Anthropology

The field of anthropology is large and diverse. Broadly the study of humans, there are a number of sub disciplines that most anthropologists are cross trained in along with more specific training in their selected subfield. These include linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, biological (sometimes called physical) anthropology, medical anthropology and archeology. Cultural anthropologists often work with sociologists and psychologists, and archaeologists often work with forensic specialists, ecologists and geologists.

Anthropology has a very broad scope, and as a result, the impact on society is varied. From informing US postwar policy through cultural knowledge, to working with public health to best find how to incorporate modern medicines into rural impoverished areas that are reluctant to accept western methods. Anthropologists inform our history, from the dawn of our lineage to modern day, archeologists rediscover many parts of our human history. Careers can be made in any of these areas of impact, archaeologists can work for consulting firms ensuring that no valuable artifacts are destroyed during construction. Public health specialists can use interview and field study skills to work for public health organizations. Anthropologists can also be employed at a major university doing the important work of “recovery of memories, testimonies, and remains of people who were hunted down and shot for their convictions, or simply for not being part of an undemocratic and repressive regime”, by exhuming and identifying victims from mass graves18. 

Anthropology is the study of humans, and therefore is a vast area of study. Warfare has a profound impact on human relationships, technology, and cultural norms, especially when civilians are targeted. Archaeologists are already at work excavating a “school [that] has links to Unit 731”, the department of the imperial Japanese army tasked with the development and implementation of biological and entomological warfare19. It is the duty of anthropologists to uncover and research the history of people that have been affected by Unit 731, and attempt to understand how it affects our society today.

An archeological forensics lab in Chelva, Spain identifying victims of the Franco regime to return remains to family members.