Digital Scholarship Conversations: African Built Heritage Project

Digital Scholarship Conversations series is a monthly brown bag hosted by Tisch Library. Each conversation will focus on a different topic, helping us share ideas and build community around the intersection of digital technology and our research and teaching.

The African Built Heritage Project is a collaborative research initiative spearheaded by faculty and researchers from Northeastern University in collaboration with L’Ecole du Patrimoine African (Porto Novo, Benin). Join Killion Mokwete, Bahare Sanaie-Movahed, and Jessica Parr to learn more about this project which focuses on the preservation of at-risk sub-Saharan African building sites through advanced technological methods, interdisciplinary collaboration, and storytelling. The research, which involves fieldwork and data gathering in Porto Novo, Benin, utilizes LiDAR scanning (including drone photogrammetry), 3D modeling, geospatial technology, oral history, archival research, VR/AR technologies, photographic documentation, and digital preservation to produce a hub that preserves holistically (in digital form) and educates about the importance of at-risk sub-Saharan African Heritage Buildings.