The Department of Socialogy & Anthropology
WESTERN ILLINOIS
Lizzy Standard: My favorite part
of anthropology, is how it exposes
the world.
Right... so... I can immediately apply
what I'm learning in the classroom
as soon as I step out of the classroom.
Which is just... it's so cool!
You know, I don't have to wait
four years to start using the knowledge
that I am acquiring in classes.
And it's, you know, it's not just
reading a National Geographic.
It's stepping into the National Geographic
learning what people are thinking,
and why they do what they do,
and how they are who they are.
You know there are so many different ways
to study anthropology... um and it just
opens up the world.
Shadynna Redmond: My favorite aspect
of the anthropology program
are the knowledgeable professors,
and the very warm kinda feeling you get
from the members of anthropology.
Typically, I know people in my classes
and their all very knowledgeable
the love the... their passionate
about anthropology and so it's very welcoming
to be in the program.
Lindsey Kuitse: I think my favorite aspect
of the anthropology department,
is just over all the classroom experience.
You not only have a wide range of professors
coming from all different backgrounds,
but you also have students
coming from different backgrounds,
with different experiences and prospectives,
and I just love the environment
in the classroom and how open it is.
It's very relaxed, you have people
who are interested in so many things
and just bring so many different things
to the table.
So, the classes are always interesting
and you feel like you learn not just
from the material in the class,
but from everyone else in the classroom.
Redmond: Um... I love to do um...
a research project that I had last semester
in the anthro-zoology course
with Dr. Pat Anderson, um... we
pretty much had to just pick, choose a topic
relating animals and humans together
and I did the domestication of animals.
Um... and basically, it was wonderful
to um... figure out the relationships
between humans and their animals
and how they kinda went from
just simply help and being able to transfer
things back and forth
to actual companionship.
So, that was one of my favorite
projects to do and to discover about.
Kuitse: I actually studied aboard in India
for about two weeks,
and we were in Northern India,
living on a Bio-diversity Conservation Farm
called Navdanya.
And we were working on just different
types of cultural experiences
learning about the people there.
Our primary focus was the interaction
between people and the environment
that's why we were on the farm.
So, we were looking at how people
in Northern India,
work with their environment.
The different types of movements,
agricultural movements
that are going on there,
and just generally um... preservation
of the agriculture that's unique
to Northern India, so it was really awesome.
Standard: Being in India, was stepping
into that National Geographic Magazine.
It made what I was learning in the classroom,
and what I was reading in books,
and reading in papers real.
And it was hard, but it was necessary.
It was... a necessary part of...
understanding what people are going through
other than on paper.
I got to see how how people
live differently then I do.
You know I've done travels before,
but India, was completely, different.
My favorite part about taking
anthropology classes are how
involved they are.
Whether it's a cultural
or a linguistic class and you're
having a class discussion.
Or it's a physical class
and you're hands on
there's always something
to engage engage the brain.
Your not just sitting there
hoping the class is over
you're actively discussing
with your professor,
and with your fellow students.
Or your hands on with bones and materials,
and trials you know the things
that are used in the field.
It's a great experience.
Redmond: One of my favorite
anthropology classes would have to be
my linguistic anthropology course.
With of course, Dr. Davis.
I love the atmosphere, the class was very
relaxed, but educational at the same time
and the class discussions always
added on to what we were learning
for that week or for that section.
So, I really enjoyed that course,
and you learn about language
and the way culture and language
combined over like the course of the world.
Kuitse: So, I think my favorite class
so far, would probably just be the
Intro class to culture.
I think that's one ten or one eleven
I'm not sure.
Um... I really like the
Cultural Anthropology class
because I love to travel and I love
learning about different people,
and places and seeing how
um... so many people are so different
yet kind of at the core were all
so, so, similar.
And I just thought it was awesome
that you could be in a classroom,
you know here, but you're learning
about people all over the world
seeing how things are different,
and I just think studying other people
it opens your mind
to so many different things.
It makes you so much um...
more open to the world to other people
and you just approach things
in a totally different way now
cause you understand, you understand
more of where people come from
and the differences that kind of exist,
and how that doesn't really matter
cause your all your all apart of this huge
global community that's so different,
but so similar.
Standard: Um... pursuing the degree
in Medical Anthropology,
that's my next step.
Looking to obtain an Ph.D,
and go into research.
That will combine a both
cultural studies and biological studies
in anthropology. I need to know
about diseases that are prevalent to an areas
and how people react to those diseases.
How do they use their health care system?
How do they, how do they cope
with genetic disorders
if they don't have a health care system?
Answering some of those big questions,
and that could be here in the United States,
or it could be global.
Redmond: Um... I would like to look in further
at Forensic Anthropology, but I plan
on going into Social Services,
and hopefully, becoming an Adminstration
or Administrator for a university
to help connect students more
with the university.
I would also like to have a like
Women's Care facility, perhaps
and um... to basically, provide education
as well as, care for women
across the globe and their children,
and hopefully, make a better world
for women overall.
Kuitse: My plans after graduation
are kind of undecided right now.
I'm not really sure what I would like to do.
I'm looking at taking a gap year
and working for some type of non-profit
organization before going to grad school
and pursuing a master's
in I'm not really sure yet.
I'm looking at um... perhaps a master's
in something with anthropology.
It gives you so many options
having a degree in anthropology
so kind of nailing one thing down
is really difficult, but um...
I think ultimately, even after um...
I graduate from grad school, I would like
to work in a non-profit organization
either nationally or internationally.
THINK PURPLE WWW.WIU.EDU/CAS/SOCIOLOGY
THINK DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY
