Friday, March 28, 2008
Disabled Veterans: Making the case for studying anthropology
I am a disabled Veteran. I am currently recieveing a disability rating of forty percent from the Department of Vereran Affairs. While stationed overseas, I injured my back, shoulder, and knees. The reason I am writting this is because I need a bit of help. I'm not sure if anyone reading this is familiar with a program the VA has in place to help disabled Veterans. It is called the Vocational Rehabilition and Employment program. The website, http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/index.htm,, is very informational . I hope that information gained here can help future Veterans that want to go down the same path as me. Right now I am having a hard time finding information on Anthropology careers. In order for my case to continue I need to provide the VA with enough information to convince them that Anthropology is a career field worth pursuing and one that has a future. Any help that can be provided will be greatfully appreciated. Any contact information, or any career information of any kind that could be gathered would help tremendously. I would also like to try and get a list of contacts for future Veterans that are also trying to become Anthropologist. I know this would help others as much in the future as it is helping me. If possible any drafting a proposal as to why Anthropology should be studied and of its importance to the future of buisness or even to the United States itself. Again, i appreciate any help that can be given.
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4 comments:
Well, since the U.S military has recently hired anthropologists, who are then embedded with troops in the middle east to help them be more effective at working in and communities for reconstruction, that is a pretty good rationale. I would look up the U.S. military's press releases on this, and articles in the NY Times, Washington Post, and LA Times discussing this. You can quote their own reasons for why anthropologists are important for the U.S. military back to them. Also, check out http://www.aaanet.org/profdev/careers/
which provides more information about careers in anthropology. If you browse jobs, there will be a lot of academic ones, but also a lot in industry working for corporations who are trying to understand how to work more effectively with people from around the world, as well as in the U.S.
Hi,
I am a vet too, with a BA in Anthro. and a MA in intercultural conflict management. The only jobs you can argue for at the BA level require cross-training. In other words, the degree helps but not on its own. So, your argument should be centered around the skills you learn and how those equate to the 'real-world'. As the previous poster recommended, go to http://www.aaanet.org/profdev/careers/ for some more info. About how this works.
As far as further education, once you get a MA or higher you open the door for more opportunities that are actually directly linked with the research and writing aspects of 'anthropology' itself. Jobs that come out of that can be found in the corporate world as an 'applied anthropologist', in academia as a researcher and/or instructor, with NGOs all around the world and of course with the US government (as was mentioned before). There are plenty of opportunities if you are creative and skilled.
I believe that your ‘trick’ in selling that argument to the VA is in focusing on the skills you learn and how those equate to 'real-world' jobs...
Hope this helps.
Tanner
Thank You for the advice. I apologize for taking this long to actually getting to read this. I have been doing some more research on the matter and everything is coming along pretty well. Thanks again for all of the help
Hello I am also a vet and in the midst f pursuing my anthropology degree. The program every one keeps mentioning is the HTS (Human Terrain System) in essence it is anthropologists imbedded in Iraq and Afghanistan who study the ethno-military environment. The purpose of this program is to better understand the consequences of culture on military action. Abu Ghraib, Haditha, Golden Mosque are prime examples of how the dynamics of warfare shift depending on cultural factors. The conflicts in the Balkans is another example of how cultural factors affect warfare. Whether the VA will buy off on that as a sufficient answer is beyond me. I think Tanner is right in saying you should appeal to the interdisciplinary skills that an anthropology degree affords. There are also the JICPAC missions that anthropologists accompany military expeditions to repatriate service members of past wars. Finally the court cases against Saddam and Chemical Ali were heavily influenced by anthropologist’s exploitation of mass graves in Iraq. From a military stand point there are ample uses for an anthropology degree, but like Tanner said again it takes some research and creativity. I hope this helps.
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