Neha Gupta

(She, Her, Hers)

Assistant Professor

Anthropology, Digital Arts and Humanities, Global Studies

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; Indigenous data governance and community governance of data; anti-racism and anti-casteism; South Asian diaspora. I welcome interest from prospective graduate students for research supervision on topics related to these areas. Accepting graduate students for Sept 2026 start.

Courses & Teaching

My teaching focus is in digital methods, heritage and archaeology. I have developed and offered the following courses: ANTH 103 Introduction to World Archaeology, ANTH 210 Archaeological Inquiry and Practice, ANTH 311 Digital Methods in Archaeology and Heritage, ANTH 319 Settling Down: Archaeology of Complex Societies, ANTH 409 Applied Anthropology (themes: digital anthropology; reclaiming; AI and heritage), IGS 502 Seminar in Digital Arts and Humanities

Biography

My research programme examines and addresses geospatial and digital methods in anti-colonial and Indigenous studies of archaeology and heritage. My research interests are geovisualization and GIS, place-based heritage, data practice, community governance of data, data governance principles (OCAP®, FAIR and CARE) in archaeology and heritage, anti-racism and anti-casteism, and archaeology in India and Canada. I grow these interests through DARE | Digital Archaeology Research Environment https://dare-lab.github.io, a Canada Foundation for Innovation funded laboratory at UBC Okanagan.

Websites

Neha Gupta’s Website: http://dngupta.github.io

Degrees

PhD, McGill University
MSc, University College London, UK
BSc (Honours), University of Toronto

Research Interests & Projects

My current research projects are as follows:

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 https://indigenousscience.ubc.ca/materializing-indigenous-histories, 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).

I am one of four directors, with Dr Sarah Kansa (Alexandria Institute), Desiree Martinez (Cal Poly Pomona) and Dr Christopher Nicholson (Center for Digital Antiquity), on Advancing FAIR+CARE Practices in Cultural Heritage https://alexandriaarchive.org/fair-care/, which is supported by an Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Leadership Grant. The project develops, circulates, and promotes ethical practice guidance and digital data governance models integrating FAIR and CARE principles in cultural heritage. Additionally, I lead a Working Group that focuses on developing an assessment tool and resources to implement FAIR+CARE practices in the cultural heritage sector.

Selected Publications & Presentations

Gupta, N., E. Yasui, L. Small, A. Wijesinghe, and T. Ng. (in press). Voices, Experiences and Perspectives of Black and Racialized Archaeologists in the Canadian Context. Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 48(2):

Bourgeois, R., K. Supernant, and N. Gupta. (2025). Re-conceptualizing Repatriation as the Power to Decide. Museum Anthropology, http://doi.org/10.1111/muan.70012

Gupta, N., Abhayan G. S., S. Chatterjee, and Rajesh S.V. (2024). Digital Methods in the Collection, Management, Reuse, Sharing and Circulation of Heritage Data in the Indian Context. In Maya Dodd and Nirmala Menon (Eds.), Practices of Digital Humanities in India: Learning by Doing (pp. 145-163). New Delhi, India: Routledge. doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003325239-12

Bollwerk, E., *N. Gupta, and J. Smith. (2024). A Systems-Thinking Model of Data Management and Use in U.S. Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 12(1), doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2023.41

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 and Toolkit

Evering, Danica, Subhanya Sivajothy, Anneliese Eber, Amber Gallant, Niloofar Hooman, Isaac Pratt, Shahad Al-Saqqar, Kaelan Caspary, Lucia Costanzo, Melissa Cuthill, Oishee Ghosh, Neha Gupta, Laurence Horton, Billie Hu, Keshav Mukunda, Mikala Narlock, Cathy Paton and Tracy Sallaway. (2025).  Community Research Data Toolkit. url: https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/communitydatatoolkit/

Graham, S., N. Gupta, J. Smith, A. Angourakis, A. Reinhard, L. Richardson, K. Ellenberger, Z. Batist, J. Rivard, B. Marwick, M. Carter, B. Compton, and 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/