Excuse me? Is there an Anthropologist in the house?

The title is pretty much the question.

As a few here I've talked to are aware, I'm in a general transfer/Associates degree program to get my general education requirements completed before moving into the Missouri University system for a higher degree. It's a second career in life, however that may matter for age and just entering an area of the field for a career. What I am finding as I take more side classes related to Geography and Anthropology is a true and deep passion for the overall work and a distinct narrowing of my plans for University level. I have a few more months before that choice and commitment are required.

So I'm curious ATS. Are there any professionals here in the field, where I could pick your brain on a few things for practical information on this career path and what one can expect or look for? It seems that being open on this forum would benefit others, as I can't be the only one on a site like ATS with a latent passion for this ...and just never fully understood what the terms meant, to identify what the passion was for precisely.

Thanks for any replies and I'll be checking back on this one, long term. So if someone stumbles across this months from now and has something to add, please do. I have the thread under a special bookmark area to keep it current for me to check.

reply to post by wrabbit2000

I went to Truman back in the days it was still called NEMO State but didn't graduate from there, transferred to the U of NE. Can't say they had much of an Anthropology department back then, but times may have changed. I took a few 300 level Anthro classes while working on my ba in History. I knew a few people who were cultural anthropologists mainly did grant studies on various indigenous tribes. Jobs aren't the easiest to come by, but then again not many people have need for an historian like myself

I had an anthropology prof in University who told us a story about he and his crew attending at a remote First Nation in Northern Quebec. Their purpose was to collect stories and legends from the elders.
The elders would not talk to them but they found that the children in the village would tell them the stories they knew if the anthropologists would buy them treats.
The anthropologists happily bought chips and pop for the children and recorded the stories.
They published a book with all these stories and were proud until many years later, This anthropologist met one of these kids all grown up who told him that the kids had just made up stories knowing what the anthropologists wanted to hear but wold keep on making up the stories as long as they got their treats.

reply to post by Beartracker16



And then the 'Rule Book' was written by The Quorum... reads about right.

reply to post by wrabbit2000


Unless a person is interested in doing a PhD the only purpose served in studying Anthropology is one of interest and perspective for the world at large. There isn't a future left for Anthropology unless you are independently wealthy and can afford pilot projects and or armchair writing. I found it fascinating and can apply it to the world at large within macro/micro cultural perspectives. The general knowledge can be apply to just about anything but unless you want to major in something that will be applicable and create a tangible money earning career Anthropology is a dead end.

If you can afford to take it for the knowledge , do a PhD, are able to research and write, are independently wealthy or create a desired market having majored in a complimentary field I would never otherwise recommend it.

Anthropology is fascinating and especially so at the turn of the century when technology was on the brink. Nowadays in a world where culture is based on a largely disposable life with very little security, no surplus in the area of education funded exploration Anthropology has had to take a back seat.

If it wasn't for private funding, National Geographic, Universities, media etc Anthropology would virtually disappear. It is very difficult finding money to support such fields anymore.

I agree with egyptia .
Certain fields will only touch you if you have a PhD .
One of my friends has a masters in medieval art and history ,and she applied at the museum of natural history,the whitney museum ,and the metropolitan museum of art .
They all laughed at her ....just a masters ? !

She later got a degree as an antique expert ..She's worked at Sothebys and was up for a job at Christie's ...,and they refused to make her a catloguer .Kept her at a reception desk ,despite her doing all the work behind the scenes for antiques road show etc.
All these young kids kept getting the jobs she wanted ,right out of the box.
So in some fields age is a consideration ,even if youre more qualified .
She finally had to quit sothebys because it was just too much .
She works at a small place uptown now ,run by woman .
She's quite happy there ,but its not the same as working for a huge auction house .

reply to post by Egyptia


That has been my understanding too, until getting more into this in courses meant to explain what the fields actually are. I thought Geography and GIS was simply map making and totally confused that with cartography which are radically different things, as I came to learn.

What I wasn't expecting was to find that both Geography and Anthropology cover areas that go into things from road and building construction to historical contexts for local, state and federal planning to the more traditional 'dig site' type work that everyone thinks of. Jane Goodall's work was all about one area of Anthropology (which is a fascinating thing by itself for just HOW human primate behavior is...good and bad)

So, I'm not quite sure which area to focus on yet when several really are in line to my own interests. I will note this...I think it's important to check the job listings out across the professional services before suggesting the overall field is a dead end. Anthro/Geo, in specialty, is actually one of the higher paying and more in-demand fields out there today, across Government and private.

I was shocked last year in the first assignment for Geo being to find a given number of job positions we'd want to do. I assumed that would be a challenge.....only to find Masters level as well as PhD are in raging demand, depending on one's willingness to do areas of the work. One example was a 100% free path from Masters to PhD, plus stipend that makes a regular wage in the US look weak, plus room and board....all included. The catch? The work is Ice cores on the Greenland glaciers. Well.. Hell... whip me, beat me and tell me I can't play anymore. lol......... I'd PAY THEM for that experience, let alone get PhD completion free and paid very well at the same time. lol......

It seems to be a matter of what area of interest one is taking for a specialty? (which is what I'm most curious on here...which discipline within those two overlapping areas (Anthro/Geo) is most rewarding/interesting for changing work and constant challenge? (Boredom with work is my greatest fear to avoid...while getting 'rich' doesn't even appear on my list. Just a comfy Middle/Upper Middle class living)

My first degree is in Anthropology.

Everyone is correct, anthro is just a stair-step degree to get you to something else (lots of lawyers and dr's have taken anthro as their first degree). Even if you go so far as to get a PhD, you will be relegated to working at a school or in a university; neither of which will ever make you rich. Any if you don't do field work associated with a university - good luck at ever progressing to anything.

I like to tease that I went from studying old bones to new ones. I used my anthro degree to get into a pre-med program and then chiropractic college. 3 degrees later, it has served me well, but I would have been better served by taking a nursing degree or something which would have translated directly to better jobs.

reply to post by rimjaja


Hmm... It may be important to clarify in this thread what I am seeking in terms of making a living. I have to remind myself how many of my fellow students see University and BA/Masters degrees as some auto-punch to wealthy salaries and comfortable living happily ever after. I'm certainly not looking at things that way and tend to have far more modest goals for that.

I figure it this way. I hovered around 40k a year, give or take a few either way, for my first career in trucking. At that level, I was pretty comfortable in a solid middle class lifestyle for this part of the nation. I.E....there is nothing I or my family was left wanting for at that level.

Obviously, I'm not in this to make the same level of comfy. It would be a real 'What the hell??' moment if I were. I'm not looking at money as the reward on this though. If I can make 50-60k in this region, I'll be equally happy.....if that comes in doing work I can enjoy and feel is meaningful and contributing in some way.

So..the pie in the sky dreams of 6 figures, surely leading to 7 in just a few years from graduation I've actually heard some talk about.... ahem.. isn't for this Bunny. Satisfaction in the work means more at this point in life as long as the bills are paid and a few extras in life are within reach.