I am a part of a team of students, scholars, entrepreneurs, and volunteers who are building a digital library and genealogical/family history database for African Americans (Gullah-Geechee) in coastal Georgia and their “distant relatives” in Sierra Leone. The purpose of this project, sponsored by the Carlton-Carew Ep Foundation, is to exchange resources and ideas, initiating a dialogue to bridge cultural, historical, technological and economic divides in the present. At THATCamp I would like to share the goals for this project, find new friends and partners, and most importantly get feedback and suggestions on how to incorporate emerging technologies into this project.

Most of us who are working at HBCU’s and small liberal arts colleges find ourselves alone in our quest to use Digital Humanities in our classes, in our research, and in our departmental work.  I would like to suggest the idea of a Digital Commons for HBCUs, where we can work together toward common projects.

Last November, City University of New York announced they would be creating a “Commons in a Box” that would make the creation of a Digital Commons easy to set up.

I would like to talk about the possibility of setting up a commons, and some of the technical and logistical challenges that might be part of such a project.