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Heather McIlvaine-Newsad - November 8

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wium/local-wium-992715.mp3

Macomb, IL – A couple of weeks ago, Florida Governor Rick Scott called for the decrease in state funding for the social sciences so that public universities can focus resources on producing graduates in the STEM fields - science, technology, engineering, and math.

Like Illinois, Florida's economy is shaky and unemployment is looming over the heads of current and new college graduates. Governor Scott believes that focusing attention and money on the STEM fields will help spur job growth.

For some reason, he seemed especially concerned that Florida universities are producing too many anthropologists. In an interview in the Herald Tribune, Scott said: "Do you want to use your tax dollars to educate more people who can't get jobs in anthropology? I don't. I want to make sure that we spend our dollars where people can get jobs when they get out."

As a graduate of the University of Florida with a PhD in anthropology, and an anthropology professor here at Western, I am irked, but not surprised by his comments. Helping people understand why anthropology matters has been a never-ending problem facing our discipline.

I went to school with a lot of really smart people. My cohort in the graduate department was filled with individuals who have gone to do amazing things in the world. Only a few us of have jobs that were advertised as "anthropologist wanted," but all of us are employed and using anthropology every day. I think that the contributions of my classmates are the best examples of why anthropology matters. Let me tell you about a few of them.

My friend Amanda is a professor in a parks, recreational, and tourism department in Texas. As long as I have known her she has been working with communities who live in regions of the world that are rich in biodiversity, but poor in economic resources. Her insights into how ecotourism creates incentives to preserve biodiversity and can help alleviate poverty aids communities in making informed decisions that help them live better lives.

My friend Jorge works at a business school in Mexico. He teaches courses on consumer behavior and ethnography for marketing. Those who want to succeed in the real world of business need to understand why and how people buy things. By understanding what motivates people to buy stuff, marketers can create better strategies for higher profitability.

A final example is my friend Debra. She is one of our nation's foremost expert witnesses on political asylum cases. She helps Central Americans find asylum in the United States after facing persecution for being transgendered, gay or female. She also helps those who see undocumented immigrants as unwanted guests understand the complex reality of our current immigration policy.

What do these three examples have in common? They are all studies of culture.

We live in world facing complex challenges that requires more than just an expertise in science and technology. As Michael Crow, the President of the University of Arizona wrote in his eloquent response to Governor Scott:

"We must also educate individuals capable of meaningful civic participation, creative expression, and communicating insights across borders. The potential for graduates in any field to achieve professional success and to contribute significantly to our economy depends on an education that entails more than calculus. The objective of public universities should not be to produce predetermined numbers of particular types of majors but, rather, to focus on how to produce individuals who are capable of learning anything over the course of their lifetimes."

Anthropology and all of the other social sciences are important avenues that allow students to become the best and most capable humans they can be. It might be worth Mr. Scott's time to take a course or two. It's never too late to learn.

Heather McIlvaine-Newsad is a Professor of Anthropology at Western Illinois University. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of WIU or Tri States Public Radio