An abundance of information on careers, graduate school programs, and internships will be available here later this fall along with real world examples of working anthropologists helping to solve serious world problems.

Available Fall 2001 Careers in Anthropology: What an Anthropology Degree Can Do For You © 2002 W. Richard Stephens, Eastern Nazarene College ISBN: 0-205-31948-3 This set of sixteen profiles raises students' awareness of how a degree in anthropology can help shape their lives and careers. Using a biographical, story-telling approach, each profile describes how someone used a degree in anthropology to influence their choice of career and change their life. By asking the question "How will my life, and the lives of others, be impacted by my choice to study anthropology?" these profiles encourage students to understand that chance, skill, and initiative are key to succeed both professionally and personally.

Activities

1. Learn more about the Garbage Project. How have "garbage studies" affected anthropology as a discipline? Do you consider applied anthropology to be a "fifth field"? Why or why not? Use evidence gathered from this site to make your argument.

2. Visit the American Anthropological Association home page and follow links to information about research ethics in the social sciences. What provisions were contained in the 1970 standard code of ethics? What is meant by informed consent? What other ethical principles are included in the code? Today, how does the American Anthropological Association address issues of contemporary research, research standards, and issues of fieldwork safety in politically volatile regions?

3. Explore the studies conducted by the Applied Ethnography Program of the U.S. National Parks Service to preserve, protect, and interpret park resources. What are the advantages and drawbacks of each data collection method presented? List some of the Program's goals. Why are so many different types of studies required?

4. Read an essay on Changing Traditions in Northern Ethnography. According to this author, what challenges are anthropologists of the Yukon Territory currently facing? How are they adapting their ethnographic methods in order to meet these challenges?

5. Interact with a recent ethnographic study of Silicon Valley. How does this project reflect current trends in ethnography? At this site, one researcher mentions that he studies "life outside the screen," the culture of those who work with computers, while others study life "on the other side of the screen," the culture of cyberspace. How do you think anthropological research of online "communities" will further transform ethnographic research?

6. Read some first-hand accounts by former Peace Corps volunteers. How did these volunteers experience culture shock? How did they adapt to living and working in different cultures? What did they learn from their struggles to adapt to new ways of life?

7. Read the updated principles and standards of the Oral History Association. How do these standards demonstrate an awareness of the influence of race, class, gender, age, and ethnicity on the interviewing process? How do the standards define the relationship between the oral historian and the subject?

8. Learn more about participant observation at the site for Community Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihoods. What are some potential drawbacks of participant observation? What measures can researchers take to overcome the Hawthorne effect? How do participant observation and participatory action research differ?

9. Read a Career Monograph on Anthropology, which describes career opportunities in anthropology. Which, if any, careers might interest you most? Which anthropologists might you encounter or work with in your other chosen career? How do you think an anthropologist might help you to do a better job?

10. Visit anthropologist Elinor Och's home page on the Web. Scroll down and read her tutorial, "What Is Crosslinguistic Research?" Then follow links to find out what applied linguistics is and what FLARE (Forum for Language Acquisition Exchange) does. According to Ochs, what is the anthropological significance of language acquisition?

11. Visit the International Association for Semiotic Studies. With what communication behaviors are semiotic studies concerned? Also visit the Center for Applied Semiotics, choose an area of application to explore in greater depth, and follow the links. For example, how can semiotics be applied in product advertising and promotion? What is biosemiotics?

12. Read an anthropological analysis of the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The closing ceremonies were Australia's chance to invite the world to Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games. Through what symbols did Australia present itself in its few minutes of television air time, and what did that presentation really mean in terms of forging a new national identity?

13. Read a story on a 1999 panel discussion about language origins and the brain basis of language. How do linguists, archaeologists, neuropsychologists, geneticists, and other experts try to explain language origins by pooling their information? Then visit the Linguasphere Observatory and follow the links. What is meant by a linguasphere, and what is being observed there? What is a language, and how is it different from a dialect? How can kinship and marriage patterns be inferred from dialects and languages? How do linguistic taboos suggest rules for exogamy? Why do experts think there are fewer languages in the world today than existed during the Upper Paleolithic? Then read a 1999 news article, "Last Rites for Secret Women's Language." Why did rural women in a region of China develop their own secret written language ages ago, and why is it disappearing today? As a cultural anthropologist how might you interpret relationships between language and gender? Between language and development?

14. The Human Languages Page, and LinguaWEB are resources for studying the languages of the world and their classifications and histories. Survey links at these sites. How many human languages presently are on the endangered list? What do anthropological and historical linguists do to preserve them? Read an article that reports the death in 1996 of the very last speaker of Tuscarora, an Iroquoian language. What happens when the last speaker of a language dies?

15. Study the family tree and phonetics chart of the Mon language of Burma and Thailand. How is Mon related to the language family of Mon-Khmer, and where did the speakers of Mon-Khmer come from? Is Mon related to Hmong? Who are Hmong speakers? Visit a K-12 educational program for Hmong-speaking students who are learning English as a second language. What do you think are the biggest challenges for Hmong speakers in the process of learning English?

16. Visit the Language Policy Research Center in Israel. What is Israel's language policy? What minority languages are involved? Compare and contrast Israel's language policy with the United States'. Read, for example, Robert Underwood's 1995 statement to Congress opposing the English-only movement in its bid to allow only English as the official language of the United States. In what ways do you think pluralistic societies deal with multilingualism? At SIL International's online literacy education project, follow the lingualinks to read the report on local history and its relationship to national history in relation to language use. How is language an instrument of assimilation, socialization, and information control in pluralistic societies?

17. Compare and contrast three programs for language preservation. Start with the Potawatomi Web and the Comanche Language and Culture Preservation Committee. Then read "Did You Know?" at the web page of 'Aha Punana Leo, an indigenous language revitalization program for the native Hawaiian language. What have these three programs done effectively to preserve their native languages? What language policy has permitted this attention to preservation?

18. Visit the African Immigrant Folklife Study Project in Washington, D.C. This study focuses on cross-cultural communication and the preservation of NigerianYoruba language and culture. See and hear a Yoruba naming ceremony at this site.

19. How might an anthropologist study the use of semantics in communication? As an example, read articles by war correspondents on cultural and political problems in news reporting. For a historical view, read Kristian Kahrs' study on Journalism early in the Vietnam War in 1962-1966. Then read Tom Gjelten's 1997 report on "Professionalism in War Reporting" and Kate Adie's speech on the "Ethics of War Reporting." What communication issues are involved, and why are they important? Visit NYU's Center for War, Peace and the News Media and the Institute of War and Peace Reporting. How do these organizations define journalism's role in peace and war? What guidelines do they offer for greater objectivity in reporting?

20. How might an anthropologist study the use of special language codes? For example, according to this business news article, how is guanxi in China both similar to and different from networking in the United States? What are some Asian business code words? For example, what are ojigi, ki, and shinyo, and why are they important in the conduct of business and business relationships?

21. What are the principal concerns of the World Leisure and Recreation Association (WLRA)? How is the WLRA involved with the United Nations? Do you agree that there are universal considerations in people's choices of leisure, recreation, and sports? Why or why not? How might a cultural anthropologist analyze leisure and recreational activities in pre-industrial societies? Follow links at the Natural Resources Research Information pages. For example, what are some issues in recreation on public lands? Do you think the socio-psychological perspectives on outdoor recreation have cross-cultural validity? What is ecotourism? Why is ecotourism in the less developed countries a concern? What does the Cooperative Research Center for Sustainable Tourism do?

22. View the French Ministry of Culture's online questionnaire (Tous les savoirs du monde), soliciting information to develop programs that will help increase public participation in and access to literature and the arts via the Internet and World Wide Web. This concept is similar to the G7Bibliotheca Universalis project in the United States, which includes Project Gutenberg. To what extent do you think Internet access could affect access to literature and art? To what extent do you think issues of Internet access could lead to the perpetuation of social and global inequalities?

23. Sample the abstracts of papers given at a 1996 International Conference at Harvard University on "Changing diet and foodways in Chinese Culture." According to these papers, how are Chinese food preferences changing? Are McDonalds hamburgers and Kentucky Fried Chicken changing the way the Chinese eat? Is Western medicine changing traditional food taboos prescribed for pregnant women?

24. Read this instructional material for hospital workers on providing culturally sensitive health care and nutrition. What beliefs and values about food are hospital workers encouraged to take into account when treating patients? For example, what is the meaning of "hot" and "cold" foods in some cultures, and what is the relationship of fasting and food to health and illness? What specific food taboos does the instructional material identify?

25. Read an ethnographic field report on Inuit (Nunavik) traditional ecological knowledge about beluga whales. Just click on "Reports" and select "Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Beluga Whales." What role have beluga played in the Inuit economy? According to participants at the Circumpolar Conference where this report was presented, what are the "two ways of knowing," and why is it important to preserve traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that has been passed down to Inuits through the generations? How did researchers gather this knowledge? How will the information be used? Find out more about the Inuit through this K-12 curriculum on Inuit culture, designed by and for Inuits. What is the Inuit world view and how is it expressed? What can you infer about the way Inuit people traditionally relate to each other and to their environment?

26. Learn more about the Kayapo Indians of the Amazon, their cultural ecology, and their struggles against economic development and foreign interests. View photos of Kayapo life, and read a 1996 article about impacts of proposed Xingu River Dam projects on Kayapo home territory. What do you think future photos would show if the dam projects on the Xingu proceeded as originally planned? Use links at these sites to find out the present status of the dams.

27. Learn about the cultural ecology of the Navajo Nation at this Natural Heritage Program site. How does the present-day geography and biology of the land affect the economic resources of the Navajo people? What changes have occurred in the ways people interact with those resources?

28. Compare and contrast the programs of agencies in the UN that are related to international development, such as the Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Population Fund (UNFPA), Development Programme (UNDP), Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to FAO, what is the state of the world's food supply in the most recent Food Summit? According to UNIFEM, what is women's economic capacity? What characteristics of trade policies empower women?

29. Economic development is built on communication systems, especially mass media. How is this true for the Guarani tribespeople of Amazonia in Brazil, who received a computer with an Internet uplink, their first, in 1999?

30. In 1997 the African nation of Burundi went online for the first time, with one ISP (Internet Service Provider), NandoNet, and 80 initial subscribers--mainly institutions and foreign companies doing business in Burundi. Read online news about Burundi. What do you think will be the impact of this technology on Burundi society and culture?

31. Read Jules Kouatchou's paper, "High Technology: Solution to African Countries Problem." What is Kouatchou's answer to his question? What are some pitfalls in technology transfer in the course of social and economic development?

32. View "Virtually Yours Forever," an Internet site for online death memorials. Do you think you would ever post a memorial in this medium? As a cultural anthropologist, how might you analyze and explain this application of the Internet as an outgrowth of new mass media technology? How do you think this kind of application of technology might be a factor in social and cultural change in the U.S.?

33. The CyberAnthropology Home Page is devoted to the anthropology of the Internet. See also links at the Voice of the Shuttle clearinghouse on anthropology. For example, Artificial Culture: Synthetic Anthropology is a UCLA site that explores the ins and outs of experimentally creating a culture inside a computer as a complex adaptive system. What do you think would be the value of artificial culture experiments for the field of cultural anthropology? What is happening at this site now?

34. Read abstracts of the articles of CASTAC (Community of Anthropologists of Science, Technology and Computing. For example, read articles by Amy Bruckman, Finding One's Own Space in Cyberspace; Chris Chesher, Colonizing Virtual Reality; Mark Dery, Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping in the Empire of Signs; Gordon Meyer and Jim Thomas, The Baudy World of the Byte: A Postmodernist Interpretation of the Computer Underground; and Mark Postner, Cyberocracy, Cyberspace, and Cyberology: Political Effects of the Information Revolution.

35. Survey the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia web page. What information do you find about problems and support networks among low-income rural and farm Appalachian families?

36. Sample kinship data at the Linkages Project. What information do these examples provide about different cultures? According to the site, how will this data be applied to real-life situations? How is kinship data important to the study of cultural anthropology?

37. Read about the two sides in a 1997 dispute between the Kayapo Indians and The Body Shop, a British cosmetics firm. What do the Kayapo do for the firm? What do they get in return? What has caused conflict? What do you think will happen? How do you think the conflict should be resolved? As an applied political anthropologist how might you help in this conflict resolution?

38. Resources and links and searchable databases on migration may be found at The Voice of the Shuttle and the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (REFWORLD).

39. Read an immigration policy analysis of the Urban Institute concerning mixed-status immigrant families. According to this analysis, what are some unintended negative consequences of immigration policies that do not recognize the individual status of family members as legal, illegal, natural, or naturalized citizens?

40. Visit the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy and the Allan Guttmacher Institute for Research, Policy Analysis, and Public Education. Follow links to unravel the complexities of law and public policy concerning a particular topic, such as induced abortions worldwide. What are the facts about induced abortion from a global perspective? What can cultural anthropologists contribute to understanding these data?

41. Follow links at the World Health Organization to find out about vaccination programs in developing countries. What are some cultural beliefs and values that reduce acceptance of this practice?

42. Follow links at the site to read about the Ogoni people and their struggle against foreign oil interests in Nigeria. How do the Ogoni make their living? How do oil companies threaten their subsistence? What role does tribal politics play in the Ogoni struggle? What do you think will be the outcome, and why?

43. Read a landmark 1991 interview with Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa on his efforts to represent his people's interests to national government and foreign developers. What did he do to represent his people's interests? What were the outcomes of his efforts? To what extent has social conflict with outsiders brought greater cooperation among the native peoples of the Amazon?

44. What is the status of conflict concerning the Guratba region of Australia between the Australian Aborigines and Australian miners? Visit Australia's Kakadu National Park to find out. What is special about the Guratba environment? What is the role and status of the Aborigines in the administration of ancestral sites in Kakadu?

45. Find background information on Ghana's economy. Then visit a Ghanaian NGO concerned with Agricultural and Rural Development (ARA) in Ghana. What issues concern this African organization, and what programs have been undertaken? Are the interests of women represented? Is hidden child labor identified as a problem? For a perspective on the concept of "hidden" labor, read a 1997 report on employment practices of Nike and Reebok in their manufacture of soccer balls in developing countries.

46. Read a paper on "Dams: China's Three Gorges Dam as a Case Study." According to this paper what are some positive and negative consequences of the dam project? Why is schistosomiasis regarded as a "disease of development" in this case? To what extent do you think diseases should be regarded as acceptable risks for economic development?

47. Read the facts about the history of lead poisoning in the United States according to the national Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). To what extent is lead poisoning a disease of poverty or a disease of development? What other cultural factors may be involved?

48. Read an International Labor Organization study on internal and International Labor Organization. What are some positive and negative consequences of labor migration patterns in the Philippines today?

49. Visit the Green Globe Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development. How many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) does it list? What is an IGO? Then explore a site listing environmental NGOs for one country alone--the Philippines. Just use the alphabetical link for P in the NGO country archive. How do the NGOs relate to social organization and economic development?

50. Examine labor migration patterns in Southeast Asia. Begin by reading a study sponsored by the International Labor Organization (ILO), "Emigration Pressures and Structural Change: Case Study of Indonesia," which reports on both internal and international labor migration. What structural changes does this report link to labor migration? Then visit the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), and read the report on "Demography, Labor Force and Labor Migration." According to this report, why should labor-intensive industries relocate to northern Malaysia and northern Sumatra? Whose interests does each report reflect?

51. A huge clearinghouse for information on social and economic development is PRAXIS. Sample some links at PRAXIS. For example, search for links on a particular country or group or topic that interests you--for instance, links on Botswana or cultural resource management. Also follow links to Develop Net News. What are the top 3 stories in social and economic development today?

52. Visit the Institute for Development Anthropology (IDA), the Applied Anthropology Computer Network (ANTHAP), and the Society for Applied Anthropology, High Plains (SFAA). Compare the contents of these sites. What are the missions and current projects of these organizations?

53. Visit the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Sri Lanka. How does this organization seek to use applied social science in helping resolve economic development problems and political conflict in Sri Lanka? Then visit the Society for Latin American Anthropology. What are the principal concerns of this society? How do those concerns relate to the study of social and cultural change in the context of economic development?

54. Follow links at this site to Mexican Rural Development (MRD), a discussion group covering problems of rural development in Mexico. Politics and Development in Mexico and sites on sustainable development are also on the MRD network. What is an example from Mexico of the intersection between rural development, sustainable development, and politics?

55. What is meant by economic or environmental justice, and how are development anthropologists involved in defining and achieving this outcome? Examine, for example, the Affirmative Action and Diversity Project. What issues of justice are involved? Why is politics inseparable from development?

56. Read about economic and social development in Lesotho. Begin with the CIA Factbook entries on the government and economy of Lesotho. How did privatization lead to civil unrest in 1998 and with what consequences for economic and social development?

57. Tassaght, "The Link," is an NGO in Mali, West Africa. Why are NGOs crucial to development efforts in less developed countries? What was Tassaght's role in the Refugee and Displaced Person Projects for Mali and neighboring countries in the 1990s? Sustainable Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS) is a Texas-based NGO working primarily in India. What do you think might be some issues between foreign and domestic NGOs?

58. Investigate online issues concerning the World Bank and its lending policies. Do loans seem to come with strings attached? To what extent, if at all, might claims of "economic imperialism" be justified? Follow links to read "If We Walk Together: Communities, NGOs and Government Partners for Health." How does this report justify the sharing of responsibilities, costs, and benefits in development? Also read "Brave New World Bank" by student Juliett Major. Do you favor fee for service in health plans in developing countries? Why or why not?

59. View Mexican folk art and read photo essays and linked text about the artisans and techniques involved in Oaxacan textiles, pottery, lacquerwork, and woodcarving. Dozens of commercial sites feature Oaxacan arts and crafts and associated tours. Also visit the government's web page for its art promotion association. How has Oaxaca developed itself as an income-producing community? If you were conducting a social impact assessment, what points might you make?

60. Visit Haryana Agricultural University in India. The World Bank awarded Haryana $240 million for agricultural human resource development in connection with its research on high-yielding gain and cotton. According to this site, what specifically is Haryana doing with this money? Also go to the Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains, and survey the FAQs database and other links. Compare this Consortium's plans with those of WARDA, the West African Development Association. How might a cultural anthropologist evaluate these development programs?

61. Survey links at international clearinghouses for information on agriculture at AgriNet and the Agricultural Network Information Center. What kinds of resources are available to planners and implementers of economic development in less developed countries? Visit Kansas State University's Wheat Page, and take the virtual tour of wheat varieties, yields, and experiments. What information about wheat do these research units provide. How is wheat quality judged and quantity measured? What questions might a development anthropologist ask about the genetics and culture of high-performance grains? For ideas see information on wheat from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). Also visit the Rice Genome Project at Myongji University in Korea, and follow links to view the nucleotides for the chromosomes that have been identified so far in the rice genome sequence. Why are development issues complex matters with no easy answers?

62. According to this factsheet on social impact assessment (SIA), what is the purpose and desired outcome of any SIA? Read the introduction and background sections of a report criticizing the lack of effective SIA in Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Why did SIA lag there? Do you think these same reasons would apply in other countries undergoing development? What other reasons can you think of that might facilitate or impede the use of social impact assessments? Search the report of the Malawi Forest Products Environmental Impact Study for information about impacts on people who depend on the forest for their living. What contribution might a development anthropologist make to that study?

63. Read "An Experiment in Grassroots Planning: Kerala's People's Plan and Female Participation," a paper by Kala Krishnan describing Kerala's development in 1997-1998 and the impact of women on development. What redistributions were part of Kerala's development? What factors affected women's access to redistributions of wealth? Do you think women benefitted proportionally to their contribution? Why or why not? Read about the development strategy of redistribution in Ekpo society in Nigeria. How is redistribution accomplished among the Eket? In what ways and to what extent does it seems effective as a way of preventing economic development from benefiting only a few? Why is social inequality a concern in development anthropology?

64. View maps showing the locations of the contemporary indigenous peoples of Mexico and the U.S. and indigenous peoples of Canada and the circumpolar region. What organizations are responsible for providing these maps and putting them up on the World Wide Web? How might organizations such as these act in the political and economic interests of "all" indigenous peoples?

65. Click on the summary and project links at this site to learn about the Cultural Resource Management activities undertaken by the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department. How might these projects in applied anthropology benefit the Navajo Nation (Diné people)? What measures have been taken by this organization to minimize ethnocentrism in its research and decision-making processes?

66. Visit Cultural Survival's online activist forum and information center. How does the medium of the Internet assist Cultural Survival in meeting its goals of valuing and sustaining diversity? What roles do indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities play in the organization's research? What kinds of activities does this organization sponsor? Click on "Indigenous Voices" and read the "Actionalerts" and news items. What are the situations in the top ten news stories that Cultural Survival asks people to address?

67. Go online to investigate organizations for endangered peoples. How are "endangered peoples" defined, where are they, and what is being done? For an applied anthropologist, what ethical issues might be involved in participating in or working for these organizations?

68. Find background on Sami history and culture. Then read about the relationships between the Sami and the state concerning Sami terrirtory. How has Sami reindeer herding been modernized? Follow links to find out why Sami reindeer herders brought a human rights abuse case before the UN International covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1995. What rights did the Sami feel they were being denied? How was the case decided, and on what evidence and grounds?

69. Visit UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Who are the members of this organization? Are native peoples of the circumpolar region members? What is meant by lack of representation? How does this organization attempt to give member nations and peoples a voice?

70. Follow links on protecting the rights of indigenous peoples at this Anthropology Links site. For example, what is the Fourth World Documentation Project? What resources are available at Indigenous People's Information for the Online Community and at Researching Indigenous People's Rights?

71. Visit the Green Globe Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development. How many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) does it list? What is an IGO? Then explore a site listing environmental NGOs for one country alone--the Philippines. Just use the alphabetical link for P in the NGO country archive. How do the NGOs relate to social organization and economic development?

72. A huge clearinghouse for information on social and economic development is PRAXIS. Sample some links at PRAXIS. For example, search for links on a particular country or group or topic that interests you--for instance, links on Botswana or cultural resource management. Also follow links to Develop Net News. What are the top 3 stories in social and economic development today?

73. Visit the Institute for Development Anthropology (IDA), the Applied Anthropology Computer Network (ANTHAP), and the Society for Applied Anthropology, High Plains (SFAA). Compare the contents of these sites. What are the missions and current projects of these organizations?

74. Investigate resources on law and public policy in relation to immigration through the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Gopher and the Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues web site.