investigate new methodologies such as, but not limited to, participatory platforms, preservation of intangible heritage, community work, heritage and inclusivity, the relationship between memory and heritage, private and public spaces of engagement with heritage, people empowerment over their narratives, alternative mappings of heritage, online infrastructure at the service of communities, recordings of indigenous knowledge, and digital applications in heritage at large. We are particularly interested in papers that deal with innovative research methodologies and in-depth case studies that can showcase the advantages and/or limits of digital approaches to heritage studies and practices.

Please send a maximum 250 words abstract and include the title of the paper, contact information (email and phone number), affiliation, and a short bio. Proposals are to be submitted by 6th November to niccoloacram.cappelletto@nyu.edu.