Claudia A. Engel
Academic Technology Specialist
Lecturer
Department of Anthropology
Stanford University

Claudia Engel is an Academic Technolgy Specialist and Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology. She also serves as a Manager of the Academic Technology Specialist Program.

Claudia holds a doctorate degree in Anthropology. Her work centers around the academic uses of technology. She has been involved in projects that explore and apply collaborative technologies for over 15 years and has recently shifted her focus towards spatial analysis and GIS. Claudia is the co-organizer of the Stanford interest group in GIS and is one of the core contributors in the development of the Stanford Technology Commons. She blogs regularly about her work.

Before coming to Stanford Claudia worked and lived in Europe and South America. Outside her work Claudia serves as principal oboe in the Silicon Valley Symphony and sings with the San Francisco Bach Choir.

CASA 156: Interpreting Space and Place: An Introduction to Map Making

CASA155: Virtual Communities: Online Technologies and Ethnographic Practice

Co-taught CASA151A/251A: Introduction to Cultural Studies

Workshops on: Computer Supported Fieldwork, Demographic Data Analysis Tools, Teaching and Learning with Technology, Digitizing, Video Editing, Multimedia, ArcGIS, GRASS, R

Using open source tools such as R and GRASS Claudia collaborates with several faculty on the use of GIS for analysis of spatial data in ecological anthropology, demography, and archaeology. This summer, she will be responsible for spatial research and mapping in connection with Prof. Ebron's fieldschool in Charleston, South Carolina.

Increasingly researchers collaborate on large scale projects that span not only local but also international research groups. Supporting remote interactions with appropriate technologies still poses a major challenge. Claudia has been involved in various projects to support globally distributed research teams, for example the Stanford Figurines project.

High Performance Learning Spaces in Wallenberg Hall provide experimental, technology-rich environments to support collaboration and visualization. In order to explore alternative approaches to teaching and learning Anthropology in different content areas Claudia collaborates in the design, development, and teaching of various courses ("Genetic Structure of Populations", "Introduction to Cultural Studies" and "Models and Imaging in Archaeological Computing"), "Introduction to Cultural and Social Theory", "Virtual Ethnography", "City and Sounds").

C. Engel: Learning About Space: What Can Web 2.0 Do For Us? Presentation at the ED-Media Conference, Vancouver July 2007.

C. Engel, K. Hayworth: How Can We Innovate Learning? Presentation at the Educause Western Regional Conference, San Francisco, USA, April 2006.

C. Engel: Ethnography in Globally Distributed Teams. Presentation at the Creative Coaching Workshop, Stanford CDR, USA, October 2005.

C. Engel: Digital Technologies and Ethnographic Practice. Panel Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Society, Washington DC, USA, December 2005.

C. Engel: Facilitating Innovative Pedagogies in High-Performance Learning Environments. Presentation at The International Conference on Learning, Granada, Spain, July 2005.