Interactive Digital History of Antigua
Background
There is a group that is seeking an interactive way to teach the history of Antigua to the world. They would like a group of students to gather information on the rich history of the Caribbean island of Antigua and present it in an interactive platform that involves an interactive map of Antigua. One important aspect of Antiguan history comes with its sugar mills, which went hand in hand with slavery and oppression of the Antiguan natives. With such rich history, the group would like a way to teach others about Antigua using a web platform. Students would produce a map of Antigua that detailed the sugar mills and any relevant information regarding their history, as well as be accessible by anyone who was interested in learning more about Antigua.
Executive Summary
The best way to solve this task would be to create an interactive map within a web application. This option was exemplified best by the interactive map of Mount Vernon that was included in the project’s goals. That gives a concrete starting point for what the students should try to accomplish and it also shows that a web application is a viable solution to this problem. From the first version of the map, we could get creative, allowing other reputable sources (historians, Antiguans, etc.) to suggest changes made to our map. This could include additions to it (we could continue updating the history of Antigua as time goes on) or corrections in the history presented to the user. Once we have completed the map with all of the sugar mills, we could then move on to add more about the history of Antigua, including famous landmarks and attractions. I think that the sky is the limit for this project and there is so many interesting additions that could be made to it.
Viability Analysis
One issue that I see is that there could be a time constraint involved with the information found and published on the map. In other words, it may be hard to research the specific histories of each sugar mill and its associated plantation, including familial etymologies, transfers of ownership, information about the lives and experiences of enslaved laborers, and a chronology of the plantations associated with each site. This could take more time than given for students, unless the existing database that the group offers to us would give substantial information. It is definitely a doable project and would be a great experience for senior design students to take on using their preexisting knowledge of Java and creating a GUI for the application.
Risks and Rewards
One risk that comes with this project could be that a group puts a lot of work into the interface and then it does not see a ton of use. I believe that it is fair to question the market for this interface, but the fact that Bucknell has a summer trip to Antigua and the Caribbean shows that it will be at least useful for Bucknell students. This project can be extremely rewarding in that we help to bring the history of Antigua to life, showing everything from the beauty of the island to the true history and dark past of this country. It can be a great teaching tool for others and could be found useful for students and historians. Further, it could be used by potential vacationers who use it to get a feel for what they might see and do if they visit, which could in turn help the economy of Antigua profit.
Closing
This is a very interesting project as it could help teach the history of Antigua to many people in a fun and interactive way. It could teach students more about writing web applications and working with web servers, which would be very valuable and marketable skills to have. There is a lot of potential for this project as there is a lot of customization to the map that could be added after the map is created (audio and video interaction, ability of users to add their own landmarks to the map, linking up with social media, etc.). The project sounds like a very enjoyable one to take on and would provide students with a great learning experience in many ways.
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