NUBIANET AND DIGNUBIA,

1992-2008 AND BEYOND:

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Ronald W. Bailey

Northeastern U/Savannah State U

@UICU/NCBS Info Tech Workshop, 7/24/08

1992: ROOTED IN STRUGGLE: Town/Gown, Campus/Community

“Cooperating” with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in their “community outreach” activities for the opening of the permanent

gallery of Nubian or Kushite art (1992)

Black Studies

Initiative:

Joyce Grant

Peggy Kemp

MFA: Largest collection of Nubia

artifacts outside of Khartoum, Sudan Dana Chandler,

AAMARP3/26/1968

Roxbury Heritage

State ParkMuseum of the National Center for

African American Artists (Barry Gaither)

Kush Club teens dig nubian roots at MFA Bay State Banner |

Sept. 1, 1994 (Theresa India Young)

Madison Park Development Corporation (Danette Jones)

Africa and Human Origins3 KINDS OF DATA

•FOSSILS/Archaeology

•DNA/Biochemistry•LANGUAGES/Linguistics

What “civilizations” did the earliest humans create?

“ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, MODERN”

NUBIANET’S MISSION: 1992• The main mission of the project is to create a community

of teachers, scholars, students, educators in museums and libraries, and others who want to learn and teach about Nubia as a significant ancient civilization, and to integrate this knowledge into the school curriculum, informal educational activities, and self- study programs. The project also seeks to promote the use of new technologies in humanities education and contribute to the pool of culturally diverse educational materials accessible to all learners using these technologies.

Marcia Baynes at AFI

KEY COLLABORATORS:

DR. TIM KENDALL, formerly with Boston Museum of Fine Arts

MARCIA BAYNES, 8th Grade Teacher, Cambridge & VA

EARLY HISTORY• 1993 Nubia Institute (Funded by NEH, ES-22447-92) • 1994:Nubia Institute (funded by NEH, ES-22644-94).

Professional development programs for teachers, including summer institutes.

• 1994-1996 Planning for a Documentary on Nubia (Funded by NEH, ES 25129-95). With Judith McCray, Juneteenth Productions

• 1995 5-hour teleconference, "Nubia, Ancient and Majestic" broadcast over MCET (Massachusetts Educational Telecommunications Network. Produced by Michelle Halsell, hosted by Marcia Baynes)

• 1998-2000 NubiaNet: A Website and Resources for Studying Ancient African and World Civilizations funded by NEH through the Education Development Center

• 1998: Hosting conference of the International Society of Nubian Studies with Museum of Fine Arts and others

NubiaNet

Published by Dept. of African-American Studies

Northeastern University

An anticipated outcome: Tara Morrison, Africana major/Nubianet work-study assistant now Park Ranger in Charge, African Burial Ground

1998 International Conference

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EDUCATORS

PARTICIPATING SCHOLARS:Bill Adams, Frank Snowden, etc.

Welcome to digNubia!digNubia introduces

young people to

archaeology through

an exciting

archaeological find:

the remains of the

ancient African

civilization of Nubia in

northern Sudan and

southern Egypt that

emerged over six

thousand years ago.

Nubia

Geared to middle school children 8-14

Components of digNubia

• A traveling exhibit intended for after school centers, boys & girls clubs, small museums, churches, libraries;

• A web site filled with information about archaeology and ancient Nubia (http: www.dignubia.org)

• A documentary film entitled Nubia and The Mysteries of Kush

digNubia Traveling Exhibit

digNubia Venues, 2003-2008

2002: Harriet Tubman House, Boston, MassachusettsThe Discovery Museum and Planetarium, Bridgeport, ConnecticutConcordia Educational Technology Center, Vidalia, LouisianaZeum, San Francisco, California 2003: The Tech Connection and School Age Children's Camp, Monterey, CAFrancis C. Hammond Middle School, Alexandria, VirginiaFamily Center and Imagine Nation Museum, Bristol, ConnecticutGreater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements, Philadelphia, PAOffice of Emergency Shelter and Services, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaDakota Science Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota2004: I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium, Orangeburg, South CarolinaMuseum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, GeorgiaAfro Studies--U. of Florida/Sante Fe Community College, Gainesville, FloridaGeorgia Southern University Museum, Statesboro, Georgia2005: Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland (MI) Center for the ArtsPutnam Museum of History and Science, Davenport, Iowa2006: Youth Museum of West Virginia, New River Park, West VirginiaChildren's Museum of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah2007: New Jersey History Museum, Trenton, New JerseyLas Cruces-Museum of Natural History, Las Cruces, New Mexico2008: Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia

digNubia Web Site

www.dignubia.org

Good Press Coverage!!

digNubia in SavannahFebruary 6, 2008- March 9, 2008Adams Hall, Savannah State University

Preparation

digNubia in Savannah

MAJOR ACHIVEMENTS in Savannah:

Weekly delegations from Savannah’s rec centers, staff professional development session

New digNubia brochures for outreach (7000)

Ten showing of documentary on COMCAST

digNubia in Savannah

SUDAN and NUBIA 2008: CRISIS

• In 2006, a 100 miles stretch of the Nile River that has been home to human civilizations since the beginning of time will be flooded when the Merowe Dam is completed in 2007. While well-known ancient sites such as Jebel Barkal, will not be destroyed directly, there are concerns that environmental changes such as changes in the level of the water table will wrought massive damage.

See http://www.nubiansociety.org/MDASP_appeal.htm

Working on Nubia: The Future•Updating Websites: DigNubia and NubiaNet

•Documentaries: 2006 Salvage Campaign and Nubia and Human Origins with Juneteenth Productions

• Edit and Distribute 150-200 hours of videotape•Use the Web for Ongoing Photo Documentation

•Continue to travel DigNubia exhibit with Update/brochure•Organize Delegation of K-12 and College Educators to Sudan

•digNubia: Cybergame Exploring Ancient Africa •Adopting Gebel Barkal, a World Heritage Site as a

Curriculum Project (http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1073:

(cybercasting by archaeologists in the field, live webcam shots of ongoing excavations, all highlighting Nubia, ancient African civilizations,

and historical/cultural heritage preservation and technology)

CAN WE COLLABORATE?????

Broader Implications for the Future: TECHNOLOGY & LEARNING: TOOLS

VISUALIZATION

PRESENTATION

INTERPRETATION“EDU-TAINMENT”/GAMING

Crystal Island

Science Learning/FI-NCSUBabylon

ON

LIN

E

See Alkalimat, “Social Informatics of the Black Experience: The Emergence of a Research Literature;” Champion, “Otherness of Place: Game-Based

Interaction and Learning in Virtual Heritage Projects” (Nieves)

ED

UC

AT

ION

BUILDING CAPACITY: PLACES & PROCESSES:THE SOUTHEAST GEORGIA COLLABORATION OF

AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUMS, PLACES, AND SPACES (CAMPS)

July 2008: Proposal Pending,

Institute for Museum and

Library Services. $150,000Willow Hill Renaissance Heritage Center

(1874)

First African Baptist Church (1777)

Dorchester Academy

(1871)

Beach Institute (1867)

King-Tisdell Cottage

Savannah State University (1890)