I would like to study images as both a computer scientist and an anthropologist. What do I study next?
September 22, 2008 7:32 AM Subscribe
I would like to study images as both a computer scientist and an anthropologist. What do I study next?
So I'm wrapping up a masters in computer graphics. My undergrad minor was linguistic anthropology.
So: I'd like to study visual anthropology from two very different and complementary perspectives.
So this is what I'd like to do :
Pick some region of the world. Look at the images this region of the world has produced. Start asking questions across a range of features: the history of these images: cultural, economic, political.
I would also like to cluster properties in these images computationally. Find new trends, new grupings, new common threads.
A anthropological/sociological reading of these images, complemented and aided by pattern recognition and machine learning.
The thing is, what do I study next? A PhD? One more Masters?
Which are the schools that have such programs? Who is doing interesting things in this manner?
So I'm wrapping up a masters in computer graphics. My undergrad minor was linguistic anthropology.
So: I'd like to study visual anthropology from two very different and complementary perspectives.
So this is what I'd like to do :
Pick some region of the world. Look at the images this region of the world has produced. Start asking questions across a range of features: the history of these images: cultural, economic, political.
I would also like to cluster properties in these images computationally. Find new trends, new grupings, new common threads.
A anthropological/sociological reading of these images, complemented and aided by pattern recognition and machine learning.
The thing is, what do I study next? A PhD? One more Masters?
Which are the schools that have such programs? Who is doing interesting things in this manner?
Yeah, that sounds like way too much for a Master's.
It sounds like you'll need to go to a computer science program with strong interdisciplinary tendencies. You'll need help on the computer science side in image analysis and artificial intelligence and on the anthropology side in locating and analyzing source material.
Actually, I would worry less about a program and more about finding an advisor (or several) who will let you explore this avenue and, more importantly, help you find a way to fund it.
I'm a graduate of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon and that might be a good place to start. There is more of a cross-disciplinary collegiality there than any other school I have attended.
No matter where you end up, be prepared to have your dear ideas torn to pieces, but if you're on to something they will be built into something much sturdier.
posted by Alison at 10:19 AM on September 22, 2008
It sounds like you'll need to go to a computer science program with strong interdisciplinary tendencies. You'll need help on the computer science side in image analysis and artificial intelligence and on the anthropology side in locating and analyzing source material.
Actually, I would worry less about a program and more about finding an advisor (or several) who will let you explore this avenue and, more importantly, help you find a way to fund it.
I'm a graduate of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon and that might be a good place to start. There is more of a cross-disciplinary collegiality there than any other school I have attended.
No matter where you end up, be prepared to have your dear ideas torn to pieces, but if you're on to something they will be built into something much sturdier.
posted by Alison at 10:19 AM on September 22, 2008
That sounds a bit like some of the stuff they do at the MIT Media Lab.
posted by Jahaza at 8:34 PM on September 22, 2008
posted by Jahaza at 8:34 PM on September 22, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
What do you want to do with this professionally? As interesting as it may be, I get the feeling you're not going to find a way to pay the bills doing this outside of an academic environment. Academically, two Masters doesn't get you much more than one does. A Ph.D. means you can teach and apply for grants to research this more.
It sounds like you're trying to find a new application for computing technology rather that trying to invent something entirely new, so you might want to look for sociology/anthropology departments that have a professor or two that are investigating new ways technology can augment their research. I can't say for sure, but I get the impression the sociology/anthropology community would be more interested in this research than the CS community would. There's lots going on in graphics and machine learning right now, so ease of publications might be another something to consider when taking this to the next stage.
posted by Nelsormensch at 10:17 AM on September 22, 2008