Try and recall a family secret, or a cherished memory shared between you and a parent or sibling. Now imagine holding on to that memory so that it could be shared with your descendants in 20 years, or 200. How would you preserve it, in what form? Who has access to it now, and how will that memory be held and transferred from generation to generation? From a single moment to the wider experiences of communities, oral histories and endangered languages, the intimate interchanges that define codes and protocols for sharing do not easily translate to the digital exchange of the world wide web. In this discussion, we will look at where we’re failing and succeeding to connect with indigenous priorities for differential access to cultural content, and what this means for all of us in developing informed exchanges for the digital humanities. We’ll explore Mukurtu CMS, a free and open source platform designed specifically to address some of these challenges and how community based agile software development can help to humanize the Internet.

Michael Ashley, CEO, Center for Digital Archaeology & Director of Development, Murkurtu CMS. Dr. Michael Ashley is Chief Executive Officer at the Center for Digital Archaeology (CoDA), a non-profit company affiliated with UC Berkeley that creates and leverages data management technologies for the preservation and sharing of cultural heritage. He is developing Codifi, an innovative mobile solution for turning buried content into discoverable, data-driven stories. Michael is the Director of Development of Mukurtu CMS, an open source content management solution for Indigenous communities to share, license and curate their digital heritage. He received his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley in 2004, where he went on as faculty and staff to co-found several initiatives, including the award winning Open Knowledge and the Public Interest (OKAPI), and the Media Vault Program, a digital preservation and access framework for the university’s museums and archives. An archaeological photographer by training, Michael was the Media Team lead for the Çatalhöyük Research Project for 7 years.

Please join the IHR Digital Humanities Research Cluster and the University Library for a series of interactive lectures focused on “Digital Humanities & Cultural Heritage.” This inaugural speaker series will highlight digital projects from across the humanities and enable lively discussion about the role of the digital in preserving, building, and making accessible cultural materials from around the world.

No digital skills required. Contact digitalhumanities@ucsc.edu for more information.
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