Virtual Freedom Trail Project
Dr. Angel David Nieves, Hamilton College
Background
Societies emerging from conflict and violence face numerous challenges at the local, national and international levels. Some maintain that a variety of strategies now exist for "healing" wounds of the violent past and for coping with the future. National reconciliation and peace building can be promoted through the effective use of innovative heritage projects for empowerment while providing redress for marginalized communities. By moving beyond those well-established forms of heritage pageantry - national memorials, commemoration celebrations - that are often more about national performance rather than social justice, important histories of the "other" that were formerly overlooked may now be explored. The use of new media and information technologies connecting Tanzania to the history of South Africa's liberation struggle has not yet been implemented. Building on my work first pioneered on Soweto'76 (see http://www.soweto76archive.org), the VFTP seeks to build on this dynamic work and include students contributions using new classroom technologies. Students are critical to the multimedia teaching-learning process and become co-PI's throughout the life span of the project. This project combines current efforts already being developed through the Digital Humanities Initiative (DHi) on campus with the newly proposed Study Abroad Program, "Heritage, Cultural Sustainability & Development in Southern Africa: Tanzania & South Africa."Partners
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, N.J.;
the HILLgroup, ITS and Library, Hamilton College;
MuseumAfrica, Johannesburg, South Africa;
University of Pretoria, Mamelodi;
The Institute of Development Studies, The University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.