- Public anthropology
Public Anthropology, according to Robert Borofsky, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University, "demonstrates the ability of anthropology and anthropologists to effectively address problems beyond the discipline - illuminating larger social issues of our times as well as encouraging broad, public conversations about them with the explicit goal of fostering social change" ( [http://www.publicanthropology.org/Defining/definingpa.htm Borofsky 2004] ).
Merrill Singer has criticized the concept of public anthropology on the grounds that it ignoresapplied anthropology . He writes: "given that many applied anthropologists already do the kinds of things that are now being described as PA, it is hard to understand why a new label is needed, except as a device for distancing public anthropologists from applied anthropologists" (Singer 2000: 6). Similarly, Rylko-Bauer writes: "one has to ask what is the purpose of these emerging labels that consciously distinguish themselves from applied/practicing anthropology? While they may serve the personal interests of those who develop them, it is hard to see how they serve the broader interests of the discipline" (Rylko-Bauer 2000: 6). Eric Haanstad responds to Singer's claim by arguing that public anthropology does not necessarily entail the exclusion of applied anthropology ( [http://www.publicanthropology.org/Journals/Grad-j/Wisconsin/haanstad.htm Haanstad 2001a] ). Alan Jeffery Fields defends the concept of public anthropology by claiming it is "a useful trope for one important reason: it calls attention to the fact that there is a division between public and academic perceptions" ( [http://www.publicanthropology.org/Journals/Grad-j/Wisconsin/fields.htm Fields 2001a] ).References
Borofsky, Robert
2004 Conceptualizing Public Anthropology. Electronic document, http://www.publicanthropology.org/Defining/definingpa.htm, accessed April 11, 2007.Fields, Alan Jeffrey
2001a Responsible Public Anthropology. Public Anthropology: The Graduate Journal. Electronic document, http://www.publicanthropology.org/Journals/Grad-j/Wisconsin/fields.htm, accessed April 12, 2007.Haanstad, Eric
2001a Anthropology Revitalized: Public Anthropology and Student Activism. Public Anthropology: The Graduate Journal. Electronic document, http://www.publicanthropology.org/Journals/Grad-j/Wisconsin/haanstad.htm, accessed April 12, 2007.Rylko-Bauer, Barbara
2000 Toward a More Inclusive Relevant Anthropology. Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter 11(2): 6-7.Singer, Merrill
2000 Why I Am Not a Public Anthropologist. Anthropology News 41(6): 6-7.
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