RIC CURTIS AN ANTHROPOLOGIST IN ACTION
I was drawn to Anthropology by the “action” that it promised. I thought that “exotic” locales and unexpected adventures might just overcome my tendency to get bored quickly.
I was right. I work in the field studying drug dealers, gang members, sex workers and other “dangerous” populations and like to find that one person who might be described as the “straw the stirs the drink.” As an anthropologist, I get to follow them around. Boring it’s not.
PATRICIA TOVAR ANSWERING THE CALL FOR A JOB THAT MATTERS
I told my father, “I want to study Anthropology.” he said: “That’s a nice career. You’ll get to travel a lot. But I have never seen any jobs advertised for “anthropologist’.” Then I saw an ad in the New York Times: “looking for a bilingual anthropologist willing to collect ethnographic data in the South Bronx.” I showed my father the ad and applied for the job. I landed it! For two years, I worked at Bank Street College, a position that came with paid tuition in a doctoral program. I grabbed the opportunity. Since then, I have traveled long and distant journeys in Anthropology. I’ve still got that newspaper ad, now weathered with age.
ED SNAJDR: I was attracted to anthropology as the science that dared to be different. Anthropology considers the voices and perspectives of all humans on the planet in its pursuit of understanding the human condition.
