Jono is a former colleague of mine at Jump Associates. In a recent e-mail to me I noticed a blog link I had not seen before. The first thing I saw was a nice little post called “Recording ethnographic observations: Five useful frameworks”. It compares different ways people use to chunk out the things they learned in the field, such as activities, environments, artifacts, etc . They are ways to start organizing the chaos of data.…
Category: General Anthropology
How to prepare yourself for a job in anthropology outside of academia when you get out of school
1. Purge any elitist tendencies from your soul. It blinds you to the opportunities and people around you. Remember that, statistically speaking, scoring in the 95th percentile on the SAT or GRE proves without doubt there are a few million people out there that are still smarter than you are. No one cares if you can quote Foucault or Goffman, the measure outside of the academic world is what you can actually do, how you contribute and how well you can communicate your insights to everyone.…
Why isn’t ethnography.com more focused on ethnography? Um, ‘cause I don’t feel like it.
A friend asked me how many people regularly read this blog. Well, not a lot. There is a good reason for this. I have owned the domain ethnography.com for about a decade, as well as several other anthropology related domains. On the other hand, while I am an ethnographer, my professional life is focused on the strategy and innovation, of which ethnography is just one of the tools in my toolbox.…
There is a picture of a pretty girl on my dresser
It’s the only picture in my bedroom actually. She is in her late teens or early twenties, standing with her back to the camera, and playing the guitar next to a couple of cars. Her hair has been pinned up hastily and she is Jeans and a simple top. Obviously a casual environment. I have pictures of friends and family all over my apartment, yet this is the only one in my bedroom.…
Indigenous Peoples Organization Files Court Brief to Halt Graduate Fieldwork
California (APP) April 1, 2007 – A cultural conundrum is playing out in the 9th circuit that is sure to be heard before the Supreme Court by Fall. A coalition of organizations aimed at protecting the rights of indigenous people’s has filed a motion to halt all forms of graduate student field work throughout the world. “Frankly, we’re just tired of it.” stated Jason Natuktu, an Inuit Elder of Afognak, Alaska.…
What would you do with this ethical dilemma?
Anthropologists will face ethical dilemmas throughout their careers, and we don’t always agree on what the right thing is. This entry is a case study of an ethical issue I had when I was doing my graduate fieldwork in a state prison almost 15 years ago.
Students: Try taking this entry into your class and discuss the choices I made and decide what you would do.
There was an inmate that I spoke with frequently over the course of my research, I’ll call him Jim.…
The equal time clause
I have spent three entries on why anthropologist should not put limits on the professional opportunities an anthropologist should accept. I want to offer some links to other viewpoints on the web. In 2002, NPR broadcast a debate between Anthropologists Catherine Lutz of Brown University and Anna Simons from the Naval Postgraduate school in Montery, CA.
Both the Savageminds website and David Price writing in CounterPunch discuss the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholarship Program which funds students for language and cultural studies in exchange for working at CIA.…
Let’s get to the meat of it, am I an anthropologist? (Part 3)
Of course I’m an anthropologist, and I’ve been doing what I do for a decade. I think I’m one of the fortunate people that since leaving graduate school I’ve never taken a job as anything but an anthropologist. The question is am I just an anthropologist and the answer is absolutely not. Frankly in my field we can’t employ people who are just experienced in anthropology, we require more areas of expertise than that.…
Are you an Anthropologist (part two)?
Much of the conversation about who is an anthropologist is about the appropriateness of “secret” research. Currently the stance of many anthropologists and the AAA code of ethics is that no professional anthropologist should engage in secret research. This means you should avoid research were the data and analysis cannot be openly scrutinized by your peers. (Please see my previous entry, were I agree that the field of anthropology has not always been a paragon of ethical behavior.)…
I’m anthropologist. No you’re not. Yes I am (repeat as needed)
Its amazing how otherwise bright people can spend a goofy amount of energy trying to determine just who is in the tribe of anthropology and who is not. It’s not that I object to keeping an eye the quality of the profession, I am all for it. My own little corner of the anthropology world is chock-full of dreadful charlatans that believe Ethnography is as easy as mashing the record button on a video camera and asking inept questions.…
No, I have never dug up a dinosaur… ever.
When someone asks what I do, I usually tell them I am an anthropologist that helps companies find new opportunities for growth and strategic direction. This is most often followed by them asking: “That sounds really interesting. How does digging up dinosaur bones help a company find new opportunities?” It comes from a common misunderstanding: There are four different kinds of anthropologists: I am a cultural anthropologist (I talk to live people), rather than an archeologist (dig up people and objects).…
Clifford J. Geertz 1926 – 2006
The news is flashing around that Dr. Clifford Geertz has passed on, for his biography and information on recent research, please click on his name to go to the Institute for Advanced Study website.
As with many of my peers, I went to graduate school during a time when you rarely handed in an essay that did not make some reference to Geertz and/or the Balinese Cockfight and deep play.…