In the early 1970s, 88% of anthropology PhDs found jobs in traditional academic departments (ie, in anthropology departments or in sociology, biology and ethnic studies departments), and only 12% took jobs in research institutes, museums, government and the private sector. Since the niid-I970s, the percent taking traditional academic jobs has steadily decreased, dropping to 59% in 1990.In the 1996-97 PhD cohort who answered AAA's survey, a startling 7 1 % of those who found employment took academic jobs. This surprisi'ng statistic must be tempered by the limited number of academic jobs available. One measure of the academic job market is the number of ads in the placement column in this publication, which carries over 90% of all anthropology positions at US 4-year colleges and universities. In 1906, 302 positions were listed: 63% as many jobs as new PhDs available ( N PhDs = 476). The nonacademic work setting remains the most lucrative avenue for anthropologist to explore. There seems no ceiling for anthropologists targeting professional employment. With the focus on i n t erna t i ona I i sm , in form at ion and interdisciplinary research, i t would seeni that the expanding economy of the 1990s could absorb more anthropologists than the average 400 PhDs produced annually in the US with strategic career preparation during graduate school and job-seeking strategies. Creating Options-Advice to Graduate StudentsRecent PhDs i n anthropology offered some practical advice to etttering and prospective graduate students on the AAA survey last spring. "Go for the doctorate only*if you have a passion for anthropology and adventure." "Be sure yoti get conipararive and cross-discipline training. The urban US segment should be included in training for niarketability." "Take lots of qrralitative nrethods and statistical coi~rses. I' ''Study martial arts, meditation4nything that will help you focus your concentrution and learn to endure physical and eniotiorral stress." The bottom line from most of the survey's respondents: if you want to teach, prepare yourself for cross-employment in other academic departments; suggestions included social work, education, public health, medical schools and geography depart-' ments.When asked, "During their training, should anthropology PhDs prepare for careers in both the applied and the academic realms?", this most recent PhD cohort expressed an overwhelmingly affirmative response that anthropology PhD programs should prepare students for both academic careers and professional careers outside universities. These recent graduates urged entering students to aggressively seek opportunities to prepare themselves for both settings.Nine months ago. I began a volunteer internship at AAA to assist in an Association initiative to infuse anthropology in K-12 curriculum. An initial step in this effort was to assess anthropology's current status in elementary and secondary education. Using the Internet, Library of Congress and by developing contacts at local school districts, I collected a state-by-stat...
SUMMARYIt was bartime. . . . What I noticed the most was a small Vietnamese man with a comb-over. He had two black eyes. He was saying something to this woman, and he was clearly saying something offensive to her. . . . And this is when it got slowmotion, I guess. I saw her glance over. She was standing against a hedge, near a planter . . . and I saw her reach over and pull a Tiger beer bottle. It was as if she had everything planned out. So she grabbed it and very gracefully smashed it against the planter and broke it so it was like you see in those movies. It was as if she did it all in one movement. She turned, she grabbed, she broke, and then went at him. In "realtime" it was a matter of a second, but it seemed very slow, and what makes me know that it wasn't slow was that no one else I was with noticed.-"Li,"
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