Talk by CDMC Visiting Fellow Natalia Grincheva

Wednesday 26 June 2019

In the 21st century, digital communication technologies have significantly increased the scope and intensity of global data connectivity. This digital disruption has transformed the way in which cultural diplomacy is conducted and understood by governments, communities and societies. A practice of building bridges with foreign public, cultural diplomacy in the digital age has acquired new actors, tools, channels and strategies. Visual enhancements and algorithms, global networks, big data and artificial intelligence, virtual reality and 3D simulations automate, augment and complicate contemporary diplomacy. This presentation featured Dr. Natalia Grincheva’s research activities and achievements, including her recently completed award-winning project, Deep Mapping: Creating a Dynamic Web Application Museum “Soft Power” Map. Highlighting her key research findings and contributions to the field of Digital Humanities, Dr Grincheva explained how digital technologies and data science re-calibrate the context in which contemporary diplomacy operates by reshaping the medium of public communication, empowering new actors and equipping them with new tools to establish, deliver, maintain and assess their global communication campaigns.

Natalia Grincheva was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Digital Media Cultures at the University of Brighton.

The 30-minute talk talk was followed by a 30 minute Q&A/discussion.

Natalia Grincheva is a Research Fellow in the Research Unit of Public Cultures at The University of Melbourne. She pursues her career in the field of digital humanities focusing on development of new computational methods to study GLAM institutions as important players in creative economy and actors of soft power. The holder of several prestigious international academic awards, including a Fulbright (2007-2009), Quebec Fund (2011-2013), Australian Endeavour (2012-2013) and Soros research grant (2013-2014), she has travelled the world to conduct research on digital diplomacy. Focusing on new museology and social-media technologies, she has successfully implemented several research projects on the ‘diplomatic’ uses of new media by the largest museums in North America, Europe and the Asia–Pacific region. Her most recent publication is a monograph, Global Trends in Museum Diplomacy (London: Routledge, July 2019).