Work-in-progress seminar:

Leah Lawford: ‘Digital Testimonies and the Uncanny: Exploring Holocaust Holograms and the Uncanny Valley’.
Tuesday 19 November 16.00-17.00, Queens 1E.

In recent years, advances in technology have transformed the way in which we preserve and communicate historical memory. One such innovation is the use of holograms to digitally preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. These holograms, capable of interacting with audiences through pre-recorded questions, are intended to serve as a powerful tool for ensuring that future generations can engage with survivors and their stories long after they are gone. However, with technology advancing and holograms becoming more realistic, there are unavoidable uncertainties that raise important emotional and ethical questions. In particular, Masahiro Mori’s ‘uncanny valley’ theory is of relevance here. Mori, a robotics professor writing in the 1970s, hypothesised that when human-like robots or replicas approach a near-perfect resemblance to real humans but still display subtle imperfections, they evoke a sense of unease or discomfort to the viewer. This phenomenon, termed ‘the uncanny valley’, has, and will continue to become significant in the context of Holocaust survivor holograms, where the authenticity and the emotional connection between the speaker and its audience are crucial. In this exploratory paper I explore the intersection between Holocaust survivor holograms and the uncanny valley, discussing how digital representations can impact empathic response and, thus, whether the use of such technology risks undermining the very testimonies it seeks to preserve.

Work-in-progress seminar:

Chloe Paver: ‘The European Capital of Culture as a Frame for Holocaust Memory’. Tuesday 3 December 16.00-17.00, Queens 1E.

This short paper comes out of a wider project that uses ‘Europe’, in its various meanings, as a frame for understanding those German and Austrian history museums whose focus is National Socialism and the Holocaust. In various ways, Europe is a frame that sits askew of the topic and Europe is in any case being progressively decentred by the processes of globalization. Yet the European Capital of Culture is one event where Holocaust memory is facilitated within a squarely European (that is, EU) funding frame. Beyond noting the simple if remarkable fact that German and Austrian organizers of the European Capital of Culture nearly always include Holocaust commemoration in their programme, the paper seeks advice on whether the European Capital of Culture – which is generally studied by cultural geographers with the aim of measuring impacts – works as a tool for analysis. Is it legitimate and useful to use the European Capital of Culture as a way of gauging German and Austrian attitudes towards the Holocaust and the wider Nazi past?

Dr Peter Waddell (University of Winchester) visiting lecture

‘Broken Gospel? Christianity and the Holocaust’

12 February 2025 – details tbc