You have eloquently captured two aspects of my own “anthropological self” that I find so important. The first of these is that it is simply who I am. It’s not a job, a career, or an activity: it’s an identity. And that identity is as fundamental to how I move through the world, make decisions, and form relationships as is my gender, for example. I’m an anthropologist in the classroom, in the field, at the PTA meeting, grocery shopping, and god help me – even in the bedroom.

Secondly, you have raised the issue of social engagement on the part of anthropologists. With a few suspicious possible exceptions (What exactly was Napoleon Chagnon doing with all of those axes…?), anthropologists tend to be bleeding hearts whose fondest hope and deepest desire is that yes, their work WILL make a difference.

That is, we sincerely believe there will be a genuine improvement in the lives of real human beings (and occasionally primates, etc.) because of the information or understanding that we have brought to the world. This is as true of archaeologists and physical anthropologists as it is cultural anthropologists.

So thank you, Donna, for sharing these thoughts! Color me melodramatic purple, but gosh golly, I, too, am a hopelessly sentimental anthropologist.