Re: More on career paths--applied, this time.

James M. Wallace (TIM@SERVER.SASW.NCSU.EDU)
Fri, 16 Dec 1994 14:26:28 EST

Mike,

This is the kind of attitude I am fighting all the time. Yes, I respect the
non-applied anthro's position, but they do not share that respect with
me and applied anthro.

Tim Wallace

Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 16:00:00 CST
Reply-to: mike salovesh <T20MXS1@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU>
From: mike salovesh <T20MXS1@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU>
Subject: Re: More on career paths--applied, this time.
To: Multiple recipients of list ANTHRO-L
<ANTHRO-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu>

Cameron Laird picked up on my message in a private note. I think his
statement should be considered by the list, so with his permission
I'm resending it--and my reply, and his reply to that. I've cut out
the headers and most of the duplication to save bandwidth.

======================= interchange follows
=======================

Which raises an interesting question about anthropological
training.
If academia is where we train professionals, and academia
selects for
those who chose careers outside applied anthropology (to
reverse the
usual way we say that), then how does a student find professors
knowledgable and competent in applied anthro to train them for
careers in applied?

Mathematics has at least as severe a problem in this regard.
References available upon request.

Hmmm.

-- mike <salovesh@niu.edu>

Wait, stop; that sounds almost hostile of me, which is not
what I meant at all. I'm just trying to say that mathemati-
cians deal with some of the same (except more, quantitatively;
there are more people in AMS than AAA), and, if the topic
interests you sufficiently, I'm willing to poke about for a
few pointers to their results.

Cameron Laird ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/home.html
claird@Neosoft.com (claird%Neosoft.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713 267
7966
claird@litwin.com (claird%litwin.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713 996
8546
========================================================
=================
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 94 15:42 CST
To: Cameron Laird <claird@STARBASE.NEOSOFT.COM>

Cameron:

Your message about mathematicians having problems like the one I
posed about applied anthros came to me individually. Did you mean
to send it to ANTHRO-L? Should I forward it to the list?

I raised the problem because it has long concerned me that I don't
know enough to advise my students properly about careers in
applied.
I even went to a couple of NAPA workshops aimed at telling people
how to get work with Uncle Sam, etc., because (except for the Army)
I never have done that, either.

To add to this, let me note that I've been to one helluva lot of AAA
meetings and I know a lot of people I've met there. But when I went
to my first couple of SfAA meetings, I discovered that there was very
little overlap, and I had a hard time finding people I already knew.
My conclusion is that applied and academic anthropologists tend,
more
and more, to live in universes isolated from each other.

And I see that as a lowdown rotten shame, and dangerous to boot.

-- mike <salovesh@niu.edu>
========================================================
=================
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 15:46:22 -0600
From: Cameron Laird <claird@STARBASE.NEOSOFT.COM>
.
Your message about mathematicians having problems like the
one I
posed about applied anthros came to me individually. Did you
mean
to send it to ANTHRO-L? Should I forward it to the list?

Not particularly; and, fine by me. That is, I did
intend to send it only to you, but, if you think it
interests others, I'm happy for them to see it, too.

My conclusion is that applied and academic anthropologists
tend, more
and more, to live in universes isolated from each other.

And I see that as a lowdown rotten shame, and dangerous to
boot.

I agree completely.


************************************************
James M. (Tim) Wallace
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
North Carolina State University
Box 8107, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107
tel: 919-515-2491
email: Tim@server.sasw.ncsu.edu <Internet>
************************************************