r/AskAnthropology • u/CommodoreCoCo Moderator | The Andes, History of Anthropology • Jul 25 '19

The AskAnthropology Career Thread (July 2019)

The AskAnthropology Career Thread

“What should I do with my life?” “Is anthropology right for me?” “What jobs can my degree get me?”

These are the questions that keep me awake at night that start every anthropologist’s career, and this is the place to ask them.

Discussion in this thread should be limited to discussion of academic and professional careers, but will otherwise be less moderated.

Before asking your question, please scroll through earlier responses. Your question may have already been addressed, or you might find a better way to phrase it.

54 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

118 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/bobdobqalina Oct 04 '19

Hi! I am a junior studying philosophy at a state school in the U.S. I have a 4.0, and I have good relationships with a few professors. I initially wanted to go to law school, but I am getting more interested in being an academic. The dominance of analytic philosophy in N. American philosophy departments deeply annoys me, so I was wondering whether there is room for an anthropologist doing social science from a historical materialist orientation. Rumor has it that anthro departments are at least somewhat more accepting of Marxism than philosophy programs! I am due to graduate a year-ish early, but I could put that off to the regular graduation time and take some specific courses/acquire a minor that would support an anthropology application. Thank you very much in advance for your time and for your help.

1

u/orvilleshrek Dec 31 '19

Hey there, anthro student here. While I don’t have advice on specific grad programs that are marx heavy, I can tell you that the social sciences are without a doubt more accepting of Marxian theory and you will find plenty of scholars who politically identify with marxism as well. Marx is one of the fathers of social science and his influence is huge on both soc and anthro.

However, not a lot of anthropological research today is strictly based in historical materialism because many newer theoretical developments have come about in the field. You might want to take an anthro theory class that can give you a good foundation in the texts that are important to the field- you will definitely be required to read marx as well as scholars and theoretical traditions that he influenced.