Lecturer: Dr. Eleni Bozia
Associate Professor, Department of Classics
Head of the Data-Driven Humanities Research Group
University of Florida

Archaeology, epigraphy, and heritage sites point to and recall the past, and reasonably so. People usually turn to them for Instagram photos or contemplate on them because they are told that “history may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” However, in reality, there is still a large disconnect between the past and the present, the value of one for the other, and overall, the purpose of sustaining, supporting, and engaging with these fields and their objects of interest. This talk will traverse the history of digital preservation and dissemination, and digital world heritage through the lens of the Digital Epigraphy and Archaeology project to emphasize that nothing is more urgent for the present than the past, and how technology and AI can bring archaeology and epigraphy to a new, more responsible ecosystem of valued knowledge. Ultimately, this talk advocates for a future in which the digital humanities not only preserve the traces of antiquity but also empower new ways of engaging with them, transforming the past into a living, collaborative resource for global society.