My investigation of the linguistic, mental, and cultural representations of spatial relationships in Tonga, Polynesia, yielded a congruence of organization between spatial relationships in long-term memory and one aspect of Tongan cultural life: exchanges. They are both organized in a ‘radial’ manner. This congruence opened the floor to the investigation of other possible relationships between the space module and other knowledge domains.. Currently, I am investigating the possibility of further similar organizations in other salient cultural knowledge domains, such as Tongan geographical space, kinship, and social networks. Some of the preliminary data for this investigation has already been collected during my July 1999 visit to Tonga. Detailed processing and analysis of these data is now necessary before proceeding with the project. I planned three activities during spring 2001: 1) entering the collected geographical data and family tree data in the computer for analysis; 2) analyzing and comparing the digitized data; 3) preparing the results of the analyses for presentation and publication.

The undergraduate student selected will be involved in the digitization of geographical (e.g., maps) and sociocultural (e.g., family trees, social networks, agricultural practices) information and asked to establish meaningful relationships between them. The amount of work required is around 8-10 hrs. per week. The computer application used will be ArcView GIS. Besides acquiring familiarity and expertise in this highly versatile and widely used computer application, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling graphic data (e.g., digitizing maps) and computer applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and/or any other graphic manipulation application on a Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

These spring activities will probably conclude the second stage of the research project. Further stages are already planned and during spring 2001 I intend to apply for support with outside agencies like SSRC, NSF, and Wenner-Gren. Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

My investigation of the linguistic, mental, and cultural representations of spatial relationships in Tonga, Polynesia, yielded a congruence of organization between spatial relationships in long-term memory and one aspect of Tongan cultural life: exchanges. They are both organized in a ‘radial’ manner. This congruence opened the floor to the investigation of other possible relationships between the space module and other knowledge domains. Currently, I am investigating the possibility of further similar organizations in other salient cultural knowledge domains, such as Tongan geographical space, kinship, and social networks. Some of the preliminary data for this investigation has already been collected during my July 1999 visit to Tonga. These geographical data and family tree data has been already entered in the computer during academic year 2000-2001. I planned the following activities during fall 2001: 1) analyses of the data to determine how they support or undermine the research hypothesis; 2) transforming the 2-dimensional digitized images into 3-dimensional images; 3) preparing the results of the analyses for presentation and publication.

The undergraduate student selected will be mainly responsible for the digital transformation of the 2-D images in 3-D images. S/he will also actively participate in the analyses of these images and the consequences they bear onto the overall research. The computer application used will be ArcView GIS and a 3-D application soon to be selected. Besides acquiring familiarity and expertise in this highly versatile and widely used computer applications, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling and creating 3-D graphic data and some familiarity with computer applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and/or any other graphic manipulation application on a Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

These fall activities will probably conclude the present stage of the research project. Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

My investigation of the linguistic, mental, and cultural representations of spatial relationships in the Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, yielded a congruence of organization between spatial relationships in long-term memory and one aspect of Tongan cultural life: exchanges. They are both organized in a ‘radial’ manner. This congruence opened the floor to the investigation of other possible relationships between the space module and other knowledge domains. Currently, I am investigating the possibility of further similar organizations in other salient cultural knowledge domains, such as Tongan geographical space, kinship, and social networks. Some of the preliminary data for this investigation has already been collected during my July 1999 visit to Tonga. During academic year 2000-2001 and Fall 2001 I have prepared a database by entering in the computer all the socio-geographical data already available. During spring 2002, I plan the following activities: 1) transform the 2-dimensional digitized images of the village of Houma into 3-dimensional images; 2) organize and update the database for use during fieldwork in summer 2002 in Tonga; 3) submit a proposal for a presentation of the database at the American Anthropological Association Meetings in November 2002. For this part of the project, I will work in close collaboration with Kurt Schultz, assistant professor, School of Art, College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The undergraduate student selected will be mainly responsible for the digital transformation of the 2-D images in 3-D images. S/he will also actively participate in the discussion about the relevance and potential of these images within the overall research. The computer application used will be ArcView GIS and a 3-D application soon to be selected. Besides acquiring familiarity and expertise in this highly versatile and widely used computer applications, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling and creating 3-D graphic data and some familiarity with computer applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and/or any other graphic manipulation application on a Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

My investigation of the linguistic, mental, and cultural representations of spatial relationships in the Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, yielded a congruence of organization between spatial relationships in long-term memory and one aspect of Tongan cultural life: exchanges. They are both organized in a ‘radial’ manner. This congruence opened the door to the investigation of other possible relationships between the space module and other knowledge domains. Currently, I am investigating the possibility of further similar organizations in other salient cultural knowledge domains, such as Tongan geographical space, kinship, and social networks. Some of the preliminary data for this investigation has already been collected during my May-June 2002 visit to Tonga. During academic years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 I have prepared a database by entering in the computer all the socio-geographical data already available. During fall 2003, I plan the following activities: 1) reorganize and update the database with the newly obtained social network data; 2) end the transformation of the 2-dimensional digitized images of the village of Houma into 3-dimensional images; 3) present the database at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Psychological Anthropology in April 2003. For part 1 of the project, I will work in close collaboration with Kurt Schultz, assistant professor, School of Art, College of Visual and Performing Arts, NIU.

The undergraduate student selected will be responsible for the digital transformation of the 2-D images in 3-D images. S/he will also actively participate in the discussion about the relevance and potential of these images within the overall research. The computer applications used will be ArcView GIS, Discreet’s 3-D Studio Max, and Macromedia’s Director 8.5. Besides acquiring familiarity and expertise in this highly versatile and widely used computer applications, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling and creating 3-D graphic data and some familiarity with computer applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and/or any other graphic manipulation application on a Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, March 7, 2003

I am investigating the possibility of similarity in the organizations of salient Tongan cultural knowledge domains, such as Tongan geographical space, kinship, and social networks. Some of the preliminary data about social networks has already been collected during my May-June 2002 visit to Tonga. In academic years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 I have prepared a database by entering in the computer all the socio-geographical data already available. During fall 2003, I plan the following activities: 1) process and analyze the newly obtained social network data; 2) reorganize and update the "Digitized Tonga" database; 3) present the database at the COSIT (conference on spatial information theory) conference. For part 1 of the project I will work in close collaboration with Dr. Charles Cappell, associate professor, Department of Sociology, NIU; for part 2 of the project, I will work in close collaboration with Kurt Schultz, assistant professor, School of Art, College of Visual and Performing Arts, NIU.

The undergraduate student selected will be responsible for the processing of the social networks data. S/he will also actively participate in the discussion about the relevance and potential of these data within the overall research. The computer applications used will be UCINET. Besides acquiring familiarity and expertise in this computer applications, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling and processing data statistically by using applications on a PC/Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, October 17, 2003

The undergraduate student selected will be responsible for the digitization and frequency counts of the texts and expected to work between 8 and 10 hours per week. S/he will also actively participate in the discussion about the relevance and potential of these data within the overall research. Besides expanding his/her familiarity and expertise with computer applications such as Word, Excel, and ArcView, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling and processing data statistically by using applications on a PC/Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, March 26, 2004

The undergraduate student selected will be responsible for the frequency counts on the texts, preparing sociomatrices for social network analyses, and updating the database. S/he is expected to work between 8 and 10 hours per week. S/he will also actively participate in the discussion about the relevance and potential of these data within the overall research. Besides expanding his/her familiarity and expertise with computer applications such as Word, Excel, and ArcView, the student will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student as a future scholar and/or professional. Previous experience in handling and processing data statistically by using applications on a PC/Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.

Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, October 14, 2004

The undergraduate student/s selected will be responsible for the frequency counts on the texts, running some social network analyses, and updating the SMVAT. They are expected to work between 8 and 10 hours per week. They will also actively participate in the discussion about the relevance and potential of these data within the overall research. Besides expanding their familiarity and expertise with computer applications such as Word, Excel, and ArcView, the student/s will experience and contribute personally to the conceptualization and implementation of this particular phase of the research project. Both aspects of this experience increase the potential of the student/s as future scholars and/or professionals. Previous experience in handling and processing data statistically by using applications on a PC/Macintosh would be a great advantage in the selection process.

Expenses for computer zip and compact-disks, photocopies, and printing need to be covered under grant funds.