What is Environmental Anthropology | Definitions, History, and Career Opportunities | OS7

What is environmental anthropology? And what types of careers can you have with a background in the field? In this episode of Off the Shelf, we'll address those questions and more, focusing on definitions of environmental anthropology, aspects of its history and unique theoretical perspective, and discuss some of the numerous professional opportunities that a degree in the field can provide. The host, Alexander K. Smith, holds an MA from Oxford University and a PhD in the anthropology of Tibet and the Himalayas from the University of Paris (EPHE - PSL).
For prospective students, I wholeheartedly recommend that you check out the combined School of the Environment and Anthropology program at Yale University, which I mentioned in the video: environment.ya...
I can also wholeheartedly recommend the following undergraduate programs.
Study environmental anthropology at Stanford University: anthropology.s...
Study environmental anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania: anthropology.s...
Study environmental anthropology at the University of Kent: www.conservati...
Footnotes
[1] To a certain degree, the ostensive difficulty in articulating the differences between some of these fields (like environmental and ecological anthropology, for instance, which are sometimes used interchangeably and, at other times, are used to refer to different approaches to fieldwork) can be attributed to what Thomas Kuhn calls 'incommensurability' (Kuhn 1962). In short, as academic disciplines evolve parallel to one another, they gradually develop separate technical vocabularies, using different signifiers to refer to identical methods or concepts, often making interdisciplinary communication difficult. As a consequence, slight variations in method, outlook, or theory can lead to the development of sub-disciplines that, to non-specialists, appear to be more or less identical; but view themselves as entirely distinct.
With regard to environmental and ecological anthropology, in a general sense, I would advocate using the two terms interchangeably. If you do so, however, keep in mind that some theorists consider environmental anthropology to be the applied dimension of ecological anthropology (Konina and Shoreman-Ouimet, 2013: 1-2) and others, like Patricia Townsend (2009: 104), use ecological anthropology to refer to a sub-specialization within environmental anthropology. In this sense, there is no universally agreed upon usage of the two terms.
Works Cited:
Balee, William. 1994. Footprints of the Forest. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Bateson, Gregory. 2000 [1972]. Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Catton, W. and Dunlap, R. 1978. "Environmental Sociology: A New Paradigm" in The American Sociologist, 13: 41-49.
Catton W. and Dunlap, R. 1978. "Paradigms, Theories, and the Primacy of the HEP/NEP Distinction" in The American Sociologist, 13: 256-59.
Konina, Helen and Shoreman-Ouimet, Eleanor (eds). 2013. Environmental Anthropology: Future Directions. London and New York: Routledge.
Kuhn, Thomas. 2012 [1962]. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Steward, Julian. 1972 [1955]. Theory of Culture Change. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
0:00 Introduction
0:18 Definition
3:00 Environmental vs Ecological Anthropology
3:27 History
4:30 Information for Prospective Students
5:39 Career Opportunities
6:42 Conclusion

[@37macherie00]

Thank you for making this video and this channel! I graduated with my BA in Anthropology (bio-anth) and my minor in Earth, Society, and Environmental Sciences in May 2019. I've always been interested in doing something applied, especially public educational programming. I asked a professor about environmental anthropology and he was borderline discouraging. Basically that its a new field and there isn't a set type of grad program for it, and the grad programs are very limited (one program being the only one to offer that thing). As time went on I decided I wanted to do Environmental Education as a Naturalist - got hired and 1.5 months later rona shut us down. I took a year off helping my family with their business and have been working in recreation programming. I feel a bit lost and I'm still discovering what exactly I want to do. I enjoy teaching and discussing theories with the public. Academia's inaccessibility for its findings to be used and known to the public has always made me angry - hence why I don't want to work there. I feel so entry level still... - I want to get professional experience to use as my grad school references - and I don't know what types of positions could help me. And it feels difficult not to succumb to fear and hopelessness. Information like what you're sharing is so, so helpful. If you haven't, would you consider making a video about advise on entering the job market as an anthropologist?

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much for sharing all that, GW. I completely empathize, but my axis was the anthropology of religion rather than bio-anth. It's a shame that your prof turned you off of Environmental Anthropology. I mean, some of what he said is true -- but those are also some of its selling points. It an emergent, highly interdisciplinary field, which means a bit less job security (to be fair, job security is almost always garbage in academia), but it also means an enormous amount of research potential. For my money, it's THE sub-field that I would dig into if I were starting fresh as an anthropologist. I hope you don't give up! As a side note, thanks for the suggestion about making a video about the job market. WOW do I have a lot to say about that! It's totally something I'm putting on the list for the second half of the year. Thanks again!

[@shap3sh1fter]

OML! I've been looking for a career path like this one for so long, and now I have found it! You see, I always loved learning about human culture as well as nature and the environment that we all lived in. But until now I never knew that there was a field that combined both of my interests into one. So thank you for making this brief yet informative video on the subject. I am now empowered to start exploring that field and help shed light on how the human culture and the environment are intrinsically linked together.

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much, Samantha! I'm thrilled to hear that the video was helpful. It's a wonderful field and it offers a bunch of branching career paths -- more than many other sub-fields in anthropology. If you decide to work in that direction, I wish you the best of luck!

[@luoluo8451]

This video is so helpful for me to understand this area. I've found myself loving the studying of environment, but it turns out that I am not that kind of geology or meteorology stuff but more likely to be cultural things under the influence of a specific environment. I nearly choose environmental science as a major instead of anthropology. Thank you for saving my career!!!!!

[@luoluo8451]

And I am curious about this field. May I have the honor to further discussion with you? (I am a high schooler from Beijing)

[@ArmchairAcademics]

I'm so glad that it was helpful! Environmental anthropology is an awesome field and, in my experience, it's flexible and inter-disciplinary enough to support a huge range of interests and specializations. Best of luck with your studies! And, I'm sorry, but I don't host any in-depth discussions on the platform at the moment. Although that may change as the channel grows. I do answer questions in much more depth through the channel's Patreon and, in general, am a bit quicker to respond to questions over on Facebook.

[@elderlyoogway]

Oh man, such a great video content, nice editing, clear format, and underrated gem channel! Can't wait to see it blow it up!

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much! Really glad that you found the video helpful. We're planning to continue growing the channel so do keep an eye out!

[@ahmedbellankas2549]

Please,do us a video on cultural change,theories that explain it, models that predict it. Thank you.

[@cutecheerfreak1]

I have a bio-math degree and I have been looking for this all my life! I’ve always been interested in this relationship and I really want a career to help people. I’ve been graduated a few years now and I’ve been working in the medical field since I thought it was a good way to help, but since I’ve been here I’ve seen that I won’t be able to impact people’s lives or really do anything about climate crisis in the field, so I’m really contemplating pursuing environmental science. Now I just have to figure out if all of these programs are just a long shot dream for me or not. I’m 30 now so I sometimes feel like I’m running out of time to make an impact and start a career. I am seriously considering a MS in environment or anthropology then applying to one of the PhDs now

[@ArmchairAcademics]

This absolutely made my day. Thanks so much for posting! It's great to know that our work can sometimes have a positive effect. For my part, I think that environmental anthropology is a wonderful area of research. It's also a relatively marketable sector within the broader discipline of anthropology that can give you a pile of transferable skills to use in academic-adjacent work in the future. And, as for your age, 30 is 100% *not too old to do an MS --> PhD track. One of the most distinguished up-and-coming professors in my branch of area studies started her PhD in her early 30s. We both began our MA programs the same year and now, about 15-years later, she's a full professor at the helm of a very impressive EU-funded research initiative. If you've got the drive to make it work, it can happen. Wishing you all the luck in the world!

[@karliefox-knudtsen6240]

Love using this in the classroom!

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much, Karlie. Really glad you found it useful! And feel free to share with students, as well :)

[@archanajoshi7285]

Hey, this was descriptive and dense for an introduction to the field. I am an undergraduate student from India(not in Anthropology, a field which the country terribly is behind in)and I am hugely interested in anthropology and specifically medical anthropology and environmental anthropology (which of course might differ hugely, but I'd assume still derive value from each other). I have a lot of things that I'd love to discuss with you and inquire about, if you would be happy to be a part of that too, of course. I'd be psyched and obliged. Do let me know if that would be possible. Thanks.

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks for the kind words, Archana. I'd be happy to chat about the discipline with you. Come on over to our Facebook, if you're on FB, where you should be able to PM me. If that doesn't work, let me know. We'll be launching a website later this week that we can use as a platform once it's up and running. In the meantime, best of luck with your work. I spent a few years working in North India (Himachal and UP) for my PhD and early postdoc, so I'm relatively familiar with the state of research over in your neck of the woods -- its relative strengths and weaknesses. Have a good week.

[@archanajoshi7285]

@@ArmchairAcademics Hey. That's nice to know, I am from North India myself, although not from Himachal Pradesh and UP, and if you know anything about India, you know everything from the landscape and culture changes dramatically in a few hundred kilometers. I have messaged you on Facebook. I am looking forward to have the chat with you.

[@vexling111]

Great video, cheers

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks, Casper! 🍻

[@MichaelKilmanAuthor]

Great job with this video!

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much, Michael! It means a lot right now.

[@Vivek-np9vm]

Amazing information. Plz keep making more videos. 👍🏻

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks very much, Vivek. We're planning to continue off the shelf for sure, so keep an eye out for more in the future. Best of luck to ya!

[@Vivek-np9vm]

@@ArmchairAcademics thank you so much 😀👍🏻

[@Strawzss]

*looking for advice* Recently graduated with a bachelors in psychology but have been interested in anthropology for a while now. Seeing there’s even environmental anthropology makes me consider going for my masters in EA, but considering my background with psychology would it be better to go towards the route of sociocultural anthropology?

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Hey, AlexStraw! Thanks for posting. And great question! First of all, take any career advice I give you with a grain of salt (obviously, I don't know your situation); but from what you posted I would suggest that it depends, in part, on what you want to do with your degree. If you're planning on pursuing a PhD and are willing to take the long road to becoming a specialist in environmental anthropology, then a general social anthro faculty could be an excellent choice. You could select a thesis topic that builds on environmental anthropological themes, but still benefit from the broader networking that a more general faculty would provide. With that said, if you want to stop at the MA-level and enter the job market, then an environmental anthropology faculty would be a better fit, in my opinion. Th precise, specialist networking would be more beneficial -- and the degree would translate better to the job market at the MA-level. But, honestly, both career paths are viable. A quick word of advice: whatever faculty you end up choosing, don't forget that you can always find external supervisors from parallel fields and, if you are willing to fight uphill from time to time, you can develop your own research project building on those interdepartmental collaborations. So don't feel too locked into one faculty or another -- but *do look for university environments where interdepartmental supervision is a possibility. In any case, best of luck with your studies! Environmental anthropology is an awesome field -- and one that very much needs new specialists and science communicators.

[@marylakra5761]

Thanks!

[@drewgrad8871]

I have a question. I'm thinking of starting a nonprofit organization and I'm curious how to market myself in terms of professional name. I have my bachelor of arts in Behavioral Science (primarily Psychological Anthropology) and I have a Master of Applied Science degree in Natural Resource Management (Ecology). I'll be taking some continuing educational classes in environmental anthropology, wild plants and herbal medicine from a nonprofit Indigenous organization. Would I market myself as an Environmental Anthropologist? Or something else? 🤔

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Hey there dewgrad. Thanks for posting. I tend to do career coaching over on patreon, but this is a great question so I gave it a bit of thought. Obviously, any advice you get in youtube comments should be taken with a grain of salt, but here's my two cents: I would suggest that you imagine two professional personas: One academic, (e.g.) "[name], MA, Entrepreneur and Environmental (or Ecological) Anthropologist," which would be more marketable in interpersonal, business, and governmental and non-governmental fundraising spaces where a MA is more highly respected; and a second oriented towards public-facing research and (indigenous?) non-profit work. The second will carry much more cache in academic circles where, unfortunately, an MA will barely get your foot in the door. There are so many variables that go into building a good public-facing persona as a professional with a background in academic research that's it's impossible to say what the 'best' approach would be without the benefit of hindsight. But my advice would be, don't shy away from wearing two different 'hats'. You can simultaneously be a science communicator, researcher, and chief of a non-profit -- but which one of those will be the most valuable in a given professional space will always vary. Best of luck! The work sounds very rewarding!!

[@drewgrad8871]

@@ArmchairAcademics Thanks! I think I might market myself as an EthnoBiologist because I see the most well known EthnoBiologist, Marc Williams has an Environmental Master's like me. He has a nonprofit, but he is not a university professor. I love reaearch and writing, but I also know that I want to make a difference and help people. Advocacy and outreach has usually been my preferred way of doing this. I want to help get people away from their cell phones and reconnect them with nature using the traditional meditative and shamanic ways that the indigenous people have connected to plants, trees, and animals. My second title I was thinking could be Cultural Anthropology Researcher. Plus extra school is so expensive now coupled with a tough economy. I wonder how much longer the universities will stay in business. Hopefully more people can do their own independent research and field work and better share their results. I would love to do both if I could. Maybe with a little creativity. 💫

[@siubhanmora-bruce2952]

Does the University of Kent program still exist? I can't find it on their website.

[@helgavierich4762]

How is this different from cultural ecology...

[@user-mk5vj5bf3j]

Perspectives and methods, also seems like you didn't watch the whole video, he went in to detail on this

[@zavynatorcom1199]

ayaaaaaaaaaaaaa calvo