The University of British Columbia
Robson Square
Remembering Tadmor: Exploring the Use of Digital Conservation After Destruction
Saturday, May 10, 2025
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
at UBC Robson Square Theatre C400/420 (map)
About the Event
Can we build a digital defense against the erasure of culture? Let’s explore together.
Across the globe, the material remains of cultural heritage, some dating back millennia, face innumerable threats. In Syria, the ancient ruins of Tadmor, known to much of the world as Palmyra, have endured everything from colonial theft and neglect to military conflict, and even deliberate destruction. Such destruction is not just physical – it may rewrite shared histories.
Take part in the conversation and have your voice heard in shaping public policy to ensure these powerful tools are used in a way that protects and share cultural heritage for future generations. What does cultural heritage mean to you? How would you feel if it were gone? Can a copy of something replace the original? Public feedback at this event will be shared with policymakers to influence future preservation efforts.
Dive into the world of digital preservation and learn how technologies like 3D printing and digital archiving are being used to reconstruct memories and icons of the distant past. Join us for a discussion and workshop on how technology, communities, and diplomacy all intersect in the pursuit to save cultural heritage.
The event will feature insights from a UBC archaeology research team, accompanied by a Syrian culinary experience.
Schedule
10:30 am – 11:00 am: Tea/Coffee and Registration
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Presentations
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Workshops
Speakers
Lindsay Der, Honorary Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, UBC
Lindsay Der is an anthropological archaeologist specializing in the Middle East and an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She is the Principal Investigator of the Negative Heritage Project and her current research examines the use of disruptive technologies as a preservation tool for archaeological sites destroyed by armed conflict. The Negative Heritage Project also works to document heritage sites associated with trauma worldwide. Lindsay holds a B.A. from the UBC and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. She has previously taught archaeology, material culture, and cultural heritage at UBC and the University of Victoria. She was a guest on the BBC podcast/BBC Radio 4 show You’re Dead to Me, the Museum Review Editor for the American Journal of Archaeology and on the Editorial Board of Near Eastern Archaeology.
Manzura Hoque, PhD Student, Department of English Language and Literatures, UBC
Manzura Hoque is a PhD student in English Literature at the University of British Columbia. Her work focuses on the intersections of avant-garde movements, postcolonial identities, and political resistance in South Asian and MENA countries. Her MA project, earned from UBC’s English Department in 2024, examined literary representations of psychological distress in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, with particular attention to the Syrian context. She joined the Negative Heritage Project as a research assistant in September 2023, aiming to learn and adapt a multidisciplinary approach in her research.
Jordanna Marshall, MA Student, Department of Anthropology, UBC
Jordanna is a Master’s student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Her ethnographic research explores the intersections of animal welfare and conservation from the perspectives of wildlife rehabilitators in the Thompson-Okanagan. Jordanna received her Bachelor of Arts at the UBC Okanagan campus in 2019, where she held an Undergraduate Research Assistant position on the Disruptive Technologies and Negative Heritage Project. Jordanna has since resumed working on the project and is eager to contribute to informing policy making and best practices concerning the conservation of cultural heritage sites.
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