Designing Digital Projects to Connect with Local Communities and Diverse Constituencies

This presentation considers approaches to designing digital projects that create connections between campuses and communities through processes of cultural heritage preservation. The focus, in particular, is on using digital methodologies as tools for engaging with the histories of marginalized groups in Florida. Dr. Heffernan, Dr. Leverette, Dr. López, and Dr. McCarl will discuss three projects based at the University of North Florida: Editing the Eartha MM White Collection (unfdhi.org/earthawhite), the Viola Muse Digital Edition (violamuse.unfdhi.org), and Voces y Caras: Hispanic Communities of North Florida (vocesycaras.unfdhi.org). The first two are publishing online the papers of women who represent key figures in the African American history of Jacksonville. Voces y Caras is a digital oral history project that gathers the personal stories of Hispanic residents of North Florida. All of these projects have involved students as key collaborators, with 22 students working on the Eartha MM White project since 2016, 21 currently participating in the Viola Muse project (Summer 2021), and nearly 200 having contributed to Voces y Caras since 2012.

This program is funded in part through a Florida Humanities Community Project Grant in partnership with the Indian River State College.