Undergraduate Opportunities in Social Sciences Building Bridges: Prejudice Reduction Workshop and Performance Lehigh University lies at the center of one of the most racially and economically diverse neighborhoods in Pennsylvania. Building Bridges uses theatre to reduce barriers such as racism, classism and sexism in the community and allow diversity to be a greater source of community enrichment. The program is a collaboration among the community, Lehigh undergraduates, Lehigh’s Departments of Theatre, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, the local professional Touchstone Theatre and the National Coalition Building Institute. Lehigh students, with area middle and high school students, confront their own experiences of discrimination—as victims, witnesses and oppressors—and express those experiences as original pieces of theatre. The students are collectively responsible for all aspects of the production, from researching and developing theme, story and script, to designing sets, costumes, lighting and sound. The students then perform their creations and lead post-performance workshops at Lehigh, Touchstone and schools throughout the region. About 15 students participate annually. Comparative Cultures Research: the Electronic Human Relations Files Ethnographic fieldwork is the hallmark of most professional anthropological research. However, original research often requires a commitment to language and area studies beyond the undergraduate level. As a result, most undergraduate programs cannot offer the opportunity to engage in research in social or cultural anthropology. Fortunately, because of the university’s commitment to original inquiry by undergraduates, Lehigh students have access to the extensive on-line Electronic Human Relations Files. The database facilitates systematic cross-cultural comparative research on more than 75 cultures. It contains the full, digitized and indexed texts of a wide and deep range of source material, including texts by missionaries, anthropologists and governments. Students develop hypotheses, and systematically explore, refine and test them through comparing two or more cultures via the database and other sources. Students are encouraged to submit their research to professional scholarly publications. 30-40 students annually. CyberDesign CyberDesign is devoted to one of the most exciting and compelling areas of modern life: online communication. Topics under study include both practical and theoretical aspects of the Web, including audience principles; how content varies from print to the Web; basic Web design; legal and ethical issues; the economics of funding a Web site; advertising on a Web site; and technologies needed to develop and support the site. Using these principles, student teams propose and ultimately implement complete Web designs for real clients. CyberDesign is an integrated learning experience, where students from many fields—including art and design, computer science and engineering, marketing and advertising and journalism—participate and learn from one another. Significant emphasis is placed on teamwork and formal oral and written presentations to clients. 15-25 students. Democracy Workshop Lehigh’s Democracy Workshop conducts projects for the community and at the same time explores the operational meaning of democracy in our complex, technological society. Significant numbers of citizens feel voiceless, lacking effective access to mainstream political and communication institutions. Multidisciplinary teams of undergraduates partner with a wide array of community groups to develop strategies to help the groups become more effective participants in political processes. Projects may entail field research, substantive policy analysis, canvassing, and formal written and oral communication with community groups and political bodies. Student teams blend insights and tools from diverse areas: democratic theory, urban and state politics, media and communications, local and regional economics, public finance, computing and desk-top publishing, the psychology and sociology of empowerment, environmental science, Spanish, and others. The Democracy Workshop seminar focuses on democratic theory, operational definitions of democracy, empowerment and learned powerlessness, community organizing, communication and local policy-making structures. Up to 15 students annually. The Dionysos Project The Dionysos Project encompass two new related, web-based peer-reviewed scholarly journals published at Lehigh: Ariadne: On-Line Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy and Dionysis: On Line Journal for the History of Philosophy. Unlike "on-line journals" that are electronic versions of print journals, these two journals are entirely web-based. They are thus freed from many restrictions (length, structure, form, medium) that attend traditional print media. Each journal is a cooperative venture of students and faculty, and each journal is symbiotic with the other. Students begin as interns for Dionysis, where they acquire supervised and first-hand experience in editing, publishing and maintaining a web-based, peer-reviewed, professional publication. From here they move to Ariadne, and assume full responsibility for editing, publishing and maintaining the peer-reviewed journal for research by undergraduates nationally. Currently, the students and faculty involved in the Project are publicizing the journals and soliciting contributions for publication; both journals should be in full operation by Spring 2001. To our knowledge, Ariadne is the only web-based undergraduate journal of philosophy in the world. 10-15 students participate per semester. Lehigh Review Lehigh Review is an interdisciplinary, reviewed journal of undergraduate academic research in the liberal arts and sciences. It is edited, designed, produced, marketed and managed by Lehigh undergraduates, and publishes the best academic writing of Lehigh undergraduates. Students organize the collection and evaluation of articles submitted for publication, work with the authors of accepted papers to revise and edit their work, and produce the final publication, including layout, design, graphics and proofing, record keeping, marketing and publicity and distribution. 20-30 students participate annually on the publishing team, and similar numbers have research accepted for publication. Oral History Laboratory A series of projects at Lehigh have engaged undergraduate students in researching, designing and creating substantive new oral history research. Topics vary by term. For example, a recent team created a documentary film focusing on the heyday of Bethlehem Steel. The film deals with tension and cooperation between workers and management during unionization in 1941, peak production during World War II, and the introduction of nearly 4000 women to its wartime work force. Students did background historical and archival research, interviewed and filmed former steelworkers, developed the storyboard and quote outline and did final production and editing for the film. The finished documentary, Work in Progress: Bethlehem Steel During World War II, premiered to a national cable TV audience on The History Channel in March 1999. 10-20 students annually. Paving Paradise?: (Sub)Urban Sprawl and the Public Interest Multidisciplinary teams of upper-level undergraduates work in partnership with the regional National Public Radio affiliate to research, do interviews for, write and present an ongoing series of radio programs on (sub)urban sprawl. The student team also designs and maintains a related informational Web site accessible through the station’s site. Paving Paradise brings natural science, social science and journalism students together to investigate and illuminate for the public the complex, extraordinarily multi-dimensional challenges of land use and planning. Although each is part of the larger picture, no one discipline—environmental science, economics, political science or journalism—can capture or fully explain the issues confronting citizens or regional planners. About 15 students participate annually. The Brown & White First published by students in 1894 and continually since, The Brown and White has remained true to its purpose of providing the Lehigh community with "All the Lehigh News First." Years ago, The Brown and White continued its pioneering tradition: it was one of the earliest U.S. college newspapers on-line. Undergraduates are entirely responsible for the print and on-line operation, from management and editorial decision making to financing and publishing. Editorial staff write, edit, design and lay out all of the stories on the most modern computer-aided newspaper-producing equipment available. Business and advertising production staff solicit and produce all advertisements, which is critical because the paper is financed largely through this advertising and subscription. In the B&W darkroom, photography lab technicians process film and make prints of B&W photographer’s photos. 125 students participate every semester. For more information, visit The Brown & White Web site at http://www.thebrownandwhite.com/.