The purpose of the project is to provide computer equipment that will support the integration of computer-mediated instruction in the undergraduate curriculum in anthropology to enhance ethnographic cultural analysis. Serving a large multicultural student body on a commuter campus, the department seeks to make "culture" a construct more accessible; to support "virtual" fieldwork experience and opportunities to formulate and test hypotheses about culture; to help students learn how to record observations and analyze them using web based instructional examples that train students in the use of qualitative and quantitative programs; and to support opportunities for increased communication and collaboration in an electronic environment. The request is for 30 computer workstations with three twelve-port 100 MB switches. one Windows NT server, and two networked printers to equip an Ethnography Computer Lab that will a) provide access to computer programs (including Ethnograph, NUD.IST, and Anthropac), databases (the electronic version of the cross-cultural database of primary ethnographic materials, the Human Relations Area Files, called eHRAF), and instructional modules relevant to ethnographic cultural analysis; and b) provide networking opportunities (e-mail and web-based chat rooms) that meet the needs of commuter students and support the development of collaborative projects in the undergraduate learning environment. The infrastructure for a fully networked computer lab was made possible by an ARI (Facilities Modernization) grant.
