What field should I get into?

Question

OKay, I am currently a high school student, but I've been giving much thought on the career I should get myself into. So if any of you can help I would be glad to receive your input.

I very much enjoy reading journals or topics that concern comparative cultural studies (arts, architecture, customs of different ethnic groups). I love learning about different cultures and their art forms, I read extensively on the migrational patterns of different ethnic groups, I am very interested in historical linguistics and learning about languages, topics about the genetic relationships or the genetic analyzation of different groups of humans in order to learn about their origins and migrational patterns deeply interest me.

so what field of study does all of what I have mentioned above categorize into?

Answer 1

I was in the same boat as you four years ago: I loved cultural studies but didn't know what I would do for work. The answer was to look in similar fields which had a little more promise to them. Now I've completed several years of experience studying anthropology and doing field work, giving me a boost when applying to other programs. I'm graduating and entering graduate school for international relations. While this deals more with political and policy studies, cultural research is a staple of every day work. There's also journalism, international business, etc.

Try to find something that makes you happy and then try to figure out some way for it to sustain you. Anthropology is a tool; you can either work in research to sharpen that tool (though with a growling stomach) or you can use that tool to interact with other aspects of cross-cultural relations.

EDIT:

Oh, yes; the name of what you're describing in cultural anthropology. There are four main branches: biological, linguistic, cultural, and archaeological anthro.

Double major! Get two B.A.s, one in anthro and the other in something workable.

Answer 2

Archaeology...

Why?  Well... not because I am an archaeologist, but because you will find, as you approach grad school (which you have to complete in order to develop ANY kind of career in any of the fields of anthropology), that archaeologists are most of the people who call themselves anthropologists that study this diverse a set of interests, and do so with strong attention to historical context.  

I love social anthropology - in fact, during grad school most of the courses I took in my anthropology department were social/cultural as opposed to archaeology, but the fact is that the field is replete with theoreticians and mostly no longer seems to be terribly concerned with facts and science.  

Archaeology is not the boring, colonialist, antiquarianism many people think it is.  Rather, it is an attempt to expand  anthropology and history way beyond the limits of the present (social anthropology) and the recent past (history), in search of the practical realities which give rise to culture, language, etc etc.  

Archaeologists working on historic sites are currently very interested in teasing out the ethnic roots of the past people they study by looking at changes in food consumption and preparation patterns, acculturation and changes of different craft styles (i.e. what kinds of pottery and liquors people use), consumer choice, art, etc.  However, ethnicity is difficult to deal with archaeologically because it is such a negotiated and unempirical concept.  Social anthropology has a leg up up on us in this area.

You also mentioned genetic studies.  Traditionally, this is more the domain of physical anthrpology (nobody in social anthro does this - most haven't even studied it), however, archaeologists are using this kind of evidence in conjunction with linguistic and archaeological evidence to hypothesize and test prehistoric and even historic migratory patterns, rates of cultural change, etc.

You mention historical periods, migrations (which take place over time, not at once, and are a major subject in culture historical archaeology), art and architecture (material culture is not very often studied by social anthropologists, but is the bread and butter of archaeologists), and historical linguistics (which is a major component of culture historical archaeology's toolkit, and is somewhat poo-pooed by most modern linguistic anthropologists + archaeology is the only way to test hypotheses it generates because language evolution takes hundreds of years to take place and often involves changes of environment and cultural exchange).

Jobs?  Many people do not realize this, but archaeology has a practical side - most of us are employed outside of universities in cultural resource management and/or historic preservation.  You still need an advanced degree or two to be successful, but there ARE jobs out there for motivated and intelligent archaeologists.  

Try it, you might just like it.

Answer 3

obviously,,,, antropologist

Answer 4

You sound like an potential Anthropologist to me!

Answer 5

Obviously anthropology, likely socio-cultural or linguistic anthropology.

Answer 6

I am happy that you are excited about anthropology. Its really an interesting field of study, however you will not be able to pay your bills. I graduated in 2000 with a BA in anthropology (I was an archaeologist). If you want to delve into Cultural Anthro, please realize that you will be working for non-profits. That means you will be paid very little (if at all). I dont want you to make the same mistake I did. Anthro is more of a minor. All I got out of my degree was 9 months of misery and a good story to tell new people to break the ice.