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AA and the new format
John O'Brien (JOBRIEN@UCS.INDIANA.EDU)
Thu, 6 Oct 1994 12:54:59 EWT
Pat Clay's comments draw me into a closely related issue that should be
discussed on the list: the trend in Anthropology and in Sociology to
move rapidly toward complete specializations, and give up the generalist
- theretical - and multi-disciplinary approach. This trend seems to have
snow balled in the last two decades . . . probably as a functionof
utility . . . but it appears to be donig damage to the professions
themselves.
In private e-mail, I've heard from doctoral candidates at Eastern
Ivy L. universities that they are told that to specifically attempt to
obtain a `gneeralist' perspective or to cross-disciplines and master
more than one or two fields is becoming the `kiss of death for anthro
and soc.
I wonder what the general thinking on the list is as to if we have
simply moved too far toward specialization, and if we shouldn't begin
to encourage more multi-disciplinary work, more generalization and
more synthesis and theory.
John O'Brien
Indiana
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