Researcher at Northwestern's Material History Lab to Discuss Digital Tools to Create Virtual Museum

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Craig Stevens demonstrating virtual reality

Craig Stevens, a graduate student at Northwestern University and researcher in its History Department's newly created Material History Lab, will speak on "Immersive Material Culture: 3D Digitization for Community Representation in Liberia and Nigeria" at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, in Graduate Education Building room 343.

Stevens earned his B.A. in anthropology from American University, an M.A. in museums, heritage and material culture studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 2021 and an M.A. in archaeology from the University College, London.

He has worked with associate professor Caree Banton at the U of A and Matthew Reilly on the Back to Africa Historical Archaeology Project in Liberia since 2018. He is completing his doctoral research in the Anthropology Department at Northwestern University. His work seeks to express anthropological and archaeological data through creative processes and immersive products. His archaeological research investigates the placemaking strategies of 19th-century Black American and Caribbean Back-to-Africa settlers and their descendants in Liberia.

Through the use of 3D digitization and innovative curatorial strategies, Stevens seeks to expose broad and diverse audiences to African and African Diasporic material culture. He recently developed and curated the Augmented Curiosities exhibition for the Herskovits Library of African Studies, which leverages Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies to provide opportunities for intimate engagement with African object collections.

Stevens' talk, based on his research, is being sponsored by the U of A History, Anthropology and Archaeology departments; Humanities Center; African and African American Studies; Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies; and the Digital Humanities Lab in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.