Mapping Blackness

Grant Type

Humanities Insitute-Herberger Institute

Seed Grant Semester Awarded

Spring

Seed Grant Award Year

2026

“Mapping Blackness” investigates the Black Muslim community in the Phoenix
metropolitan area — historically under-documented within both the American
Islamic experience and the broader Black community in the Southwest. Building
upon Mapping Blackness, an immersive digital archive initiated in 2020, the project
aims to capture and preserve oral histories by merging humanities frameworks
with the media capabilities of the Herberger Institute. Seed funding will support
preliminary interviews, documentary footage and the production of a proof-of-
concept short film and 360 immersive contents for installation, establishing a
foundation for a future national oral history initiative.

Principal Investigator(s)

Alex Ma | Associate professor, The Sidney Poitier New American Film School

Carla LynDale Bishop | Assistant professor, The Sidney Poitier New American Film School

Yasmin Saikia | Professor, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies

Chad Haines | Associate professor, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies