Is Cultural Anthropology the way to go?

Question

I'm going to be a junior in high school, and college is just around the corner. I've been debating lately what I really want to do with my life. At first, I was considering a career in Astronomy or Astrophysics, but I found out that it's not a very active job -- mostly working inside with computers. That's not really what I want to be doing. Recently, I've discovered that I have a huge interest in evolution and the various cultures of mankind. So I've been researching Anthropology, and it sounds like something I'd really enjoy. I'm very open-minded, tolerant, and curious, and I love to learn new things about different cultures and interpret "taboo" cultural practices. But the thing is -- I really don't know what I can do with a degree in Cultural Anthropology. My goal is to have a career that has a decent pay and allows a lot of travel and cultural interaction. I don't want to spend all my time in front of a computer or writing. I want to really be able to interact with people of different cultures and get to know their ways of life. From what I've read, Anthropologists usually teach, work in museums, or work for the government.

I know that Cultural Anthropology is definitely a primary interest for me, but I don't want to spend all my time teaching. This is just really frustrating me, I just want to know what the possibilities are with a degree in Cultural Anthropology, and anything else about the subject.

I would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks!

Answer 1

When you get to college take a Cultural and Physical Anthropology class and learn about applied anthropology careers.  I'd also suggest taking a World Regional Geography class.  Many of the same subjects/areas of interests are covered but you may find it suits you better. You could combine the two in a major/minor.

There are plenty of jobs that either an anthro or geo degree will get you into in the business world, especially now that we are a true global economy.  (Marketing, cultural sensitivity, international development, etc.) But remember teachers do have a lot of time off and a lot of them spend the entire time travelling or doing field research so don't shut it out as a purely "indoor job".

Answer 2

You'll learn a lot from Anthropology and I like it a lot. I'm not in school or anything like that but I still study it, you'll also probably learn where greed comes from in this society in that field. But that's another subject, Anthropology is great but you should do whatever you want and set the money beside. If you like something a lot go do it, who cares about the money.

Answer 3

If you're interested in international public health at all an undergraduate degree in anthropology won't be so bad. You may work for a pharmacuetical company, but it doesn't sound like you mind that as much as you'd like travelling.

Answer 4

It seems to me that the important word to you is travel, so, perhaps you could combine it with international business studies. The business world is going global and maybe, you could find employment training business people in cultures of prospective clients. Just a guess.  

Answer 5

Fortunately, you have a lot of time to figure this out.  

Don't rush yourself.  

There are very few job opportunities in cultural anthro, a lot more in archaeology (though your interests don't seem amenable to this), fewer in physical anthro, and almost none in linguistic anthro.  Even a PhD in these fields does not guarantee a job of any kind.  Furthermore, the jobs that do exist (even college level teaching) don't really pay very well.  

Based on what I know of you - which is obviously not very much - I make the following observations:

* you can express yourself verbally fairly well

* you obviously want to contribute something useful to the world

* you are interested in culture(s)

have you considered majoring in journalism with a minor in anthro?  This is fairly good foundation for a career in travel writing, and/or science journalism - difficult to break into but definitely a better job market than cultural anthro.

Answer 6

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/00...

lots of info on possible careers for cultural anthropolgy majors