Name: David Colman
Discipline: Africana Studies
Course(s):
DH Tools: Google Earth Pro
My digital humanities project is titled “Mapping Global Hip Hop.” I have started creating an interactive map on Google Earth that will allow users to explore the various dimensions of Hip Hop around the world. The map will allow users to discover rap groups, graffiti artists, breakdancers, Djs, and Hip Hop fashion designers in any part of the world. The map will also include translations of rap lyrics into English and locate key nightclubs, recording studios and other spaces.
The map will explore key controversies and themes in a region’s Hip Hop history, the relationship between a particular country’s government and its rap scene, the role of class, racial, and ethnic conflict in a region’s Hip Hop culture, and explain how American and local and regional cultural influences interact to create unique and new forms of Hip Hop culture. I am also embedding “lessons” in the map appropriate for elementary and middle school age students.