The Silicon Valley Cultures Project exists as an ecosystem of projects, large and small, that are highly integrated with Anthropological Department course offerings. In 1991 the Department of Anthropology at San José State University initiated a long term project in which members of the faculty and students would share resources and research ideas on the diverse cultures and special entrepreneurial and technological reputation found in Silicon Valley. As part of this effort, Drs. Darrah, English-Lueck and Freeman have coordinated research and teaching efforts to examine the ways in which people work and live in Silicon Valley. They incorporated students in the research by creating a “distributed field school” in which students would be trained in specific research tools and complementary class projects would be designed to capture slices of Silicon Valley life. Some projects would be fashioned to dip into the students’ community networks by interviewing on such issues as identity, intercultural interaction, or consumption patterns. Other course projects would be coordinated with existing community organizations such as the TECH Museum of Innovation (a museum of technology designed to encourage invention and technological interest in youth and the community), Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network (a community partnership of business, government and non-profit organizations attempting to “reinvent” the Valley to improve economic health and quality of life),  the Institute for the Future (IFTF, a non-profit research institute interested in a broad range of issues, but specifically the roles of work and technology in shaping the future), Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County (JASCC) led to the report, and the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Center for Educational Planning (CEP).  In Spring 2001, the student researchers collaborated with IFTF and JASCC to gather data which led to the report “Students, Technology and Everyday Life.”  Students have also conducted ethnographic interviews (Fall 2001) and analyzed the data (Spring 2002, student researchers Valade, Swiger, and Narvaez) which resulted in the report to the CEP, “Success and Survival in Silicon Valley.” A long-term partnership with the Health Trust and Project Shine will ensue in 2004, enabling student ethnographers to work on issue of health in the immigrant community.

Anthropological courses on general cultural anthropology, applied anthropology, culture and personality, religion, economics, ethnic relations, critical thinking skills and methods (Anth. 11, 102, 104, 105, 115, 125, 142, 147, 148, 149 and Freshmen MUSE seminars) contain material derived from the Silicon Valley Cultures Project. Over a thousand students have participated in the project as student researchers to date. For example, students in Culture and Personality have collected critical incidents of intercultural interaction and analyzed them for evidence of diverse cultural schema. They have also studied examples collected from previous generations of students. More exciting than a typical class assignment, the student know that are they are contributing to a healthy on-going project. In the Ethnographic Research Methods course each class is assigned a particular topic of interest to the project—attitudes toward technology of Tech Museum of Innovation  staff  and  visitors,  vocational   education,  the Smart Valley initiative (a business/government partnership to improve community use of online resources) or attitudes toward identity and intercultural interaction in higher education. The students and staff create a variety of research tools ranging from short focused interviews to nuanced open-ended interviews to investigate these topics. Consumer histories, work histories, examinations of alternate future scenarios by local people are all part of such “distributed field school” assignments. 

The most focused pedagogical activity related to the project has been the ethnographic practicum. Ten practica have been offered to more than 40 students who have intensive training in open-ended ethnographic interviewing. Students are then guided in informant selection, interview technique, data management and preliminary thematic analysis. Graduate and undergraduate students have participated in these events. This experience gives students the opportunity to participate in a large scale project, inspiring several to design related projects in preparation for graduate school. 

Work with various non-profit and corporate partners has opened up a new avenues of learning. Based on the relationships developed within the project, several organizations have begun to recruit interns from the Anthropology department. A particularly fruitful focus has been in the anthropology of work, an area of interest to students and organizations alike. 

Pedagogical cooperation has extended beyond the departmental boundaries. Faculty in the College of Social Science at San José State University meet to discuss interdisciplinary (from sociology, political science, Asian studies, geography and psychology) implications. The principal researchers have taken a leading role in that interchange.

The project embraces two permanent faculty at San José State University’s Department of Anthropology (James Freeman having recently become emeritus) and has contributed to the vital research focus found there. The integration of research with teaching has been invigorating to both pedagogy and research efforts. Students are engaging in research opportunities that prepare them to become independent researchers, a skill needed by most student seriously pursuing an advanced degree in cultural anthropology.  Interdisciplinary Masters’ students have worked on Silicon Valley issues (see Carrico 1996; MacKenzie 1996; Teraguchi 1997; Dreyer 1999; Sorensen 2001; Evans 2002, Burgman 2003, McNulty 2004, Hertzbach 2004, Cline 2004). A planned interdisciplinary graduate focus on Applied Anthropology will create yet more opportunities for student involvement.