Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South

FAIN: HND-284967-22

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201)
Carla Klehm (Project Director: July 2021 to present)
Angelia Payne (Co Project Director: December 2021 to present)
Malcolm Williamson (Co Project Director: December 2021 to present)
Christopher Angel (Co Project Director: December 2021 to present)

Participating institutions:
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (Fayetteville, AR) - Applicant/Recipient
Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (Cambridge) - Participating Institution

The assessment and expansion of the metsemegolgolo digital archive for use in teaching digital storytelling to K-12 and college students in Southern Africa and across the Global South. The UK partner, the University of Cambridge, is requesting £59,948 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

This project explores how to best empower secondary school and university educators based in the Global South to explore cultural heritage through a digital archive called metsemegologolo, ‘ancient towns’ in Setswana. Metsemegolgolo, co-directed by Cambridge and based at three South African institutions, is an open source prototype database containing archaeological data, heritage objects, historical maps, oral histories and poetry about precolonial African urbanisms. This project develops a complementary UK-US collaboration among the metsemegologolo developers, digital heritage experts, and southern African educators with the purpose of exploring digital storytelling in low-resourced educational environments across the Global South. Increasing digital representations of marginalised histories is part of the ongoing process of decolonizing the digital humanities and further deepens connections to, and preservation of, cultural heritage sites.

Media Coverage

CAST Researchers Awarded NEH Grant on Digital Storytelling About Precolonial Africa (Media Coverage)
Publication: University of Arkansas News
Date: 5/10/2022
Abstract: Four researchers from the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies were recently awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities collaborative grant with Cambridge University and three South African institutions on digital storytelling about precolonial Africa. "Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South" explores how an open-access digital archive can be optimized to allow for low-resourced educators to engage with digital storytelling.
URL: https://news.uark.edu/articles/60061/cast-researchers-awarded-neh-grant-on-digital-storytelling-about-precolonial-africa

Associated Products

Initial Assessment of the Metsemegologolo Database by the AHRC/NEH Team (Report)
Title: Initial Assessment of the Metsemegologolo Database by the AHRC/NEH Team
Author: Carla Klehm
Author: Stefania Merlo
Abstract: This report is associated with the “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South.” It provides an assessment of the Metsemegologolo Database (https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za) by the AHRC/NEH Team. This was a 2022-2023 Foundations-level (Level I) AHRC grant in the UK-US Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions programme, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, HND-284967-22), awarded jointly to the University of Cambridge (Dr. Stefania Merlo, PI) and University of Arkansas (Dr. Carla Klehm, PI).
Date: 12/15/2022
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238299
Primary URL Description: Open-access .pdf copy of assessment report. Cite as: Klehm, Carla, & Merlo, Stefania. (2022). Initial Assessment of the Metsemegologolo Database by the AHRC/NEH Team. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238299
Secondary URL: https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za/wordpress/
Secondary URL Description: The metsemegologolo project website.
Access Model: Open access

Summary of the March 14, 2023 Webinar, "Digital Storytelling in the Global South" (Report)
Title: Summary of the March 14, 2023 Webinar, "Digital Storytelling in the Global South"
Author: Carla Klehm
Author: Rosie Campbell
Abstract: This report is associated with the “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South.” It summarizes the March 14, 2023 webinar on Digital Storytelling in the Global South, whose information and recording can be found at https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za/wordpress/digital-storytelling/neh-ahrc-digital-storytelling-webinar/. This was a 2022-2023 Foundations-level (Level I) AHRC grant in the UK-US Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions programme, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, HND-284967-22), awarded jointly to the University of Cambridge (Dr. Stefania Merlo, PI) and University of Arkansas (Dr. Carla Klehm, PI).
Date: 03/31/2023
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238404
Primary URL Description: This is a open-access .pdf report that summarizes a 2023 webinar titled, Digital Storytelling in the lobal South, found at https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za/wordpress/digital-storytelling/neh-ahrc-digital-storytelling-webinar/. Please cite as: Klehm, Carla, & Campbell, Rosie. (2023). Summary of the March 14, 2023 Webinar, "Digital Storytelling in the Global South". Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238404
Secondary URL: https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za/wordpress/digital-storytelling/neh-ahrc-digital-storytelling-webinar/
Access Model: Open access

Survey of Digital Storytelling Initiatives across the Global South (Report)
Title: Survey of Digital Storytelling Initiatives across the Global South
Author: Carla Klehm
Author: Angelia Payne
Abstract: This report is associated with the “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South". This is a survey of other digital storytelling initiatives across the Global South and on related topics, such as marginalized histories. This was a 2022-2023 Foundations-level (Level I) AHRC grant in the UK-US Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions programme, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, HND-284967-22), awarded jointly to the University of Cambridge (Dr. Stefania Merlo, PI) and University of Arkansas (Dr. Carla Klehm, PI).
Date: 02/01/2023
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238426
Primary URL Description: This is an open-access .pdf report that surveys spatial databases digital storytelling initiatives that pertain to African and African American archaeology and history, as well as other marginalized narratives and histories.
Access Model: Open access

Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms US-UK Workshop (Report)
Title: Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms US-UK Workshop
Author: Rosie Campbell
Author: Carla Klehm
Abstract: This report summarizes the Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms US-UK workshop, held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK from September 12-14, 2022. This report is associated with the “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South.” This was a 2022-2023 Foundations-level (Level I) AHRC grant in the UK-US Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions programme, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, HND-284967-22), awarded jointly to the University of Cambridge (Dr. Stefania Merlo, PI) and University of Arkansas (Dr. Carla Klehm, PI).
Date: 12/05/2022
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238446
Primary URL Description: This is an open-access .pdf report that summarizes the Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms US-UK workshop, held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK from September 12-14, 2022.
Secondary URL: https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za/wordpress/digital-storytelling/
Secondary URL Description: General information and documents associated with the NEH/AHRC Digital Storytelling Project.

Strategic Planning Document for "Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South" (Report)
Title: Strategic Planning Document for "Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South"
Author: Carla Klehm
Abstract: A strategic planning document for “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South”. This report is associated with the “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South.” This was a 2022-2023 Foundations-level (Level I) AHRC grant in the UK-US Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions programme, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, HND-284967-22), awarded jointly to the University of Cambridge (Dr. Stefania Merlo, PI) and University of Arkansas (Dr. Carla Klehm, PI).
Date: 07/31/2023
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238456
Primary URL Description: An open-access, .pdf strategic planning document for “Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South”. Cite as: Klehm, Carla. (2023). Strategic Planning Document for "Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South". Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8238456
Secondary URL: https://www.metsemegologolo.org.za/wordpress/digital-storytelling/
Secondary URL Description: General information and repository for the NEH/AHRC Digital Storytelling Project.
Access Model: Open access

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