Research and Education
http://www.africanelections.org/
Interest in the election results within various African nations continues to grow, and the African Elections Project is a great source of information on this timely topic. The Project is coordinated by the International Institute for ICT Journalism and a number of additional partners, such as the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and Global Voices. The material on the site is available in both French and English, and currently it covers Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Malawi, and Niger. Within each country profile, visitors can view the results of recent elections, take a look at relevant weblogs, learn about the various political parties in each country, and also view past news updates. Additionally, visitors can sign up to receive email updates or RSS feeds. [KMG]
http://www.maa.org/columns/resources/issue%204.html
Developing a meaningful research program for undergraduate students can be tricky, and some faculty members may be looking for a resource to help them with such an endeavor. Recently, a joint panel of experts convened by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) met up to discuss how to effectively mentor undergraduate research. The panelists included Sarah Spence Adams, Rebecca Garcia, Rick Gillman, Darren Narayan, and Daniel Schaal, and the summary of their discussion can be found here. They were asked to talk about five different topics, including purposes for doing undergraduate research and the characteristics of good undergraduate research problems. After reading the short summaries of each of the five topics, visitors can view each panelist's original presentation or presentation notes.
[KMG]
To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at
http://amser.org.
Funded with substantial monies provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the United Kingdom, the Diasporas, Migrations & Identities research programme is designed "to research, discuss and present issues related to diasporas and migration, and their past and present impact on subjectivity and identity, culture and the imagination, place and space, emotion, politics and sociality." While the programme is no longer actively funded, visitors can view the fruits of their academic labors on this site in the "Publications" area. Visitors to this section can view their annual reports and their working papers. Scholars and others can make their way through ten working papers, which include the titles "Here we go-but where? The possibilities of diaspora in the field of sport" and "London's Chinatown: Diaspora, Identity and Belonging". The site also contains a "Links" area, which contains a healthy selection of external links to other like-minded research institutes and centers. [KMG]
http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/
Peering into the past by looking at bones affords great insight into the lives of previous inhabitants of this planet, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has done just that via this compelling web exhibit. Through the use of "bone biographies", a team of researchers has been looking into the lives of settlers who lived in 17th century Jamestown, Virginia and the much more well-to-do settlers who lived around St. Mary's City, Maryland. Along the left-hand side of the homepage, visitors can check out sections such as "Skeleton Keys", "Unearthing the 17th Century Chesapeake", and "Forensic Files". In the "Skeleton Keys" area, visitors can learn the basics of what to look for in a bone, and what bones tell us. The "Unearthing the 17th Century Chesapeake" area contains detailed information about the lives of both groups of settlers, along with illustrations of their dwellings and their burial grounds. Finally, the "Forensic Files" area teaches visitors how much can be gleaned from a skeleton via several interesting case studies from the past several years. [KMG]
http://virtualshanghai.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/
Started in 2005, the Virtual Shanghai site was funded by the National Research Agency in France. The project is edited by Christian Henriot of Lyon University, and the project incorporates essays, primary documents, photographs, and maps as a way to explore this tremendously diverse and fast-moving city. It's a tall order, and the site succeeds by presenting original research on the city, digitized versions of early tour guides to the city from the Western perspective, and over 3500 photographs. New users can get started by clicking on one of the main sections, which include "Texts", "Images", "Maps", and "References". Each section contains a brief introduction, which can make the amount of material contained within a bit less daunting. Visitors should also note that the site features a weblog with additional updates and resources. [KMG]
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/GPU/
In the 1970s, The Gay Peoples Union was the most important gay and lesbian rights organization in Milwaukee. The Union started as a student group at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and they eventually took a key role in working for social change in the contentious arena of educating the general public about homosexuality. This extremely valuable digital collection was created by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections initiative, utilizing materials from the Division of Archives and Special Collections of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Visitors to the site can make their way through copies of the Gay Peoples Union newsletter and also listen to the radio program, Gay Perspective. Users are welcome to also browse the textual and audio materials at their leisure. [KMG]
Created through a novel partnership between The European Library and libraries like the National Library of Portugal and the National Library of Italy, DIGIMAP brings together thousands of historically important maps. On the DIGIMAP homepage, visitors can get things started by clicking on a selection within the "From Our Collections…" area. This area features a rotating selection of their maps which cover the past seven centuries and extend to all corners of Europe. Visitor can also use the drop-down menu in the right-hand corner to view the site in a number of languages, including German, Dutch, Estonian, and French. Moving on, visitors can browse this collection by author, date, place, or contributing institution. Finally, the site is rounded out by a "News" area which provides press releases and other information on the DIGIMAP project. [KMG]
http://leostrausscenter.uchicago.edu/
Revered by some, criticized by others, Leo Strauss remains a very important and influential figure in a number of academic fields, including political philosophy, classics, and Jewish studies. For twenty years, Strauss was a faculty member at the University of Chicago, and the Leo Strauss Center at that institution was created in order "to promote the serious study of Leo Strauss's thought primarily through the preservation and publication of the unpublished written and audio record that he left behind." On the Center's site, visitors can make their way through sections titled "Strauss's Publications", "On Strauss's Thought", "Strauss Archives", and a biographical sketch. In the "Strauss's Publications" area visitors can read a detailed bibliography compiled by Heinrich Meier. The "Strauss Archives" section contains a finding aid to the Leo Strauss Papers held at the Special Collections Research Center in the University of Chicago Library. Moving on, the "Audio of a Meno Class" section contains an audio recording of Strauss's class on Plato's Meno from the spring of 1966. The site is rounded out by a search engine and information about the persons responsible for the administration of the Center. [KMG]
