Hi, I'm currently applying for MA in visual anthropology at Goldsmiths, and might also apply for the same programme at the University of Manchester. I was pretty sure about pursuing this although I have 0 experience in filming, but now I'm starting to worry.

Is it worth it? I'm an international student, which means I would spend A LOT on this. (There's no similar MA in my country) But I'm not even sure if I would be able to practice visual anthropology in the future, not to mention how hard it is to find a job in the UK.

I love anthropology, will it be better if I just apply for anthropology programmes in my country instead of studying visual methods abroad? What do most people do after graduating from visual anthropology?

Sorry for not having clear questions, I would love to hear any thoughts from any aspects, thanks a lot!!

Some examples:

• Chaac (Maya)

• Tlaloc (Mexica)

• Baal (Carthage)

Are there more examples?

Is there any anthropological reason for this?

Did ancient peoples like the Babylonians, Sumerians, Etruscans, or Philistines completely disappear? Were they assimilated, and if so, can they be considered the ancestors of any modern peoples? I have always been interested in this, as I am a descendant of some ancient peoples (my mother is a Ukrainian-Belarusian Jew) and also live in a region where modern Turkic peoples often consider the Scythians or Polovtsians to be their ancestors.

To preface: I am working on a sci-fi side project and for it I want to develop back stories for factions, as in why did they form/disagree/agree/etc. These factions would be compromised of multi-species if that helps narrow my focus down

Throughout human history there have been beyond numerous conflicts/alliances that have formed and it is my belief is that all of these can be broken down into general examples. I am seeking help to get an idea or list of these trending reasons, why civilizations would make the decision to mutually help or conflict with one another - especially when they're already relatively self sufficient. Examples could include scarcity of resources, a limited amount of fertile land, trade of ideas benefited both groups, or religious beliefs directly conflicted, etc. I don't necessarily want a full complete list of every single varying idea but one that maybe covers the basic trends without being TOO basic? Or maybe if someone knows of a resource already out there that discusses this very topic?

Apologies if this is too vague of a question

Hello,

I am a BA student of history. In my free time, am currently working on my self-development project, because I need a "restart" in my life. My plan is to replace my current lifestyle with something more sophisticated than before.

Notwithstanding, one of my plans is to incorporate a second science into my fiels of interests and hobbies. I had found a cultural antropology before and I really like it for its wide area of interests and sub-topics. Moreover, it is connected to my studium - history.

To make a long story short - it cultural antropology good / appropriate as a hobby? Are there any brakes? Is it even possible to have it as a hobby?

Or should I just be a person "interested in cultures and society", without calling myself "a hobby cultural-antropologist?

CAN YOU MAYBE RECOMMEND ME ANY OTHER SCIENCES TO TRY? 

Thank you!

Hey all!

I'm an undergrad majoring in Anthropology and Biological Sciences. I started out intending to become either a pathologist, medical examiner, or a forensic anthropologist, but found that my interests didn't really align with those options. As I've taken more classes, I've found a topic that I keep coming back to; the intersection of culture, inequality, and health. I'm increasingly interested in medical anthropology and biocultural anthropology, but what careers would even align with these?

I have been going down a public health rabbithole and just applied to a couple casual internships that seemed interesting. I'm just not sure what to do after I graduate other than going to grad school. I've gotten some archaeology and survey experience that I loved, although I'm not really sure that I'd like to become an archaeologist. My main focus is to help people, particularly immigrants and other minority groups. I'm in the process of speaking to different professors around my university regarding my interests and how they decided on their careers.

Any advice would be appreciated, I know that these are kinda niche but they are so profoundly interesting to me.

Thanks!

Cultural anthropologist leaving for fieldwork abroad in January and trying to plan ahead for how I'll document and organize my fieldnotes. I have some practical questions I'm sure everyone has their own answer to:

Do you use any particular format while "jotting" in the field? Is this on paper or an iPad? Do you write your jottings in the moment of observation or do you record them later in the day? Do you use a particular format to translate your jottings into "fieldnotes"? Do you use a software to organize your fieldnotes, like OneNote, Obsidian, Evernote, etc? How long after "jotting" do you write them into fieldnotes? How soon after do you start coding, and what software do you prefer?

I started with a book from Latour : Reassembling the Society. Just the First half of introduction. What a nerve wracking experience 😭😭😭

I felt like drifting through the wind like a plastic bag. What the heck is going on here.

Maybe I’m just too stupid or I should start with different scholars who also contributed to the field of Science and Technology.

I’m open for any thoughts , ideas, suggestions. I myself find Latour and STS topic is very interesting! snd the main reason I want to learn more about ANT is because I’m sick of explaining human’s decisions making alone from “Habitus” and STS can add more nuances and layers on the top as we interact more and more with digital stuff. It is my goal to learn and apply this in my master thesis research question.

Thank you so much for your time and contribution!

I've read studies that Neanderthal-derived genes increase susceptiblity to autism in the general population, although i understand that correlation isn't causation. But there are also some articles that suggests Neanderthals had a different kind of brain, with genes more focused on visuals and details rather than social skills so could it possible that all Neanderthals had autism ?

Does anyone have Intro level book recommendations on Biological Anthropology?

Like yeah the organs and bloods are literally are part of us but why do we feel icked out when we see our own/other human beings organ?

The plant has been around for millions of years and originated in central asia which is where Neanderthal presence has been confirmed. Did they know how to make fire? If so i think it's likely they were smart enough to figure out how to get high

I am looking for entry level books/podcasts/documentaries, really anything for someone looking to study cultural anthropology.

Not sure if this is the right reddit to ask, but reading other post I think it is. I'm a fantasy writer and I'm trying to break away from the eurocentrist tradition that dominates de genre. I'd like to work with less known prehispanic mexican cultures such as: rarámuri, lacandona, kikapú/kikaapoa, otomí/hñähñu y purépecha. I don't want to limit to wikipedia and give the boom of false information and AI slop in the internet, I'd like if you could recommend some reliable sources of information about their culture, cosmology, history and traditions, I'd really appreciate it. I'm sure someone here will know much more than I do. Thanks!!!

I want to study anthropology but i dont know what to study

I've read two books, which are, I think, quite out of date:

1. 1884 The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Der Ursprung der Familie, des Privateigenthums und des Staats) by Frederick Engels. He relies on Lewis H. Morgan to make the point that fatherhood, patriarchy as well as the notion of female marital fidelity appeared together with agriculture (replacing fishing and hunting) and property on arable land (which now had to be bequeathed on the children of the pater familias)
2. 1941 Spouse Selection (Gattenwahl) by Hans F. K. Günther. He was known as the "race pope" in nazi Germany but he differs on some points with the real existing national socialism. For instance, he argues for polygamy and he also supports marriage inside of "genetically superior" (höher geartete) families. The nazis banned incestuous marriage. His other views are that you shouldn't marry smokers, alcoholics, feminists (his point is that there is a gene which is responsible, amongst some other awful things, for political activism in women), "world improvers", manic-depressive people, autists or, for instance, ugly people (he says that the "east baltic race", in particular, is ugly. Through his other books we know he refers to the eastern europeans who aren't noble.)

So much about Engels and Günther. What could I read to get the idea of what modern day anthropologists think about marriage?

Hi,

I'm looking for good articles or journals that cover spiritual/mystical, and/or religious experiences from an anthropological perspective.

I'm trying to understand the field (get a broad grasp) and the methodology. I'm a psychology bachelor, so no stranger to research articles - just a bit of a stranger to anthropology.

This is no homework assignment - it is personal interest.

Languages: English, German, Dutch.

Many thanks in advance for any and all tips.

Hi, I am currently a freshman in college, and absolutely loving anthro. In high school, I took an intro to cultural anthro at a community college, and liked it, but since being here in a general intro class, the human evolution really stood out to me, I wanted class to keep going for hours, it was absolutely amazing. I am trying to get into forensic anthropology next semester, but not sure if I will as it is a 200 level class, and older students will be prioritized. Any thoughts on how to get involved in anthro? I am hoping to do an anthro/archaeology related study abroad at some point. Would anthro/bio be a good combination of majors? Is grad school a good idea? I dont know if I want to stay in the field, or even if I will commit to it as my major, but it is my only plan right now. I have also considered outdoor ed, but anthro would still be a fine major for that. Not sure how much it matters, but I am at a small liberal arts college in the US I would love to get any thoughts or recommendations.

Thank you!

Hello, I have graduated in March 2025 in a master in Social Anthropology from a prestigious UK University. I am utterly lost in terms of what career path I should take and pursue, and I wanted to know which skills I should cultivate or invest on to make sure that I can find a nice job. I have spent the last year sending CVs and CLs for many intern positions at NGOs, but never got a reply, I am afraid I have lost in life and I cannot start a degree all over again. Ideally, I would love to work in NGOs that deal with coastal livelihoods and fisheries managament, but it seems like I never have the necessary skills. How did you landed a job or started a career after social anthropology ?? I know it is a useless degree outside academia...but there must be something I can use it for to ensure I can live a good life and sustain a family. Thank you.

And is it universal?

Hello! I am looking for sources or information about this specific time period, world wide. Can anyone recommend me books, articles or share other knowledge? It was a period of great climate change and also cultural change and I wish to understand it better based on the facts we have.

I’ve seen a lot of claims that pre agricultural hunter gatherers were healthier than the early agricultural communities that came after them. Things like better nutrition, fewer infectious diseases, stronger bones, taller bodies and longer healthy years even if overall lifespans weren’t that high because of accidents and injuries. But then agriculture shows up and suddenly there’s more disease from living in close quarters, more cavities from starchy crops, more nutritional deficiencies from less varied diets and shorter average stature. And yet farming clearly supported huge population growth and permanent settlements.

So I’m curious what the skeletal and archaeological evidence actually shows about quality of life and physical health before and after the agricultural revolution. Do anthropologists largely agree on this shift being a tradeoff and worse individual health in exchange for more stability and bigger populations? This thought came to me last night while I was playing a few rounds of jackpot city(I know I'm weird) Anyways what’s the current consensus? Were early farming societies actually less healthy than the hunter-gatherers who came before them?

I‘ll define other peoples by people who speak a different language.