February 8, 2007
The new (old) future of anthropology
A Forced Anthropology Merger
In 1998, after years of strife, anthropologists at Stanford split their highly respected department in two, with one department more oriented around science and another around culture. Many anthropologists elsewhere were distressed by the split, fearing it signaled an inability of scholars from different parts of the discipline to work together. People wondered if other departments would also divide.
While there are a few similarly split anthropology programs (Duke University being among the more prominent examples), there was no groundswell to divide. And now Stanford’s two anthropology departments are getting back together again.
(continued at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/06/stanford)
The new (old) future of anthropology…
…
See here for curious parallell (or askew?) developments in a less prominent anthropology department. At Arizona State, they’ve created a new anthropoogy department with a purported emphasis on the future; they’ve eliminated “anthropology” from the name of the department; and, as far as I can tell, there’s no cultural anthropology: all physical anthropology and archaeology.
RE: School of Human Evolution & Social Change.
I find it interesting that societies “change,” but humans “evolve.” At least according to the University of Arizona.