Difference between revisions of "About"

Revision as of 01:41, 16 May 2010

Why Cyborg Anthropology?

A cursory web search shows little about the relatively new field of Cyborg Anthropology. Worse, there are no lists of resources or even tools to figure out where to find materials. There are no book lists, glossaries, or syllabi. Professors wishing to teach the subject are left to create curriculum for themselves, and students seeking to self-educate are left to dig through journal articles.

A Digital Resource

This site is meant to connect many different people across multiple disciplines as well as those involved in the field of Cyborg Anthropology itself. This site is a collection of journals, conferences, papers, books, and curriculum that can be used by anyone. This site is also a Wiki, meaning that everything is in flux. In the same way that the Internet grows and changes, the field of Cyborg Anthropology must be a flexible field capable of absorbing, classifying and understanding new phenomena, cultural change, and the digital world. Digital Anthropology is also closely related to Cyborg Anthropology and will be discussed here often.

Traditional Ethnography

This site also seeks to provide those without a formal understanding of anthropology a firm foothold in the study of traditional anthropology. There are two types of people present in the universe of cyborg anthropological studies. One is the student of anthropology. The other is the technosocially connected non-academic seeking to better understand the effect technology has had on their world. Cyborg Anthropology lends well to both the professional and academic. Both can benefit from an understanding of each other's fields.

Site Development

This site is an installation of MediaWiki with a number of custom plugins and theme by Aaron Parecki. The site's content is managed by Amber Case. This site welcomes contributors. Things needed are book reviews, new books, conference listings, journal articles, journal lists, films and film reviews, glossary terms, tools and critical analysis. If you'd like to contribute any of these items, or have ideas on what to contribute, please contact us.

Having your class contribute to this Wiki

This often occurs when a student writes a paper: the paper is written, turned in, and graded. The paper gets lost in an E-mail account, hard drive or thumb drive. It doesn't generally see the light of day again. Eventually, it ceases to exist.

In addition, it is rare that anyone besides the professor reads it. Thus, if any valuable thought is in there, no one knows it exists. Instead of doing research and finding the work, someone is going to end up rewriting that same paper instead of building off of it and taking it further.

When a class contributes to a blog or wiki, actual published work is contributed to a collectively viewed system. Additionally, technology skills gained in the learning process of formatting and editing content for the web provides students with valuable real-world skills. It gives them the power to publish and defend their work.

Thus:

• What students have to say is valuable.
• Homework assignments can turn into actual work.
• Electronic technology can connect ideas to similar ideas more quickly than paper work.

If you'd like to have your class contribute to CyborgAnthropology.com, please contact us.