Fisher v. "Race"-based Admissions

The legal case of Abigail N. Fisher may be an interesting case study to get students thinking about the role of "race" (in quotations here in order to problematize the use of this term as a biological or genetic instead of social construction) in university admissions.

This case opens up the floor to many discussions including: definitions of diversity, "race", the 14th Amendment, ideas of access and systemic inequality, among others. 

There are a number of different perspectives that could be used to tease out the importance of social location and intersectionality in biological, sociocultural or legal anthropology classrooms: 

• How Fisher v. University of Texas Impacts Race-Based Admissions (Campus Answers, 2016)
• The Supreme Court dives into a dispute over what diversity means (The Economist, 2015)
• The Diversity Research-To-Practice Gap: Backlash to Fisher Case (Racism Review, 2016)
• Asian Americans and the Future of Affirmative Action (The Atlantic, 2016)

Articulating the Anthropological Toolkit to Non-Anthropologists

As a PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology, I am currently teaching Communications to Engineering and Technology students. I am surprised almost everyday at the various ways I use my anthropological and ethnographic training in my department. I've been brought onto projects in my short 9 months of tenure because, according to some, 'I think differently'.

The uniqueness of the anthropological training was articulated in a relatively recent article Why Tech Companies need to hire Software Developers with Ethnographic Skills by Astrid Countee, In this article, Countee describes how her anthropology degree and ethnographic skills afforded her a unique perspective in the world of software development.

Countee's article is chalk full of gems about the nexus of anthropology and the software engineering world. Below are a few excerpts from her article. I've highlighted what I think could be useful terms to define the unique attributes of an anthropological training to non-anthropologists:

I know the value of holism, of seeing how one piece affects another. It is an obvious thing that often gets ignored when building technical systems. (...) There are people who are writing the software. The human footprint can be found everywhere you turn. So, it makes sense that humanistic thinking in software is revolutionary.

How am I a better software engineer because of anthropology? For starters, I am insanely curious. (...) As an anthropologist, I am interested in every possible solution. (...) I think of code as a tool for solving the problem, not the only way to solve a problem.

Being an anthropologist forces me to be a good communicator. (...) Understanding what a client really needs is half of the battle. Even the process of gathering requirements, which seems pretty straightforward, can be fraught with minefields if you don’t fully communicate with others. I take the time to learn about the people that I am building software for. It helps me to have empathy for their needs and to better understand when to reach out for guidance.

As an anthropologist, I think about representation and power. I am aware that there are systems of power at play that affect what people are willing to say and what they are not. (...) Making technology should be about solving problems within a functioning system, but there are people in high positions that may try to skew your project into technology that makes them look good. 

Advice for Grad Students

With the new academic year now underway, anthro everywhere! is happy to finally launch a page that we've been putting together for some time: Advice for Grad Students.

The idea for this page began with an eye to helping students start to think about important issues that may not already be covered in graduate program curricula. That's why we've chosen to focus here on:

• Job Market: Realities & Opportunities including acknowledging the realities of Precarity in the University Labour Market, Career Coaching & Advice, Networking & Interviewing for Jobs, and Writing Resumes and (versus) CVs
• Professional Development Strategies in the context of your studies and beyond/ alongside your studies
• Writing Tips for getting through the dissertation, but also advice on writing Peer Reviews and Comps
• and links for resources connected to Grad Student Wellness

Although this is by no means an exhaustive guide, we hope that current and potential grad students -- as well as faculty and grad program advisors -- will find the resources collected here helpful. Grad students and faculty may also be interested in perusing the collection of career trajectories that anthropologists have pursued in applied contexts: Applying an anthropological perspective outside of university.

Have a resource for grad students that would benefit this list? Contact us via email (anthrolens at gmail.com) or tweet us @anthrolens.