User:Beckett/Sandbox/Institute for the History of Starfleet Warfare
The Institute for the History of Starfleet Warfare (IHSW) is a part of the Avalon Research & Design Group. Led by Commodore Magnus Blackwood, the IHSW is based out of the Athenaeum, a complex on one of the northernmost islands of Avalon II. From there, the institute's multiple projects conduct interdisciplinary research into historical Starfleet wars and conflicts. Its staff are experts in archival and archaeological research, historical analysis, and museology, and study historical Starfleet conflicts to understand how to avoid potential future ones, considering strategy, tactics, and technology, but also the role of Starfleet's organisational policy, psychology, and culture.
The IHSW’s projects each focus on a specific era or conflict, ranging from 22nd-century conflicts between or involving future Federation members to the Dominion War to the Emerging Conflicts Project. This last is primarily responsible for preserving records, oral histories, and objects relevant to post-Dominion conflicts. Each project is supported by teams representing separate historiographical disciplines, such as archival research, archaeology, and oral history, who are expected to conduct data collection and analysis at Avalon and abroad in their respective eras and fields. This means that teams in the same discipline across different projects often collaborate, sharing resources, expertise, or even team members on a formal or ad hoc basis, or certain disciplines may be represented by only one expert at a project level. For example, the Digital Archaeology Teams across projects may share resources and specialists on matters of data recovery. However, the differing technological levels necessitate distinct teams with their own expertise in, for example, the conflict and era’s computer systems, especially in recovery, preservation, and analysis of non-Federation sources. Conversely, the Bioarchaeology Team answers directly to the Institute, with their focus on the recovery and analysis of humanoid remains. This process includes heavy resources, a high level of expertise, and limited variety in accordance with eras or conflicts. Each Project’s most appropriate team, usually their Historical Archaeology Team, is thus assigned a Bioarchaeology Specialist who acts as liaison as much as researcher.
The Athenaeum
The Athenaeum is the headquarters of the IHSW. This large complex is located on an island on the northern hemisphere of Avalon II; unusual for the facilities of the institutes of the Avalon Group, but a decision made by Commodore Blackwood. The climate is cooler and gloomier than Sato City, with the rugged, rocky island accustomed to storms and overcast skies. Modern but foreboding, the Athenaeum cuts a sharp figure against the horizon. Its facilities are sophisticated and located across its multiple floors, with subterranean storage space for artifacts and potential future expansion.
Each project has its own wing within the Athenaeum, with the offices and facilities its researchers and teams require. Some spaces, such as the largest and most sophisticated laboratories and the main library archive lie within the heart of the complex and are shared across projects. None of the IHSW's staff resides at the Athenaeum, commuting to the island from Sato City or beaming from Brahms Station.
The style and design of the Athenaeum are unusually old-fashioned for a modern Starfleet facility. This was the choice of the eccentric Commodore Blackwood, who is known to be more fond of ancient institutes of learning on Earth than contemporary architecture.
