Anthropology without travel?

[wowand135]

This might be a silly question, but are there any subfields that do not require the student to do international travel during the program?

I am interested in paleoanthropology specifically, but in the physical side generally. What kind of things can one do without travel? I would live to travel but recently got married and my husband would never be ok with me leaving

Thanks for any input!

[anthropologygeek]

Do you just mean traveling outside the US or period. Because travel is a must for any academic due to conferences and even to look at collections but for research you most likely will have to leave the US

[wowand135]

Yes I mainly mean outside the US and for longer periods of time.

[anxiousanthro]

This seems a bit self-evident, but there are sociocultural, archaeological, and biological anthro research topics that are focused on the United States that wouldn't necessarily require traveling outside of the US (dumb example: if you are studying pottery in the American Southwest, you wouldn't leave the US... obviously haha).  In terms of paleoanthropology, because there isn't the same sort of deep history that you find in Asia, Africa, the Middle East or Europe, it seems like it might be slightly more difficult to not leave the US.  I honestly don't know enough about the subfield to say anything more useful than that, but perhaps you can take a look at the abstracts from past Paleoantho Society meetings to try to seek out profs that work in the US (perhaps on US based collections or something?)... Here is a link: http://www.paleoanthro.org/journal/contents_dynamic.asp

[wowand135]

Thanks! That was really helpful, but I think it supports the idea that most all of it deals with outside the US for obvious reasons. Maybe I need to get interested in Native American history and accept the fact that I won't be studying ancient Egypt

[radiomars]

Thanks! That was really helpful, but I think it supports the idea that most all of it deals with outside the US for obvious reasons. Maybe I need to get interested in Native American history and accept the fact that I won't be studying ancient Egypt

Out of curiosity, can I ask why you're hesitant to travel outside the US? If you're interested in ancient Egypt, why not go to Egypt?

[Nerd_For_Life]

Or maybe your husband could support your academic choices? I don't mean that to sound harsh, but it's important to have a spouse who supports what you want and need to be happy and satisfied in life There are lots of ways to make distance work and it's never indefinite. He can come with you or visit or if you get good funding you could make trips back a few times during your fieldwork. Plus, with the wonders of the internet you'll be able to see each other and hear each others voices. Also, finding a job after you graduate might require you to move across the country or to another country, there's definitely no guarantee that you will find work in the location that's most convenient. Maybe together you could come up with some balance and compromise?

[wowand135]

Thanks for all the input. My husband plans to start his own electrical business which is a hard thing to up and move. We also plan to have kids, which would have to happen in the next several years (probably while in grad school.) I'm not super young anymore! lol. So that would make it harder. I only wish I had pursued this a long time ago instead of going to law school (practiced almost four years now. Still don't like it so I know it's time to make a change.) I was afraid of having to do math back then so stayed away from all things science related.

[anthropologygeek]

Wow and- I recommend you and your husband sit down and figure out who's career to make the priority because its almost impossible not to move around a lot in this field

Edited March 3, 2013 by anthropologygeek

[anxiousanthro]

wow- could he not develop a business in which he worked as a sort of independent contractor or something?  surely that would be more flexible... it seems like a service that would be in demand (or would generate income at least) in any city.  maybe there is a compromise to be made, not making only one career a priority?  i agree with anthropologygeek though.  its hard to envision a career in anthro which doesn't involve a fair amount of flexibility, even if your research itself is within the united states.

[mutualist007]

In regards to your husband's career - go slow and maybe suggest a mobile service where everything he needs is on a truck and not connected to a building. Angie's List and other online referral systems are good - there may even be a guild.

 

Pregancy - may obviously present some hurdles. Travel is necessary, but I've known PhD candidates and others who travel only in the summers or at most 4 months at a time. In other words, they do it in non-contiguous blocks.

 

What is your subfield? If you went to Law School I would suggest pursunig Legal and political Anthropology and "study up" at political systems in the Americas. You could definitely do this in short bursts of travel without having to do a Malinowski.

 

Subfield choice will matter as far as travel is concerned. Archaeology (including Bioarch) and Cultural Anthropology will probably require the most travel. You might could get away with less field time doing Molecular or maybe Forensic Anthropology. Not sure about linuguistic anth.

 

 

Good luck!

Edited April 2, 2013 by mutualist007

[kro7]

This might be a silly question, but are there any subfields that do not require the student to do international travel during the program?

I am interested in paleoanthropology specifically, but in the physical side generally. What kind of things can one do without travel? I would live to travel but recently got married and my husband would never be ok with me leaving

Thanks for any input!

 

Even if your main interest is in paleoanthropology, I think it is still possible to do it without a lot of traveling-- outside of the US for long periods of time, at least, as you mentioned. Within physical anthropology, I think there are some people that are lab-based and other that are field-based; within paleo, some people are always the ones out finding fossils, but there are still others that don't necessarily go out to the field, but can still analyze fossils if they have the right connections, and/or do research on collections. 

 

Some programs might encourage (possibly require) some type of field experience, and in general most researchers promote international collaborations, but if it's definitely not an option there are likely ways to fulfill these without traveling abroad (e.g., get field experience excavating Eocene deposits associated with early primate evolution in west Texas - or something like that, still within the US).

 

If fieldwork out of the country is not an option for you, I think there are still other options available. There would still be traveling associated with conferences/presentations, data collection (e.g., at museums, like the Smithsonian), and that sort of thing, but not necessarily regular international travel. Just my thoughts!