Using digital media as a form of sustainable development in disadvantaged communities.

摘要

This thesis looks at the potential of digital technology as a form of sustainable development on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Grounded theory and participatory research that drove this project allowed community members to identify a social concern. Dependence on bicycles as transportation has caused the death of several young people in Oglala. I was invited to help develop a film to educate the community so this problem would not continue. In 2004 I conducted filmed interviews with people close to one victim who died in Oglala. Over the course of the next academic year I edited the film to be viewed by focus groups during the summer of 2005. A collaborative document, the film A Film Dedicated to the Memory of Nicolas Blacksmith, describes the nature of this social issue that exists in Oglala, and is an example of how digital media can be used to empower communities.