NSF Award
9552297
The Department of Anthropology's Visual Anthropology Lab (1) enhances innovative instructional undergraduate training in representing culture and behavior through visual media and (2) supports student projects in visual anthropology and other anthropology labs by providing upgraded facilities for documenting archaeological sites, observing and recording primate behavior, recording skeletal remains, and providing visual materials for museum displays. Specifically, this project funds photographic, video, audio, and specialized computer equipment to support a revised undergraduate Program in Visual Anthropology that fosters student understanding of filmic and ethnographic photography, ensures practical competency in film and/or photographic production, and provides instrumentation for student projects. The department expects to renovate existing lab space vacated by other science departments and establish an integrated lab facility for all the field of anthropology including osteology (forensic and primatological), archaeology, ethnographic analysis, and visual anthropology. The lab facilities and equipment are envisioned as an integrated unit, such that student projects in archaeology, primatology, osteology, and cultural analysis have access to the Visual Anthropology Lab facilities and vice versa.
