Project Description
Planetariums must serve broad portions of our communities beyond the white and affluent. To that end, our planetarium for some years has collaborated with various people on and off campus to present “Under African Skies,” programs that highlight the culture and celestial connections of specific African countries as well as show the night sky from their capital cities. For a series of programs during Black History Month, we have invited speakers from three different countries: Eritrea (migrant member of our community), Nigeria (two graduate students from Nigeria), and Kenya (Kenyan astronomer coming all the way from Nairobi!). A student in the Digital & Visual Communication (DVC) program will be able to take submitted images from our speakers and help them build visuals for a compelling narrative that also bridges gaps that audience members might have about these African countries.
Tasks and Responsibilites
Design student will research three African countries’ history and differences in terms of aesthetics: For example, finding fabrics and foods from each country. The student will focus on helping the presenters for Eritrea and Nigeria since the Kenyan astronomer has a lot of experience in public speaking and presumably will have her own slides. Most of the content for Eritrea and Nigeria will be provided by the speakers (such as their favorite public figure, writer, locations), but the student will build the pictures to augment the narrative. The student will make animations for important aspects of the programs such as maps that show the location of the country and important cities. The student will explore visual ways to depict the history and modern important figures to enrich the audience’s understanding of each country. The student will work with me and our speakers to ensure the accuracy of our depictions and of a respectful representation of the culture.