• Dene Grigar, Digital Technology and Culture Program, 360-546-9487 or grigar@vancouver.wsu.edu
• Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Washington State University Vancouver is helping to bring 21st century technology to the 19th century Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Brett Oppegaard, a professor in 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's Digital Technology and Culture program, has recently been awarded a $9,000 grant from the Historical Promotion Grants Program to produce multimedia content for mobile technology for the national park.
That means the 800,000 people who visit the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site each year will be able to supplement the brochures and interpretive signage they currently rely on to understand the significance of the site with educational, entertaining, historically based multimedia content. That content will be available to visitors via their cell phones as early as fall 2010.
In addition to being a professor at 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø, Oppegaard is a doctoral student working on a dissertation related to mobile storytelling. His project aims to reveal the power new technologies have in promoting cultural tourism, historical preservation and audience engagement. Using mobile technology, Oppegaard can deliver richer, more in-depth, thought-provoking content than any interpretive sign ever could.
Oppegaard's work will focus on the outer ring of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site called "the village." Here people from more than 35 ethnic and tribal groups lived together in support of the fort, which operated as an economic and cultural center for the entire region. Oppegaard hopes to enlighten visitors about the rich history of the village by focusing on peoples and communities that have often been overlooked in traditional historical discussions.
Oppegaard has gathered collaborators over the last several months including staff at the site, photographers, videographers and 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø students. He's contributing 120 hours of his own time as project coordinator.
91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is celebrating 20 years of bringing quality education, research and service to the citizens of Southwest Washington. The campus is located at 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205, or via C-Tran bus service. 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø offers 16 bachelor's degrees, 10 master's degrees, one doctorate degree and more than 36 fields of study. Learn more at .
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