Happy Anthropology Day, 2017 -- to Anthropologists and students of Anthropology, Worldwide!2/16/2017 Why do you love Anthropology? I love anthropology because it is the only social science/humanistic discipline that tries to understand human variation as normal through cross-cultural examination of how people do things. For me, cultural relativism is a method that allows (and demands that) the student of culture try to see and understand how its desirable and less desirable components function as part of a holistic system. A study of anthropology also gives the student of culture a critical lens through which s/he can critique and possibly change her/his own culture’s practices. What is it about anthropology that inspires you? Anthropology’s focus on all human behavior—from banking and global capital to birthing and ritual celebrations inspires me to see new ways of doing things and to think about new possibilities for old problems. Good ethnography is exciting, interesting and even life-changing. —Professor Shonna Trinch, Anthropology Department Why do you love Anthropology? As soon as I heard that Anthropology was going to be available for students to take, I immediately got hooked. There's something about Anthropology that is different from all other forms of study. I love it because it gives us a chance to see the world as it is. It gives us a chance to learn about different cultures and different people by completely immersing ourselves into their lifestyle. We begin to understand the world in its entirety and complexity and begin to appreciate the world for more than just its appearance. The great thing about it, is that we get to see everything with a new perspective and nothing is muted or kept silent. Everything is presented with a sense of rawness and richness that can only be experienced first-hand. — Katherine Santana, Anthropology student Why do you love Anthropology? I suppose what I love about anthropology is the fact that it's a forward moving discipline. It always leaves the door open for more exploration in any given area. And it inspires me to be curious about the world and its peoples and cultures. There's so much out there in the world that is just waiting to be discovered, and that's just what already exists. Imagine what there is yet to be discovered! To me anthropology is synonymous with experience and curiosity and accepting that in order to truly know about something one can't be shy and instead needs to immerse oneself in whatever it is that he or she wants to know about. That can apply to literally anything, but when that sentiment is applied to humans and their cultures, the world suddenly becomes a much more beautiful and interesting place. —Erick Garcia, Anthropology student Why do you love Anthropology? I love anthropology because it is the science that dares to be different! —Professor Edward Snajdr, Anthropology Department Why do you love Anthropology? I remember my first exposure to Anthropology. I remember the classroom and the professor, but most of all, I remember the feeling. That feeling of finding something you love and in that transient moment when your soul rushes forth and it rises, in that twinkling of temporarily, you transcend time and space. In that split second, when the world makes sense and when you are no longer frightened by things you don’t know but rather, you become curious as to why you were afraid in the first place. Anthropology has allowed me to be myself in all its facets and it has allowed me to humanize. Without Anthropology—as a discipline and as a way of life—my days will be grey because anthropology brings colour and light to my every being, daily. —Professor Atiba Rougier, Anthropology Department Why do you love Anthropology? My first chance at fieldwork, as a very naive undergraduate. An Indian village in highland Ecuador was overwhelming to the mind and senses (think the pervasive smell of wood smoke, bone-chilling cold, guinea-pig soup, fleas and subtle anti-white hostility.) But absolutely thrilling as a series of puzzles and human relationships to be navigated and made sense of. I survived and found myself enamored for life with a discipline that allowed me to do this. —Professor Johanna Lessinger, Anthropology Department Why do you love anthropology? I decided to study Anthropology after reading an essay by Eleanor Leacock. What I love about Anthropology is that there is a section of it that rejects the culture concept and provides the harshest and most rigorous critique of its reactionary history and use. —Professor Anthony Marcus, Chair of the Anthropology Department Why I love Anthropology? Being Vietnamese was hard growing up in the Bronx because all the other kids asked “Is Vietnamese just like Chinese?” I shied away from it and grew up with having friends in various cultures. When I reached college and took my first Anthropology class, it helped me rediscover my culture and all the beauties that come with it. It brings a different science into the world, the science in which people study other people in the contemporary. Therefore, when I am asked “Why do I love Anthropology?” I ask them “Why haven’t you yet?” —Kevin Tran, Anthropology student Why I love Anthropology? For people like me who are interested in learning about history, culture, ideas, norms, morals and the individual, Anthropology is the field that gives me the opportunity to gain this knowledge. With Anthropology, I have a safe place to learn, create personal research, and write about a certain topic that interests me. The reason I love Anthropology is because it is about observing and experiencing situations. People should learn about Anthropology because sometimes an individual’s naive realism prevents them from learning the truth about our world and its peoples. — Cindy Guiracocha, Anthropology student In the best of times and the worst of times: Anthropology Matters! For Anthropology Day 2016, I said I love anthropology for helping me understand the world as it exists (which is not necessarily the world as I want it to be) and for providing me the intellectual tools to understand the human capacity for cleverness, creativity, connection as well as delusion and other dangerous capabilities. In our surreal political times, these human attributes seem to be on bloated display. For Anthropology Day 2017, I say how glad and grateful I am to be an anthropologist—a person with perspective. The discipline taught me the value of knowing history—we can’t understand the present without understanding the past. It taught me how to appreciate the moral longings of the discipline and how to appreciate morality as an object of inquiry without prejudice—and knowing the difference between the two. In these difficult times, I am grateful to be one among our global anthropological community that shares in the basic values of love and respect for one another and for humankind. Knowing this gives me a special kind of sustenance and strength—encouraging me to look optimistically into the future. —Professor Alisse Waterston, Anthropology Department and President of the American Anthropological Association. Twitter: @anthroprez; @AlisseWaterston From all of us at the Executive Editorial Board, Happy Anthropology Day! Anthropology Department John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY
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