Prof Cornell Sandvoss, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media, Arts and Humanities

Prof Micheal Luck, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost

Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden, Professor of Digital Memory, Heritage, and Culture and Director of Landecker Digital Memory Lab

The Landecker Digital Memory Lab was officially launched at a special event at the Imperial War Museum, London, on Monday, 18 November 2024.

The Landecker Digital Memory Lab aims to ensure a sustainable future for Holocaust memory in the digital age. Sitting across the Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies and Sussex Digital Humanities Lab in the Faculty of Media, Arts and Humanities, the Lab is an interdisciplinary hub for worldwide digital initiatives that educate about or commemorate the Holocaust.

Director of the Landecker Digital Memory Lab, Prof Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden, launched the initiative to an audience that included Holocaust survivors and their descendants, representatives from Holocaust memory and education organisations, academics, and creative digital media professionals. 

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media, Arts and Humanities Cornel Sandvoss was among the speakers at the launch, and he addressed how the Lab’s work complements the University’s wider values and emphasised the importance of humanities research. Other speakers included Micheal Luck, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, University of Sussex, Lord Khan, Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement, and Lord Eric Pickles, UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues and Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Attendees enjoyed a drinks reception, an exclusive review of the Lab's forthcoming policy guidance on AI and Holocaust education, and an introduction to the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust Galleries from lead curator Dr James Bulgin, with time to explore the galleries.

The Landecker Digital Memory Lab creates in-person and digital opportunities for international, cross-sector dialogue, produces new research and policy guidance, and offers training and consultancy programmes. They work with Holocaust memory and education organisations, academics, tech and creative professionals, funders and policymakers to solve the pressing issues concerning digital interventions in this field. The Landecker Digital Memory Lab is funded by and in partnership with the Alfred Landecker Foundation, which awarded the University of Sussex 4.1 million Euros to develop the Lab - the largest investment in academic research into digital Holocaust memory to date!

Find out more about the Lab and check out some of the research already undertaken.

For more updates, follow Landecker Digital Memory Lab on social media! Find them on Facebook, LinkedIn, BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon and Instagram.