Archaeology Seminar Series Talks: Building an Anti-colonial Digital Archaeology in the Canadian Context

During the Fall of 2021, Boston University’s Archaeology Program will be hosting a series of lectures. Our second lecture is titled Building an Anti-colonial Digital Archaeology in the Canadian Context and will take place Wednesday, November 17th from 12:20 pm–1:15 pm. We are thrilled to have archaeologist and scholar Dr. Neha Gupta (University of British Columbia, Okanagan) joining us to share their work on this topic and to engage in a conversation with the BU Archaeology community.

Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss efforts in the Canadian context that begin to address data governance issues in digital archaeology, and I will suggest ways to build an anti-colonial archaeology. Specifically, I draw upon a digital heritage project led by Westbank First Nation archaeologists to explore how Indigenous data governance can create intellectual and social space for digital archaeological research. I will consider how the development and use of open digital geospatial methods and tools in archaeology and capacity building in digital method and practice can begin to address inequities in access to strategic resources within local and transnational contexts.

Dr. Neha Gupta (PhD, McGill University, 2012) is an Assistant Professor in Anthropology at The University of British Columbia. Her research program examines and addresses geospatial and digital methods in post-colonial and Indigenous archaeology. Her research interests are geovisualization and GIS, post-colonial and Indigenous studies of heritage, and the archaeology of India and Canada. She is particularly interested in the relationship between knowledge, place and power, and how geospatial perspectives can re-center the views and narratives of Indigenous peoples and racialized groups in archaeology. Recent scholarship such as MINA | Map Indian Archaeology, Circles of Interaction, Open Digital Archaeology Textbook Environment, and Digital Heritage Governance at Westbank First Nation examine and address colonial practices in archaeology, and focus on Indigenous data governance, Web maps, and digital method and practice in archaeology.