The Atlantic's article, "Anthropology, Inc." What do you think?

[smontylove]

Hi all, 

 

I just finished reading The Atlantic's new article on applied anthropology  in the corporate world. It's nice to know that there are opportunities for employment outside of academia, but then those ethical lines are easily blurred.

 

I'm curious to know what you all think. Is anyone here thinking about applied anthropology after grad school? If so, what kind of places would you look to for employment?

 

Anyone totally against it?

 

Currently working outside of academia and loving/hating it?

 

For The Atlantic's article, "Anthropology, Inc." click here.

[wildcomSA]

Not directly on topic, but perhaps have a read of this

 

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/253/1/Anthropology_and_development_a_brief_overview.pdf

 

Cheers

wildcomSA

[Lexicon]

I am a research assistant at a university (in a psychiatry lab) and my work probably falls under the category of applied anthropology. I also work with an anthropologist who works in an institute for "research and evaluation" rather than a university. The work I do is not as corporate as that described in the article -- we work in mental health systems and look at organizational culture and how that affects clinical practice. I talked to a number of "evaluation anthropologists" at the AAAs. They worked in places like the VA system, large healthcare organizations, and international healthcare NGOs.

 

The anthropologist I work with suggested that some of the trouble I'm having as I apply to PhD programs is that my very applied research experience does not connect to the kind of theoretical work I am proposing in my SoP. I think next year I may focus on more applied programs.

 

I like this kind of work, though I can't see myself working for a market research firm. The healthcare setting, particularly mental health, suits me pretty well though. I would like to teach and pursue an academic career but the applied route is also a solid option for me.