Selin E. Nugent PhD

I am an anthropologist and serve as the Assistant Director of the Centre for AI, Culture & Society (CAICS 🍰) at Oxford Brookes University where I research, teach, and write about how emerging technologies shape our lives and our relationship with cultural heritage. My research explores the social impacts of AI and data science in heritage/archaeological research and how new computational tools shape identity and the commodification of ancient heritage sites. I am especially interested in applying this research toward examining how heritage research sites can better serve communities in developing digital skills, supporting well-being, sustaining dialogue, and actively addressing inequality. My research employs a combination of computational, ethnographic, and field-based methods. I have conducted fieldwork across Western Asia, including in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Oman. I currently co-direct the Bat Archaeological Project, focussing on digital heritage and community engagement at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bat, Khutm, and Al-Ayn.

After earning my PhD in Anthropology from The Ohio State University, I pursued research experience at intersection of data science, anthropology, and archaeology, holding prestigious research positions at NORC at the University of Chicago, New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, an University of Oxford’s Institute for Social Cohesion. I strayed from the traditional path of my doctoral training in anthropology in pursuit of the belief that data science and computing will unlock immense potential in our understanding of our past and our relationship with our heritage. Along the way, my experiences working at the intersection of academia and industry taught me to advocate for a critical, evidence-based approach to computation and tech deployment that measures and mitigates digitally-mediated injustices and colonialism. I now balance my shared passions for machine learning development alongside participatory design and integrating community voices and consent into academic research and technology development. I have contributed to policy development for the World Economic Forum, House of Lords, and OECD, and appeared in various international media outlets on these and adjacent topics. Beyond my academic research, I am deeply invested in the ceramic arts, fostering safe spaces, and spatial justice. I also serve on the Board of Makespace Oxford, a charity transforming empty or underused buildings into affordable, community-led spaces that nurture connection and collaboration. My major past projects include developing the RESISTIRÉ app for monitoring post-pandemic gender inequalities (Horizon Europe), Disability and AI advocacy campaign (InnovateUK), and as a researcher for the Seshat Databank Project (Templeton Foundation).