The project Resistance and Caribbean Reality: History of Dominica’s Resistance in a Global Context is a large and very extensive project, however it is a much needed topic of discussion in Dominica. My group is responsible for the religion and science aspect of the project. So far the group has four broad topics that will be finalized when all data is collected. The topics include healthcare development, church segregation, voodoo and, Rastafarians and vaccinations. The data collection and analysis segment of the project can be very difficult and challenging, but also quite rewarding!
Data collection requires a bit of field work, which often doesn’t feel very rewarding. For both science and religion the group has decided that conversing with influential person in that field is very important. Their years of experience comes with a wealth of knowledge that is vital to this project. In additon, people in these fields tend to be very busy and setting an appointment to meet with them is almost impossible! But most people are eager and interested in meeting hence find sometime to discuss with the group’s members. As a result of this there have been five interviews, but most people prefer to be anonymous. Also, online databases and websites such as the Digital Library of the Caribbean (DLOC) and Dominica History are very useful. They provide hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles among other publications, which is a large amount, but the more information the group is provided with the better this project will turn out.
A major aspect of this project is a timeline of the establishment of all/most churches and clinics around the island. This timeline in itself is a challenge, especially the data entry. Over the past weeks in Digital Humanities class numerous software such as omeka and story map were mentioned, however talking and doing are to different actions. The time has come to put into practice what was taught and that can be difficult at times. Also, with the plethora of software available to use to present data one can be indecisive when choosing but, there is always a more specific and detailed software to use.
As the group goes through this data collection and entry segment of the project there are numerous challenges that arise each day however, they are overcome. Progress throughout the project proves that every challenge is a blessing and it is all worth it!