Anth319.L90 & L91 LAB

Please share this with faculty and students: An Advance CALL FOR PAPERS: South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference, April 2009
The Anthropology Department at the University of South Carolina would like to invite students to participate in the South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference on April 18th, 2009.

This conference will feature student presenters at both the undergraduate and graduate level and will provide a friendly forum to practice submitting a proposal and presenting a conference paper. This forum also allows for students to receive constructive feedback from fellow students and professors on their work in progress. It also provides a great venue to meet people with similar research interests and to learn more about the Anthropology program at the University of South Carolina. Attendance of this event is open to the public.

Papers should be anthropological in nature and concerned with understanding and explore humanity from a comprehensive and holistic approach. This includes the study of human origins, variation, language, societies (institutions, beliefs, social relations, and all the other aspects of human culture, whether past or present. We want to encourage the participation of students interested in the study of anthropology in this conference, which is organized by students with student research in mind.

Abstracts should be 250 words or less and be submitted by February 27th. Should you have any questions at all about the scope of the conference please contact scasc09@gmail.com
Fees: In the past the fee has been about $8 – $10 and covers lunch. We want to include not only anthropology students, but also others in history, geography, sociology, religion, philosophy, etc. who meet the guidelines.

Contact: Lisa B. Randle
Site Coordinator
UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project
Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program
College of Charleston
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424
(843) 953-1923
(843) 953-1924 fax
http://www.cofc.edu/atlanticworld

More details will be forthcoming on this blog site.

All portfolios are due on Wednesday, December 17 at 3PM in the lab.  Be sure to turn in duplicate copies of your papers, one for Dr. Quinn and one for Jolanda Van Arnhem.

If you wish to submit your materials before this date, please put them all (Dr. Quinn’s and Joey’s copies) in Dr. Quinn’s mailbox at 19 St. Philip Street, second floor (the main Sociology/Anthropology office).

Thanks, and have a Happy Holiday Season!

Dr. Quinn and Joey

An interesting use of the iPhone for ethnographic fieldwork.

Enjoy,

Joey 

October 22nd, 2008 | by Penelope Coutas

 

Lining up for the iPhone on release day was akin to lining up for Harry Potter. There was a sense of anxiety-anticipation in the line and an awful lot of people who you’d expect to see immortalised in The Joy of Tech Comic. Myself included.

 

I knew that the iPhone would become an essential tool in my EdD research. I was using my (very pretty) Motorola flip phone to take photos, videos and record audio, but the iPhone would potentially allow me to upload content directly, and also download information at point of need, quickly. After following iPhone developments in the US for over a year, and having stroked and tapped around a few at PodCamp, of course I was in that line.

 

 

 

So a few months on, what have I discovered? First, I don’t use anywhere near my cap. I went for the $59 Optus Cap Plan because it was by far the best value. But I don’t use the 500mb of data and $350 of calls. It’s nice to know that I could and it’s nice not to fear the bill, but because most places I go have WiFi, I find that I don’t use the 3G network a great deal for data.

 

Second, there are amazing benefits and also surprising disadvantages. The lack of cut’n’paste and MMS messaging has been well documented and moaned about, as has the battery life. The benefits? The web browsing, intuitive nature, and all-round awesomeness have also been raved about. And I agree.

 

So what is it I’m actually using? What apps form my research toolkit? A team of students in ICT333 are currently working on a specialised app for me to manage ethnographic fieldwork, but at the moment I use a grab-bag of apps. I also use different ones for my different hats as a Language teacher, as a Gen Y socialiser, and as someone who gets hours of entertainment from bubble-wrap. Here are my faves for research:

 

Used daily:

 

Wordpress

This allows me to blog directly from my phone. Whether it’s notes at conferences and seminars, “to do” items, reflections while in the field, or ideas to follow up, my research blog is immediately accessible. And I can’t lose it or leave it on a train.

 

QuickVoice

This is the audio-recorder that I use for interviews. The iPhone’s internal microphone is adequate, but not at podcast quality. For research purposes though? Perfect. I chose this app over others because, months ago, it was the only one that allowed the audio to be downloaded to a computer, and that could be paused during recording. Considering the number of interruptions during interviews, this is important! Now there’s quite a few more on the App Store but I’ve stuck with what I know.

 

Maps

I haven’t used a map book since I got my iPhone. Finding my research sites is so much easier now! This also allows me to account for kilometers to claim back petrol when I’ve forgotten to reset my car’s odometer.

 

MyDelicious

Allows me to access and edit my delicious bookmarks.

These have potential:

 

DataCase and AirSharing

Backup work, documents, audio, etc. via WiFi (the iPhone becomes a storage device). Why this can’t be done via USB (as you could with older generation iPods) is beyond me.

 

iObserve

A data collection tool for observations. It’s unclear, though, whether you can have a text input field for extended responses – this could replace my (paper-based) Observation Schedules if it does. Then again, I find that I need to look at the keyboard on the iPhone when I type, unlike a normal keyboard or pen’n’paper. During classroom observations, it’s essential that I observe the class… not my iPhone.

 

Wish List:

• An app that allows me to upload data directly to my Omeka archive. This would be especially useful for photos, and cut out the step between collecting data in the field and uploading.
• A “to do” list that syncs with iCal.
• USB transfer of data – I can bake a cake in the time it takes to sync if I have a lot of interviews.

 

I’ll be writing about using the iPhone as Method/s as part of my methodology chapter. Maybe I should write it on my iPhone? Speak it? Photograph it? If only I could video it…

It goes without saying that we want to be sure to express our thanks to each one of our informants, key or otherwise.  Each ethnographer decides her or his own way of doing this, but it is part of bringing closure to your research project.

Hello all,

I am sending this message to everyone in case any or all of you would like to stop by to talk about your projects or anything else sometime next week.
I will be available on Reading Day, December 9th, in the afternoon. Please confirm if you think you might like to come by, and we can arrange a definite time.
For those whose projects I missed seeing, Joey has arranged for me to view your diskettes and to see the work you did.  However, you might like to share your process with me in more detail, and I welcome that opportunity.
Once again, we’re both pleased and proud of you for the work you did in this class, and thank you for working so hard!
Good luck to the graduates! Happy Holidays to everyone!

Dr. Quinn