Assignment 6

Community

Assigned: Session 5

Due: Session 7

Read the JMA paper "Women Deminers in Croatia" by Jennette Townsend.

Read the JMA paper "First Person: Deminers' Stories" by Huntington Associates.

You should already be signed up for the IGEOD Forum demining mailing list and receiving messages. An archive has been started for this list.

This is a fairly new list demining community so the archive is not that large. So you should also browse the archive of the MGM demining list and read a number of the messages to get a sense of what is being talked about. The MGM demining list archive is at MgM. Click on "English", "Professional Area" and "Network Archive".

Read at least 20 email messages from the list and archives, and you may wish to read more. Follow some threads of current and past discussions for several messages as well as reading messages from different threads.

Identify at least three different categories of people that are participating in the discussions or that are being discussed. Give each category a conceptual name. Avoid using any real names.

Get a sense of what the participants are talking about, what issues are raised, who is participating in the discussions and what organizations they are from. Take notes as you go under each of your categories as they form. List the values, attitudes, priorities and attributes people in each category share.

You will be asked to share your characterizations in class so that we can begin to build a sense of the people active in the demining community. As we build this understanding, it will guide our development of products.

There are several threads discussing new tools or technologies for demining. Find and read at least three of these threads. Describe each item and summarize the view of the respondents on the list.

Submit this assignment by emailing it to Ben by the due date.