Calls
Call for papers | Rethinking Digital Heritage in the Age of AI
A call for papers is open on Rethinking Digital Heritage in the Age of AI: Historical Grounding, Decolonial Approaches, and Critical Storytelling.
Abstract
This edited volume examines how digital technologies are reshaping the interpretation, representation, and communication of cultural heritage in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In dialogue with digital history and digital humanities, it investigates how digital methods can support historically grounded, decolonial, and ethically responsible approaches to heritage studies and storytelling. The volume seeks to bridge a persistent divide between technically oriented studies of digital heritage and historically grounded, critical approaches to archives, representation, and knowledge production. Within this broader transformation, particular attention is given to the expanding role of AI and to the methodological and ethical questions it raises.
The volume welcomes contributions that move beyond Eurocentric perspectives and examine digital heritage across diverse geographical, cultural, and institutional contexts. Case studies from Europe and beyond are invited, particularly those that situate technologies within historical contexts, cultural perspectives, and heritage practices. Comparative contributions exploring how similar methods acquire different meanings, possibilities, or limitations across contexts are also encouraged.
Proposals may address established or experimental practices and may adopt theoretical, methodological, practice-based, or case-study approaches. Multidisciplinary contributions bringing together academic research, heritage practice, and artistic perspectives are particularly welcome.
Suggested themes
Abstract
This edited volume examines how digital technologies are reshaping the interpretation, representation, and communication of cultural heritage in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In dialogue with digital history and digital humanities, it investigates how digital methods can support historically grounded, decolonial, and ethically responsible approaches to heritage studies and storytelling. The volume seeks to bridge a persistent divide between technically oriented studies of digital heritage and historically grounded, critical approaches to archives, representation, and knowledge production. Within this broader transformation, particular attention is given to the expanding role of AI and to the methodological and ethical questions it raises.
The volume welcomes contributions that move beyond Eurocentric perspectives and examine digital heritage across diverse geographical, cultural, and institutional contexts. Case studies from Europe and beyond are invited, particularly those that situate technologies within historical contexts, cultural perspectives, and heritage practices. Comparative contributions exploring how similar methods acquire different meanings, possibilities, or limitations across contexts are also encouraged.
Proposals may address established or experimental practices and may adopt theoretical, methodological, practice-based, or case-study approaches. Multidisciplinary contributions bringing together academic research, heritage practice, and artistic perspectives are particularly welcome.
Suggested themes
- Historical grounding and source criticism in AI-assisted heritage research
- Responsible and transparent uses of AI in heritage studies and/or historical storytelling
- Gaps and biases in historical data, metadata, and classifications
- Decolonial approaches to digital heritage, archives, and knowledge production
- Marginalised, contested, and structurally excluded historical narratives
- Reconstruction and interpretation of lost, transformed, or inaccessible heritage
- Digital archives, mapping, and spatial approaches to heritage and memory
- Immersive environments and multimodal storytelling
- Gamification and game-based approaches to heritage interpretation
- Community participation, shared authority, and public engagement
- Accuracy, uncertainty, and ethics in digital representations of the past
- Artistic and creative practices engaging critically with historical narratives and emotional connections.
- Call for Papers launched: 24 August 2026
- Abstract submission deadline: 16 October 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 23 October 2026
- Full chapter submission: 10 January 2027
- Abstracts must be submitted in English and should not exceed 300 words. Each proposal should include:
- the proposed chapter title;
- five keywords;
- the full name and institutional affiliation of each author;
- a short biography of each author, not exceeding 150 words;
- a short bibliography identifying the principal sources informing the proposed chapter.
- Proposals should be submitted to the dedicated email using the subject line “Book Proposal Abstract – Chapter Title.”
- Proposed chapters must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
- Full chapters should not exceed 6,000 words, including references. Detailed author guidelines will be provided following the acceptance of abstracts.
- The volume is being developed for publication with Springer Nature. Final publication will be subject to the publisher’s formal approval, while individual chapters will undergo editorial assessment and peer review.