Based on experiences with the Accra Wala digital mapping project, this paper explores the ways that digital tools present new forms of connectivity between the often distinct categories of teaching and research, researcher and subject, academy and public, local and global.
Paper long abstract:
Based on experiences with the Accra Wala digital mapping project, this paper explores the ways that digital tools present new forms of connectivity between the often distinct categories of teaching and research, researcher and subject, academy and public, local and global. As a digital mapping project that seeks to engage and archive the life of the street in Ghana's vibrant capital city through an interactive map of its trotro (public transport) system, Accra Wala presents multiple layers of interactivity and audience. While the field of digital humanities is notably collaborative and interdisciplinary, the work of creating digital project remains largely academic, mimicking in many ways a more conventional research model. By embracing a much longer process of development, Accra Wala has generated a number of strategic partnerships that blur the boundaries between research, teaching, popular culture, and activism. I argue that this sort of model suggests exciting new possibilities for rethinking how we do research and teaching in/about African cities in ways that are interdisciplinary, collaborative, inclusive, and open.