by My project aims to discuss the history of different cultures interacting and ruling over one another. Throughout my research, I have developed a three-step pattern of a minority foreign culture group ruling over a sociocultural population that vastly outnumbers them. I call this theory the Three A’s of Cultural Assimilation. The A’s that are utilized for my theory are authority (the ability to rule), adaption (the ability to survive), and assimilation (the ability to coexist or integrate into a native society). Each “A” provides both a pecking order for how a foreign ruling group interacts with a local population who is culturally different, as well as exploring how those same rulers use different A’s to rule different regions with all the benefits and consequences of each. Aside from the main objective, there are a series of smaller objectives that I’d like to achieve with this project, but they are either secondary or tertiary objectives at best.
This project will utilize the Normans, the Viking-descendent Frenchmen of Normandy, and their reign in the regions of southern Italy, Sicily, and North Africa. In each area, we see a mix of successes and failures utilizing my cultural assimilation theory. Each region focuses on utilizing a different “A” for its focal point, reaping the pros and cons of each choice made. My target audiences can be divided into two groups. My primary audience will focus on current and prospective historians who want to expand their knowledge of the Mediterranean region or about multiculturalism throughout history. As for my secondary audience, they will consist of individuals who wish to understand the impact of multiculturalism throughout history, as well as attempt to understand how interconnected and interactive humans were and how we can learn to coexist despite our sociocultural differences.
This project will be presented via the creation of a website for any viewers to observe. My aim is to utilize multiple forms of digital presentation without overbearing my viewers. My primary digital tools will include scholarly videos, digital essays, and blog posts. These tools will serve a bevy of different roles that mainly focus on viewer interaction and self-education. The blog posts will aim to serve as a method for viewers to take part in discussions about topics or questions presented by the project. I also wish to explore using interactive maps, audio recordings, and digital archives. These digital tools will be more exploratory in the project,t both testing my knowledge of them as well as their function in a project like this. With this project, any and every tool is up for debate on if it should and can be implemented. With this project, I really want to experiment a bit, with both what I am capable of and what tools will work for future projects.
There is a lot to this project that I wish to challenge, both for myself and for prospective viewers. I want both historians and prospective individuals alike to look to the past and fully understand parts of history we often neglect or assume. As a digital historian, I feel there is a collective responsibility to help bring topics to light by utilizing different digital tools and platforms for everyone to access. With the history of the Normans throughout the Mediterranean, specifically, the regions that I am focusing on for this project, we can look at how foreign rulers properly interacted with the subjects they ruled over, especially in a region so diverse as Southern Italy and Sicily throughout their endeavors from the 10th to 13th centuries. I look forward to my project fully embracing the challenges presented to me.
