Alexandra Warminski

About me:

Alexandra Warminski is a doctoral researcher in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter and is a member of the Centre for Islamic Archaeology. Her doctoral research is part of the Digital Archive of the Middle East (DAME) project where she studies twentieth century colonial historical maps from the Arab World Documentation Unit (AWDU) and how the digitisation of these maps, along with employing digital methodologies, can aid in understanding the archaeological and cultural information depicted on the maps.

She obtained her MPhil in Heritage Studies from the University of Cambridge in 2021 focusing on the digital heritage of Syrian archaeological and cultural sites and previously received her BA in Anthropology, with a minor in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, from the University of Chicago in 2019.

Research Unit:
Centre for Islamic Archaeology
Research Project:

This PhD research seeks to address how Imperial cartography, both Ottoman and Western, represented the archaeological and cultural heritage of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq in a time of intense geopolitical and social change: the changing of Imperial governments, from Ottoman to Western, and the eventual partitioning of the region. This research endeavors to analyze how different historical maps and map series of the region—from differing countries, decades, and intended purposes—have built upon each other and changed in depicting and recording cultural and archaeological heritage sites over time. To conduct this research, a digital methodology—using AI software, Machine Learning, and GIS—will be employed to synthesize and condense map data into a manageable workflow. By utilizing historical maps and employing a digital methodology, this interdisciplinary project aims to draw out the connection between the political, Imperial history of the region to its archaeological heritage through the lens of cartography. The objective of this research is to utilize digital techniques to meaningfully engage with digitized archival material in a reflexive and exploratory study into implicit outsider biases in the cartography of specific Middle Eastern nations with its tangible implications in the archaeology, heritage, and national state formation of the region.

Research Supervisory team:

Professor Timothy Insoll (Al-Qasimi Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology)

Professor Leif Isaksen (Professor in Digital Humanities)

Research Wider Research Interests:

Heritage; Digital Heritage; Cartography; Colonial History and Archaeology; Middle Eastern Archaeology; GIS; Digital Methods in Archaeology