Reimagining collective memory through digital resources
Description
This thesis posits the question; How can digital resources enhance the public's ability to both access and contribute historical information and artifacts to collective and cultural memory? It seeks to understand how collective memory can be accessed and harnessed through digital resources. It does this first through a discussion of the theoretical development of collective memory and then applying the term as a framework for understanding contemporary digital resources that focus on accessing memory in a public history context. The thesis concludes with a presentation of the methodology of CuratAR, a joint project between Tulane University Professor Felipe Cruz and me. CuratAR seeks to be an urban computing software that can blend personal and collective memories into an urban landscape. We explore how other resources prove the value of transposing audio-visual cultural objects onto a digital geographic space and use this justification to embark on our own project. CuratAR has the potential to merge elements of public history and preservationism to give the New Orleans public agency in defining their own past.