ATIBA ROUGIER ANTHROPOLOGY AS A WAY OF LIFE
I remember my first exposure to Anthropology. I remember the classroom and the professor, but most of all, I remember the feeling. That feeling of finding something you love and in that transient moment when your soul rushes forth and it rises, in that twinkling of temporality, you transcend time and space. In that split second, when the world makes sense and when you are no longer frightened by things you don’t know but rather, you become curious as to why you were afraid in the first place. Anthropology has allowed me to be myself in all its facets and it has allowed me to humanize. Without Anthropology—as a discipline and as a way of life—my days will be grey because anthropology brings colour and light to my every being, daily.
AMY ANTHROPOLOGY @ JOHN JAY GRADUATING SENIOR
Anthropology has taught me to appreciate that although we may never entirely understand different ways of being, we must learn to accept that no culture is superior to another—that we must shed light on those who go unnoticed so that they too have a voice...we should deconstruct the notions of what cultures should be and re-construct it to define what it could be.
MICHAEL ANTHROPOLOGY @ JOHN JAY FRESHMAN
I like Anthropology because it has given me the platform to look at life and human activity from a new lens. While not being able to physically remove myself from my own life situation, by observing the life situations of others and seeing the differences yet vast similarities of human activity, I have been able to step somewhat out of the role of ‘victim of life’ and to inhabit a space that allows for reflecting and active participation in my life. In short, Anthropology has brought me an inner voice of reason that I had been lacking in my younger years.
AMANDA ANTHROPOLOGY @ JOHN JAY GRADUATING SENIOR
I was drawn to Anthropology because it opened my eyes to all different types of cultures...and humankind. It has taught me to appreciate not just other cultures but also my own culture. Anthropology has given me the tools to step outside my comfort zone and to voice my opinion.
KATHERINE, ANTHROPOLOGY @ JOHN JAY GRADUATING SENIOR
I love Anthropology because it is different from all other forms of practices out there. Rather than trying to [only] obtain and deliver data, it attempts to both understand and give a voice to those who don't have one. Anthropology has allowed me to see humanity for what it is, it has taught me to be more open to ideas, people and risk taking.
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.
CHECK OUT CURTIS'S FANTECA PROJECT: STUDENT-LED STUDY OF OPIATES AND OVERDOSE
ALISSE WATERSTON ANTHROPOLOGY AND ILLUMINATION
I love anthropology for the collective body of knowledge produced by anthropologists from all over the world about humanity anywhere and everywhere. In these dark times, about which I spoke in my 2017 AAA presidential address, we need anthropological knowledge—the raw material that offers illumination to the world and a path towards mutual understanding on a grand scale.
I got to anthropology the long way, and later than most. Almost 30 years old when I “discovered” the field—well after I had completed my undergraduate education—I found anthropology to be the discipline that would best help me understand the world as it exists rather than as I may have wanted it to be.Anthropology gave me the intellectual tools to step outside myself and question what I thought I knew. It helped me realize and come to terms with the human capacity for cleverness, creativity, connection as well as delusion and other dangerous capabilities. In our surreal political times, these human attributes seem to be on bloated display. The discipline taught me the value of knowing history—we can’t understand the present without understanding the past. It taught me how to appreciate the moral longings of the discipline and how to appreciate morality as an object of inquiry without prejudice—and knowing the difference between the two. In these difficult times, I am grateful to be one among our global anthropological community that shares in the basic values of love and respect for one another and for humankind. Knowing this gives me a special kind of sustenance and strength—encouraging me to look optimistically into the future.
PROF. WATERSTON'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
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.
