Applied Anthropology for Undergraduates

Progressively, Applied Anthropology research is involving and impacting digital technologies and methods. Expanding research methods to include aspects of digital data capture, investigation, analysis, modeling, presentation, and dissemination, the DHHC is encouraging scholars in the creation, curation and use of digital objects in the field of Applied Anthropology. Promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and communication, the DHHC assists anthropologists in acquiring the methodological skills necessary to effectively and ethically apply information, communication, and computing technology to cultural heritage materials and research. Below are various ways the resources can be applied to anthropological research.

Digital archaeology is evidence of classical archaeology's evolution, assisting researchers in looking at heritage sites and objects in completely new ways. Archaeologists are now able to discover veiled inscriptions, undetectable paint lines, or even the slightest palimpsest. Along with allowing archaeologists to collect and analyze data more efficiently, Digital Archaeology revolutionizes that ways researchers analyze and share findings. Digital Archaeology methods can provide detailed and expressive reconstructions of decomposing or endangered cultural objects and architecture.

Understood as a method for representing real-life cultures through storytelling in digital media, DHHC can assist anthropologists in going beyond traditional reports and into computer-based storytelling. By helping others engage in the experiences of another culture, Digital Ethnography offers an innovative approach to Applied Anthropology research presentation that utilizes interactive components to simulate cultural narratives. The digital age gives researchers the opportunity to recreate individual and communal senses of times past or people out of reach. Beyond exclusive words or images, Digital Ethnography integrates platforms that promote culturally relative experiences

As an applied subfield, Forensic Anthropology uses methods and techniques to investigate legal cases and law enforcement practice. As a more contemporary tangent of physical anthropology, Forensic Anthropology is an example of a discipline actively incorporating digital humanities methods and analysis technology. The comprehensive methods and observations conducted by anthropologists to identify human remains or patterns can be incredibly useful for law enforcement agencies looking to construct accurate criminal profiles or narratives. Geospatial technologies can be incorporated into forensic anthropological research in multiple ways, including the use of GPS, mapping, spatial statistics, photogrammetry, and interactive online geo-visualizations. These methods can expand Forensic Anthropologists current toolkits and be applied to exhumations, both in the field and laboratories.