Holidays and Skeptical Family

Welcome to the first post of the new year folks!  I hope everyone has enjoyed the various holidays and found this time restful, relaxing, other adjectives, and so on.  I know that I have felt exceptionally lazy since the last semester ended, but I have caught up on some much-needed sleep.  So, let’s start the year off with something I’ve experienced before, something I’m sure so many of my peers have experienced as well.  While holidays are a time for bringing families together, it is also a time for those estranged relatives to judge every aspect of your life.

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Have you found a job yet?” 

“That’s an interesting degree, but you’re not going to find work.” 

OK, hold up, I can stand some prodding and poking into my personal/private life, but you can’t just make a judgement call like that without knowing the extent of archaeological or otherwise anthropological work.  Now, I managed to avoid that last statement this year, but I’ve heard it before and something tells me that those reading this blog have probably encountered this.  So, let’s debunk this.

What can you do with your degree?  Well, it’ll vary based on what degree(s) you have and where you choose to specialize, but let’s use my current degree and what I’m working towards as an example.

Anthropology BA – There’s more you can do with a BA in Anthropology than your doubting second cousin twice removed will ever believe.  Here is a list of job titles taken strictly from Indeed (a site dedicated to jobs): Archaeological Field Technician (very first result), Research Assistant (American Museum of Natural History), Administrative Aide (various ANTH Dept), Case Manager (social services), Mental Health Technician (various hospitals), Public Programs Coordinator, Audience Research Associate (Philadelphia Museum of Art).  Look, there is work available in hospitals, museums, social service groups, and CRM.  There’s more if you take the time to just look around.

Applied Archaeology MA – So a BA wasn’t going to be enough, eh?  Yeah, it seems like it never is anymore.  Every job wants the highest degree imaginable plus five years of experience.  So, this degree seems a little more straightforward.  I assume most people getting a MA in Archaeology, applied or otherwise, are probably trying to become a registered professional archaeologist.  This of course opens pathways further in CRM and academic archaeology.  That’s not the only possibility though, you can get work as a conservator, a heritage manager, or in an array of museum positions related to curation, education, and preservation.

Look, I could expand this to other similar degrees and/or continuations of these degrees, but there’s more than I’ll ever be able to list.  The fact of the matter is, you can find work in archaeology and anthropology.

IUP Department of Anthropology