Identity Statement
My name is Majed Alatawi and I am a graduate student at the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a student who is interested in focusing on cultural and ethnic studies, I find working on a satellite project which is supposed to contribute to the One more Voice project a great opportunity to expand my knowledge about the voices that were overshadowed by colonialism. Even though my academic interests are somewhat related to focusing on marginalized writers, I have not heard about most of the names of the authors on the One More Voice website.
Being immersed in such a DH project that has a noble goal that exceeds the process of digitally archiving art and literature is an important step that will lead to positive changes, especially when it comes to viewing humanitarian aspects with which our multifaceted field engages. Coming from the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, the geographical proximity to the formerly colonized countries in Africa and Asia and the fact that the consequences of colonization continue to negatively affect these countries at multiple levels are aspects that make working on satellite projects that can contribute to promoting the message of the One More Voice project an interesting experience.
My exposure to digital humanities started last semester at UNL when I took my first DH course. The digital/technical side of things was somewhat challenging for me but I believe that more exposure to that side will make it easier with the passage of time. Though my experience in the field of digital humanities is not that long, I am intrigued by how dynamic this field is and how much we can contribute to the scholarship that focuses on important topics through facilitating the accessibility to an unlimited number of materials. DH can ensure that the voices that were directly or indirectly marginalized by the colonizer's voice can have the appropriate spaces and channels that make their voices hearable.
Working on such a project will be beneficial for my future plans in academia because digital humanities is developing year after year and the success of the DH projects that I have seen so far reflects their positive impact on the scholarship that focuses on literary and cultural subjects. I am considering taking more DH classes and getting the DH certificate as I believe that it will be an advantageous step toward being closely engaged with the changes that the field of of humanities is undergoing during the last few decades.
Archiving the works of less known writers and introducing them to new readers through digital platforms is one way that can give them the recognition they deserve and introduce their work to a larger and more diverse audience. Such aspects contribute to a better understanding the journeys of authors that had similar experiences to those of the ones included in the One More Voice project.
The class discussions about the categorization of authors based on their cultural background, genre of writing and gender during our last meeting reflects how important it is to focus on the uniqueness of each writer's background and simultaneously compare it to that of similar writers. It will be interesting to see how the satellite projects will take their final shape.