[alcibiade888]

This is more a theoretical thing. I have to somehow connect Freespace or sci-fi and videogames with the topic of cultural anthropology. This is because my theorical professor teaches anthropoly and I have to make a connection between the two things if I want to realize this freespace project in a practical way -.-

I'm open to any suggestion, even the craziest ones =)

[IronBeer]

That is a rather odd request. How exactly were you planning to connect FS and sci-fi with cultural anthropology anyhow?

It may be possible to make connections from the "comparative anthropology" standpoint- you'd have to consider the impact that space colonization, the subspace drive, contact with intelligent alien species, and so on would have had on human civilization. FreeSpace 1 and 2 each have a bit of background info on all involved cultures, but it probably isn't enough to assemble a reasonable paper on; taking user-made content into consideration, though (especially Blue Planet), and you may be on to something.

The biggest thing to consider when analyzing a future society, such as the human societies portrayed in FreeSpace, is that what is presented is highly speculatory. I'd say treat the games like novels, and consider any salient cultural factors within the context of the given world.

tl;dr You may be on to something, but you'll almost certainly need to pull material from Blue Planet if you want to have enough information to really work with. Plus, you may want to get instructor approval before proceeding with this.

[lostllama]

The Blue Planet background material is a very good suggestion, if you want to use non-canon source material.

I'm sure you'll be using the techroom information articles but the FreeSpace Universe Portal might be useful too.

Edit: Maybe consider the whole man vs. nature concept, and the parallel concept of the Shivan threat supposedly being a manifestation of nature's way of regulating the spread of the different civilisations in the FS universe. Also perhaps think about the Ancients and their monologues - the idea that they thought themselves to be the destroyer until the Shivans appeared, an example of hubris gone too far.

Also, how this idea of a universal destroyer is reflected in the HoL ideology.

Now I'm trying to think about this from a different view, but it's hard to come up with something coherent.

[Unknown Target]

This is more a theoretical thing. I have to somehow connect Freespace or sci-fi and videogames with the topic of cultural anthropology. This is because my theorical professor teaches anthropoly and I have to make a connection between the two things if I want to realize this freespace project in a practical way -.-

I'm open to any suggestion, even the craziest ones =)

Freespace connects to science fiction, which you can relate to everything from H.G. Wells to those strange UFO-looking things inscribed on ancient paintings. You can also relate how some of Freespace's plot devices and mannerisms could be considered an anthropological record for our current society, if read from a time 100 years from now.

[Ypoknons]

well... I have some education in anthropology. What level is this paper going to be?

[lostllama]

This is more a theoretical thing. I have to somehow connect Freespace or sci-fi and videogames with the topic of cultural anthropology. This is because my theorical professor teaches anthropoly and I have to make a connection between the two things if I want to realize this freespace project in a practical way -.-

I'm open to any suggestion, even the craziest ones =)

Freespace connects to science fiction, which you can relate to everything from H.G. Wells to those strange UFO-looking things inscribed on ancient paintings. You can also relate how some of Freespace's plot devices and mannerisms could be considered an anthropological record for our current society, if read from a time 100 years from now.

That's kind of similar to the view I was also thinking of - sci-fi and its influence on culture (and vice versa), and why are such stories like that of FreeSpace's written (besides for providing a premise to shoot at and blow stuff up in a virtual sense). Linking the plot with past history or maybe current events could be another avenue. Maybe that would allow insight into aspects of human nature and how we view and react to cultures besides our own, and the universe at large.

You could probably go quite deep into this stuff.

[lostllama]

Another idea that just came to me: perhaps mention something about the ship naming conventions, as these are based upon different cultures' mythologies/religions.

Terran craft - Norse and Greek/Roman
Vasudan craft - Ancient Egypt
Shivan craft - Hinduism
Ancient craft - Minoan

Not sure if that will be useful, and TBH I know little about cultural anthropology, apart from what I read on Wikipedia about it. Perhaps you could focus on how certain ancient cultures' myths, which are not really relevent to most people today in their everyday lives, end up being transplanted into / adopted by modern/later cultures, and why that takes place.

IIRC after the Great War Vasudans adopted the Terran's naming convention for their ships, and took an interest in Ancient Egypt (at least Khonsu II did), so you could mention that as an example of a cultural 'transplant' in the FS story.

This idea might fit well with your Deimos model. The Deimos was a product of joint Terran and Vasudan design (its reactors are Vasudan designed). Also think about the Ulysses which is another example of 'cultural exchange' or collaboration, at least as far as spaceship design goes.