Neha Gupta

(She, Her, Hers)

Assistant Professor

Anthropology

On Leave Until: June 30, 2024
Other Titles: Director, DARE | Digital Archaeology Research Environment
Office: ART 259
Email: neha.gupta@ubc.ca

Research Summary

Geospatial and Digital Methods in Heritage; Postcolonial, decolonial, anti-colonial and Indigenous studies of heritage; Archaeology in India and Canada; Data Governance and community governance of data; anti-racism. I welcome interest from prospective graduate students for research supervision on topics related to these areas. Accepting graduate students for Sept 2024 start

Courses & Teaching

My teaching focus is in digital methods and archaeology. I have developed and offered the following courses; ANTH 103 Introduction to World Archaeology, ANTH 210 Archaeological Inquiry and Practice, ANTH 310 Digital Methods in Archaeology and Heritage, ANTH 319 Archaeology of Early State Societies, ANTH 490 Special Topics: Digital Anthropology, IGS 502 Seminar in Digital Arts and Humanities

Biography

I am Assistant Professor in Anthropology at The University of British Columbia. My research programme examines and addresses geospatial and digital methods in anti-colonial and Indigenous studies of heritage (including archaeology). My research interests are geovisualization and GIS, place-based heritage, data practice, community governance of data, anti-racism and archaeology in India and Canada. I build and expand on these interests through DARE | Digital Archaeology Research Environment, a Canada Foundation for Innovation funded laboratory at UBC Okanagan.

Websites

dngupta.github.io

Degrees

PhD, McGill University
MSc, University College London, UK
BSc, University of Toronto

Research Interests & Projects

I am Principal Investigator on Building an Anti-colonial Digital Archaeology in the Canadian context through Indigenous Data Governance principles, which is a collaboration with Nancy Bonneau, Westbank First Nation Archaeology. The aim of the SSHRC-funded study is to centre Indigenous data governance principles in the research design of archaeological work, and to develop paths that facilitate equitable benefits for Westbank archaeologists and community members and the syilx community as whole.

I am a Co-Applicant on Materializing Indigenous Histories: Community-University Partnerships for Indigenous-engaged Archaeological Research, a SSHRC-funded grant with Dr Andrew Martindale (UBC Vancouver), et al, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm [Musqueam], Metlakatla, Sts’ailes, Métis Nation of Alberta. The project connects with materials analysis researchers from UBC and the University of Alberta to address Indigenous-led research questions through the exploration of materials held in repositories. I am a member of the Steering Committee and co-lead the Data Sovereignty node with Dr Kisha Supernant (UofA).

Selected Publications & Presentations

Gupta, N., A. Martindale, K. Supernant, and M. Elvidge. (2023). The CARE Principles, and the Reuse, Sharing and Curation of Indigenous Data in Canadian Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 11(1), 76-89. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2022.33

Nicholson, C., S. Kansa, N. Gupta, and R. Fernandez. (2023). Will it Ever Be FAIR? Making Archaeological Data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 11(1), 63-75. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2022.40

Gupta, N. and R. Nicholas. (2022). Being Seen, Being Heard: Ownership in Archaeology and Digital Heritage (Guest Editorial). Archaeologies, 18(3), 495-509. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-022-09465-y ; http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83171

Gupta, N., N. Bonneau, and M. Elvidge. (2022). Connecting Past to Present: Enacting Indigenous Data Governance Principles in Westbank First Nation’s Archaeology and Digital Heritage. Archaeologies, 18(3), 623-650. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-022-09466-x ; http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83410

*Bavi, A., and N. Gupta. (2022). Gamification of Digital Heritage as An Approach to Improving Museum and Art Gallery Engagement for Blind and Partially Sighted Visitors. Archaeologies, 18(3), 585-622. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-022-09461-2

Gupta, N., R. Nicholas, and S. Blair. (2022). Postcolonial and Indigenous Perspectives in Digital Archaeology. In Ethan Watrall and Lynne Goldstein (Eds.), Digital Heritage and Archaeology in Practice (pp. 241-274). University Press Florida. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82213

Gupta, N., S. Blair and R. Nicholas. (2020). What We See, What We Don’t See: Data Governance, Archaeological Spatial Databases and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in an Age of Big Data. Journal of Field Archaeology, 45, S39-S50.  doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2020.1713969

Gupta, N. (2020). Preparing Archaeological Data for Spatial Analysis. In Mark Gillings, Piraye Haciguzeller and Gary Lock (Eds.), Archaeological Spatial Analysis: A Methodological Guide (1 ed.) (pp. 17-40). London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351243858-2 ; http://hdl.handle.net/2429/73588

Gupta, N., and R. Devillers. (2017). Geographic Visualization in Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 24(3), 852–885. doi: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-016-9298-7 ; http://research.library.mun.ca/12144/

Textbook

Graham, S., N. Gupta, J. Smith, A. Angourakis, A. Reinhard, L. Richardson, K. Ellenberger, Z. Batist, J. Rivard, B. Marwick, M. Carter, B. Compton, & R. Blades. (2019). The Open Digital Archaeology Textbook Environment. url: https://o-date.github.io/draft/book/

Public Scholarship

Bonneau, N. and N. Gupta (2023). Preserving and sharing syilx digital heritage: Westbank First Nation and UBCO collaborate on interactive web map, UBC Community Engagement, April 2023, https://communityengagement.ubc.ca/news/westbank-first-nation-and-ubco-collaborate-on-interactive-web-map/