Department of Computer Science @ Earlham College

Research and Applied Groups

The Computer Science Department at Earlham is not solely composed of professors and computer maintenance folk. Students, too, are integral to the running, upkeep, and continued growth of all aspects of the department. In Earlham's applied and research groups, students work together with a faculty advisor to both learn a (sometimes completely new!) skill set and apply it in a way that is useful to the entire CS department and sometimes the whole College. The content applied group, for example, made and maintains this webpage.

The Applied Groups:

	the Content Administration Group, the wonderful people responsible for the page you are viewing now.
	the Hardware Interfacing Project (HIP), who connect us to devices and gadgets
	the Pedagogical Tools Group, who generate teaching devices for the lower-level CS courses.
	the System Administrators, who keep 50+ computers and their associated software running for the use of three departments.
	and the WebDB Group, who make looking up your class schedule oh-so-much easier

The Research Groups:

	the Cluster Computing Group, who connect many computers to solve large problems
	and the Theory Group, who are currently studying the parsing of obscure grammar formalisms

More About Computer Science at Earlham

Earlham CS is a growing and exciting department. Our excellent faculty and rich facilities provide an environment that fosters an interdisciplinary approach to theory and practice in the field. Computer Science works closely with Mathematics and Physics and has ties to linguistics and logic.

Our curriculum is built on the fundamental paradigms of the discipline: theory, abstraction, and design. These three are woven throughout the Department, binding the sometimes disparate topics of Computer Science into a cohesive body of knowledge and experience. Because of the rapidly changing character of the field, we review the curriculum regularly. Our work is heavily influenced by the liberal arts mission of the College, in particular our interdisciplinary approach and our inclusion of the cultural, legal, and ethical issues surrounding computing within the curriculum. We provide our graduates with the ability to make informed decisions about the appropriate use of technology in a variety of contexts.

At a practical level we rely heavily on open source software, such as Linux, Postgres, and FreeBSD for both teaching and research. Many of our students, faculty, and alums participate in open source software development projects. Eric Raymond, author of the Cathedral and the Bazaar, spoke on campus about the open source movement on January 17, 1999.

News in the CS Department

2009-03-16 - The Green Room
The Green Room is now open! The Green Room is the entry of Dennis Hall- essentially the other side of 110. It is a designated area to display all of the progress of the environmental programs across campus. In the...
2009-03-15 - March Major Madness
Discuss your major with other CS students and professors! When: March 23rd @ noon Where: Dennis Hall, Room 110 Of course, free food will be provided. Free of charge, and open-source, too! (just remember if you edit it you have...
2009-03-15 - Recycling Center
Dennis hall is the proud new owner of a paper recycling center! Below the pendulum in Tracy's office are three containers for glossy paper, newspapers, and other paper....
2009-02-27 - Come eat Charlie's chili!
The CS department's own professor Charlie Peck will be cooking for the 1st Annual Chili Supper sponsored by the Boston Community Fire Department. Come join the fun on Saturday, February 27 from 5 - 8 pm at the Boston Firehouse:...
2009-02-24 - Earlham Team Wins 3rd in Cyber Defense Competition
The Earlham College team took third place last weekend at the Iowa State National Cyber Defense Competition (CDC). The eight-hour competition ran through the morning and afternoon, with the tired but valiant Earlham CS students keeping the lead most of...

Weather in the CS department!

Find out more:

Weather on the roof of Dennis Hall at: 2009-03-10 17:20:01-04

Outside Temperature: 22.8 C ( 73 F)

Wind Speed: 16.0 m/s (35.79 mph)

Wind Direction: SW

Barometer: 28.83 inches

Humidity: 63 %

Daily Rain: 0.02 cm

Total Rain: 0.12 cm

Wind Chill: 23 C ( 73 F)

Dew Point: 15 C ( 60 F)

Barometric Trend: Steady