Aims

The aim of the Centre is o advance anthropology through the exploration, development and application of computational approaches to research problems across the range of anthropology. Areas we pioneered and advanced include: qualitative analysis of textual and ethnographic materials; computer-assisted visual ethnography; modelling, simulation and artificial societies; methods of dissemination, particularly of field data; quantitative approaches to assessing qualitative methods, analysing social and cultural invention, the active representation of meaning, applications and implications of mobile computing, sensing and communications platforms and the transformation of virtual into concrete objects, institutions and structures.

Staff associated with CSAC

Director: Michael Fischer, Deputy Director: David Henig;

Members: David Roberts, Roy Ellen, Janet Bagg, Nick Ryan, and Miguel Alexiades;

Current students: Sally Applin, Elizabeth Gladin, Marcela Olmedo, Amy Hinsley, Lydia Yeo, Teferi Degeneh;  

Active research Internal Associates: Dario Novellino, Miguel Alcalde.  

Context

CSAC has operated at any one time between 8 and 10 physical web hosts, hosting about 30 web sites for CSAC and research partners. These are also operated as a cluster. These are purchased with overheads from CSAC supported research or from specific funds allocated to CSAC for providing specialist computing services. CSAC is recognised by the ESRC, NERC and ESPRC as providing specialist services that fall outside the normal Institutional capability. CSAC currently contracts six external virtual servers, and will be beginning to move most sites to these over the coming year.

CSAC has a small amount of gear used in fieldwork, including a satellite phone, a number of GPS devices, digital recorders, digital cameras, specialist handheld data loggers, and a small amount of tools for fabricating microcontroller/sensor boards for custom environmental monitoring. CSAC has permanent loan from the library of a microfiche and a microfilm reader, and from electronics of a rather ageing oscilloscope.

CSAC has a small projects room in Eliot, which is used to support ongoing research and external visitors. CSAC also uses a portion of a room to store the CSAC archives, representing the data underlying some 3.5 million pounds of externally funded research.