FWD>Applied/Academic Anthro

Steve Maack (steve_maack@QMBRIDGE.CALSTATE.EDU)
Fri, 5 Nov 1993 16:15:57 U

Mail*Link(r) SMTP FWD>Applied/Academic Anthro Div
Cross-posted to ANTHRO-L and ANTHAP with permission of author, E. Mulhare
and original recipient, Steve Maack. Steve Maack

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Date: 11/5/93 3:53 PM
From: EILEEN MULHARE
From: IN%"EMULHARE@CENTER.COLGATE.EDU" "Eileen Mulhare"
2-Nov-1993 19:59:50
To: IN%"STEVE_MAACK@qmbridge.calstate.edu" "Steve Maack"
CC: IN%"WILKR@indiana.edu" "Rick Wilk", EMULHARE

Feel free to cross-post this message wherever.

Rick Wilk's analysis seems right on-target. In my case I stayed
in applied for ten years (1981-1990), and that period of my
career is seen by academics as more of a liability than an asset.
Some key, practical obstacles to bridging the gap in the
discipline:

1. The relative scarcity of professional journals in anthropology
in which to publish articles on applied practice. I know of
only Human Organization (which has an academic bias), and
Practicing Anthropology (which is not considered as
prestigious).

2. The relatively low esteem accorded to teaching versus
research. Students seem to love applied anthropologists (at
least undergraduates do) because of the "real world"
orientation, but hiring committees seem at a loss when trying
to evaluate an applied anthropologist's cv. Higher education
institutions that emphasize teaching may be a more hospitable
environment for applied anthropologists than the "NSF Top 20".

3. An implicit bias against publication among many employers of
applied anthropologists (at least against publication in
anthro journals), and a concommitant pressure to publish in
job relevant outlets (trade magazines, small circulation
newsletters, etc.).

Would it be too much to say that a person cannot serve two
masters?

This problem is not limited to anthropology. The same division
has plagued economics for years, but for whatever reason some
economists can move between the two spheres. Then again, the
applied ones are often exiled to graduate schools of business...

Eileen M. (de la Torre) Mulhare
Dept. of Anthropology, Hartwick College, Oneonta NY 13820
e-mail via Colgate University: EMULHARE@center.Colgate.edu