We’re done! It’s great! Thank goodness… After hundreds* of hours of research, mapping, building, cooking, videoing, and Prezi manipulation, our project is complete. To know that our maps will be forever enshrined in the Guilford Silkroad homepage is quite the honor. With digital humanities, our stories will really last forever and are accessible to all (which is why out of those hundred hours we proofread for hundreds** more).
This will be the first time a piece of work I’ve done has been entirely public facing and available to critique. It’s safe to say that this provided both an added stressor as well as an added piece of motivation to make sure my facts were well-sourced and my research was reliable. I am happy with what our group turned out with our final product and I think we took the ideas we had and used all the digital tools provided to make it a success. Originally we were unsure whether Storymaps were the way to go, given our theme as a meal. However, in the end we have five individual Storymaps linking out from items on the table. Pretty ironic. Even so, I’m proud that we didn’t succumb to re-arranging our unique ideas for the sake of technology, and pushed through with our Prezi and food theme.
Another thing I’m extremely grateful for was our group dynamic. Team projects are difficult. Effort, opinions and ideas for the end product can easily come into conflict with each other. In this case, this wasn’t the case. Once we settled on a theme as a group, each of us had our objectives outlined. Deadlines were met (for the most part). Communication was solid. Friendships were both made and retained. The only casualty was Zach’s forearm hair that was incinerated straight off, during our tandoor experiments along with a few naan bread that were sacrificed to the coals.
I’m excited to see what other groups have come up with and am honored to be part of the class that began this venture in digitally mapping the silk road. It will be interesting to look back and see what this website has become 5 or 10 years from now. It’s been an enlightening journey, and for some of us just the beginning, as we prepare to travel the silk road over January Term. I suppose we’ll find out whether our Xinjiang cuisine can hold a candle to the real deal. Thank you for joining us on our journey. I’m sure that it won’t stop here!
*Probably not an exaggeration
**Probably an exaggeration