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. They create in-person and digital opportunities for international, cross-sector dialogue, produce new research and policy guidance, and offer training and consultancy programmes. The Lab works 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.

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.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, Professor Sasha Roseneil, said: “Sussex has a longstanding commitment to Holocaust education and research.

“In our fast-changing digital world, in which profound misrepresentation and Holocaust denial are amplified across multiple media platforms and echo chambers, we have a duty to preserve historical records and personal memories in order to ensure that future generations have access to the full truth about the Holocaust.

“We are hugely grateful to the Alfred Landecker Foundation for the trust it is placing in Sussex to deliver on this collective responsibility through the Landecker Digital Memory Lab.   The Lab will also make a major contribution to two of the strategic themes of our new University strategy, which will be launched in early 2025: digital and data futures and human flourishing.”

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.