"Activist" Departments

[Banxe]

Hi all,

I am currently finishing up my undergrad and looking at grad programs for 2012. I know it's a few years away, but while I am still in an academic mindset, I need to think about it.

I have found, even as an undergrad, that it's difficult to balance activism and academics at times. I am often frustrated that these two things are treated as mutually exclusive.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on a programs and departments that encourage activism in their Phd programs.

Thanks a bunch!

[modernity]

I don't know of any PhD programs, but I believe American U's MA program is considered an "activist" program. This may be something you want to look at closer to the time (I am sure you have heard this already) because the shifting of the faculty at different universities, and your specific research interest will be a difference maker in how well activism is accepted.

[vanishingpoint]

As far as I know, the University of Texas-Austin is the only anthropology program in the country that has a self-identified activist track:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/anthro ... pology.php

From what I understand, the activist track is very competitive to get into, more so than any of the other program tracks. But the design of the program is interesting, in that it incorporates an "activist research internship," in which you presumably design your research objectives in collaboration with the partner organization.

Charles Hale is the faculty member most closely associated with the program, and part of me wonders whether the program will go through a period of transition now that he's been appointed director of UT's Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/anthro ... news/O9179

Anyway, it's certainly a program that's worth checking out.

[Banxe]

Hey thank you both for the info. The activist masters looks really neat. Definitely has me thinking about some different possibilities.

[rising_star]

Would you be interested in applied anthropology programs?

Also, Michigan State has an explicit social justice thing in its anthropology program.

[far_to_go]

Columbia has a PhD in Anthro in cooperation with their Teachers College. You can check it out here: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/academic/its/Anthro/programs.asp?progId=58&Id=Applied+Anthropology&Info=Doctor+of+Philosophy

I don't know anything about the program beyond what's on the website. But hey, it's Columbia- at least worth checking out, right?

Best to you!

[tim]

I'm from a different department, but South Carolina has people doing activist work in the PhD program. The phd program here is newer (first cohort began in 2003), but it may be worth a look.

[jacib]

Hi all,

I am currently finishing up my undergrad and looking at grad programs for 2012. I know it's a few years away, but while I am still in an academic mindset, I need to think about it.

I have found, even as an undergrad, that it's difficult to balance activism and academics at times. I am often frustrated that these two things are treated as mutually exclusive.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on a programs and departments that encourage activism in their Phd programs.

Thanks a bunch!

I'm not doing anthropology so much, but I found that if you want to do something specific, just contact some experts in that field and perhaps half of them will help you. I'm interested in doing secularism, and just emailed a few big names (ones often at schools without graduate departments) and asked for their advice. Jose Casanova at Georgetown (probably the most famous non-Emeritus scholar of secularism after Talal Asad) ended up having a half hour phone conversation where he listed everyone he knew in Anthro, Soc, Religion and especially Poli Sci. Scholars tend to like you joining their particular specialty. So with that in mind, email David Graeber. He'll probably know what's what in terms of where to apply (an since he's in London, you can email him about programs in the States without feeling guilty about asking about competition). Also, he's a total intellectual badass.

[Angela]

The University of Washington is starting a Public Anthropology M.A. program that is focused on public service and activism. If you're only looking for a PhD, there are a few faculty members that are into activism. Rachel Chapman is a medical anthropologist that is involved with an NGO called Health Alliance International and is focused on women's healthcare in the urban U.S. and on PMTCT of HIV in Mozambique. I have personally worked with her and another faculty member, Holly Barker. Prof. Barker is particularly into activism and I've taken a few of her undergrad classes on applied methods with a service learning portion. She worked in the Marshall Islands with the native people to try and get compensation for the damage caused by nuclear testing by the U.S. Currently she is working with students on a project in Hanford, WA, a former Plutonium plant that has a bad history of ruining the lives of the "whistleblowers" at that facility.

Worth checking out! If you are interested and are in Seattle, you can get a hold of Prof. Barker via email and stop in for a chat (she's an absolute doll!), but getting a hold of Prof. Chapman will prove difficult and time consuming (she's intensely busy) but worth the effort if you do. She's also extremely personable.

Hope it helps!

[coyabean]

You may also want to take a look at University of South Florida. They have a stated interest in activism and quite a few outreach initiatives and collaborations to support that.