National Association for the Practice of Anthropology
In 2011, when I first began my career as a researcher in the context of business and design, I knew almost nothing about the field I had decided to work in. I lacked a basic understanding of how products are…
As anthropologists, whether we are undergraduate students or are pursuing/have pursued masters or doctorate degrees, whether we work in industry or in academia, we have a lot in common with each other: we learn the history of our discipline, the methods and theories, and we all learn to do ethnographic research. We have a common language and shared understanding of terms. Beyond our disciplinary boundaries, however, language and terminology get less common and understanding is less shared.
How did you get your start in anthropology? What drew you to the field? I’ve always been a huge science fiction nerd and one of my heroes growing up was Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. In…
Anthropologists are trained to find solutions to problems by approaching them holistically—from all sides—and through critical thinking, grounded in our theories and methods. Few disciplines prepare their practitioners so well to tackle the problems of the modern world by incorporating our broad knowledge of human evolution, history, biology, and behavior across the world’s cultures. Unfortunately, and to our discipline’s detriment, not enough people or businesses are informed of what anthropologists do and how we can help.
I apologize for not having happier stories to lift the spirits at this time of year. But I hope you’ll take a critical look at some of these issues, and, if they interest you, find a way to contribute to…
Hi, practicing community! It’s been a whirlwind of a Fall and I hope you can forgive me for my sparse updates. I hope all of you who made it to AAA this year had a great time and reconnected with…
Hi all! It’s been another crazy week over here but wanted to share a few things I spotted in the news… One anthropologist is studying ageist hiring practices. An article written by a social anthropologist about “cloudbusting”. Provides a interesting…
Happy Halloween, fellow practitioners! If you want to read about this history and interpretation of our hallows day celebrations, I recommend this and this. The ABC Australia Boyer Lectures most current series feature renowned anthropologist Genevieve Bell. He series explores…
By Ruth Sando I have recently (2017) retired after a long career in private industry, working both as an employee and an outside consultant. After earning my Ph.D., I spent over 20 years in the financial services industry (in banking…
by Laurie Krieger I have consulted internationally in health, gender, policy, research, and even once in irrigation (that was weird). Here are some tips for getting started: Use your networks; in international work, people are hired through whom they know.…
By Elizabeth K. Briody I started Cultural Keys, LLC (culturalkeys.us) in 2009. At that time, I had a PhD and 24 years of work experience as an anthropologist at General Motors Research & Development. The mechanics of setting up the…
Hey all, sorry for the sudden radio silence and lack of posts. I know there isn’t a reason good enough to have abandoned you all so recklessly, so without further adieu… As I’m sure most of you know, Anthropologist Jason…