Marc Sanko, PhD Student, West Virginia University
Proposal Type: Panel
Abstract: Between 1920 and 1970 Detroit experienced an influx of Maltese immigrants. These migrants flourished in Detroit, coming with technical skills, education, and command of the English language. I recently began to archive the story of this community through pictures, oral histories, and community videos through the digital archive website Omeka. I wish to present my progress on this project and present the story of the Maltese-Americans in Detroit.
Seeking: My goals for this proposal are to meet and receive feedback from others who are working either with ethnic communities, digital archives, and/or heritage retention. Ideally, this presentation could be paired with at least one other (preferably two other) panelists. I believe it would be a strong panel if as a whole the panel addresses some challenges faced by digital historians and offer advice on how to overcome these common issues. Personally, I have realized the amount of time video editing requires is vast and dominates the project, depending on the amount of video capture per project. In addition, sharing authority with a community dictates the stories historians can access easily. I believe discussing these types of issues may help others who are interested in working on similar projects. This panel might be best if constructed with individuals working on projects across a wide spectrum, both geographically and subject-wise. I am very open to addressing and discussing the issues in digital history in an innovative way (i.e. – it does not have to be a traditional panel format).
Related Topics: Digital, Oral History, Archives
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Marc Sanko, masanko[at]mix.wvu.edu
If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Hi there! This topic could either work as a stand alone exhibit OR you could join forces with Clara Bertagnoli who is interested in a panel on student scholarship.
Hi! Thanks so much for the reply! I will look into contacting Clara Bertagnoli before going alone. I appreciate the feedback!
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