Decolonizing Memphis: The Intersection of Indigeneity and Immigration

Project Lead: Amanda Lee Savage

Decolonizing Memphis is a digital humanities project charged with creating a decolonized narrative about the history of Memphis, TN. A “decolonized narrative” does not simply add diversity to an already existing account, but rather centers indigenous and immigrant histories instead of settler-colonist versions of the past. It recognizes the legitimacy of non-Western sources often excluded from the (colonized) archive, and is produced using multiple forms of knowledge from indigenous and immigrant communities. This project recognizes that increased visibility and representation of both populations is a critical first step in ending the dehumanization and erasure that colonization brings, and intends for this project to grow into a larger digital collective that scholars, activists, and organizers can use for their own decolonizing work.

The target audience for this project is other indigenous and immigrant people. We hope to create a space that brings together indigenous and immigrant voices in Memphis, a space that exists for them to speak to one another without having to do the intellectual work of translating for settler audiences. Translating, in this sense, involves rationalizing why indigenous forms of knowledge and communication matter. We will not do that. This project takes for granted the humanity of indigenous and immigrant peoples and the legitimacy of their understandings. We intend to make the information accessible for those outside these communities, but for this space to truly be decolonized it is the indigenous and immigrant authors who will be the gatekeepers, definers, and reviewers of content.

Collaborations: We do welcome additional team members, including non-indigenous and non-immigrant contributors that study or have an interest in these issues. If you’re interested please email Amanda Lee Keikialoha Savage at aksavage@memphis.edu.

Botanophilia Correspondences during the Revolutionary Era (1750-1850)

Project Lead: Kyra Sanchez Clapper

Botanophilia Correspondences during the Revolutionary Era (1750-1850) was inspired by Roger Lawrence Williams’s work Botanophilia in Eighteenth-Century France (2001), where he analyzes the rising interest of botany from both the scientific and aesthetic perspectives during the French Enlightenment. I am going to take this approach a step further by delving into transnational correspondences throughout Europe during the shift between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. By doing so, we will have a better understanding of how savants perceive the natural world and how it played an important role in national identity.

Collaborations: This is an interdisciplinary project. I am open to collaborating with other scholars in fields including, but not limited to, history, literature, philosophy, and environmental studies. Contact Kyra Clapper at kclapper@memphis.edu.

 

19th-Century Networks: European Intellectual & Social Networks 1789-1914

Project Lead: Melanie Conroy

19-Century Networks  is a database of 7,500 writers and other members of 19th-century French literary networks.The dataset contains basic demographic data about the members of these literary networks, such as gender, birthplace, death place, birth and death years. It also includes network classifications fundamental to nineteenth-century Europe, including academic affiliations, salon membership,  participation in literary movements, political affiliations, and military affiliations. It aims to characterize exchange between people in literary, cultural, political, and other networks.

Collaborations: Melanie Conroy, assistant professor of French at the University of Memphis, is the current project lead. For more information or to collaborate on the project, email her at mrconroy@memphis.edu.