SOP, round three!
Thanks so much to those of you who have commented on the first and second drafts of my SOP. It's gotten a whole lot stronger, and I feel a whole lot better about it! Thanks in advance to those who look it over.
It was during a time of academic uncertainty that I stumbled across my first cultural anthropology class. I found myself intrigued by how culture could affect a person on the individual level. I enrolled in biological anthropology for the next term. It was within this introductory course that my true interests in the field were ignited. I found that using the skeletal remains to generate a picture of the larger culture in which the individual lived to be much more intellectually stimulating. I was amazed by the wealth of information which could be gleaned from only skeletal remains and used to illustrate the individual’s life within their larger society.
Since that time, my interests have continually returned to questions related to the skeletal record. Interning at the Museum Awesome provided me with my first introduction to field work. While working in the field with their Super Cool Archaeology program, I was fascinated by the morphological changes shown by charred animal bones excavated from ancient fire pits. I carefully processed these same specimens for curation in museum collections, wondering at the additional context that the remains would provide for the larger archaeological picture.
Working in the museum also introduced me to some of the broader ethical issues surrounding the study and long-term preservation of skeletal remains. My research focused on the repatriation of Native American remains and the moral questions surrounding identification of an individual skeleton as part of a living cultural group. The fine line between the needs of the living culture to give their ancestors proper burial and the need for scientific understanding of the past emphasizes how communities can become polarized over the interpretation of ambiguous findings. Understanding how society balances these needs reveals how high levels of scholarship can be used to mitigate tension that might otherwise be fostered when dealing with human remains.
This sensitive juxtaposition between the needs of living cultural groups and scientific knowledge led me to explore an interest in East Asian archaeology. As part of a grant from the Moneybags Society awarded to Undergraduate University, I spent two weeks touring burial sites and studying artifacts in Xi’an, in the Shaanxi province of China. Seeing my first human remains in situ at archaeological sites highlighted their contextual importance within their society. In observing how the Chinese used these artifacts within the popular culture, it was possible to see how the remains served to both celebrate their diverse cultural heritage and become a unifying force within the national identity. The interplay of human remains and their function within the culture provides an interesting focusing lens to illuminate how they can be used to either bring societies together or to reinforce boundaries within those societies.
With the goal of further exploring this relationship between current culture and human remains, it is my intention to study biological anthropology and its broader applications within the field of forensics. Lending an anthropologist's knowledge to reconstruct the identities of recent decedents explores the relationship of the justice system and victims’ families and skeletal remains. In seeking admission to University First Choice's graduate school of Anthropology, I hope to study osteology, learn to assess biological indicators of identity, behavioral markers, and skeletal variation with the human population. The presence of University First Choice’s forensic certification program provides the perfect environment in which to explore the practice of forensics and to develop my anthropological interests at the graduate level. I am currently enrolled in undergraduate classes that will qualify me for enrollment in this program as I further specialize in the practice f physical anthropology. It is my intention to learn to assess skeletal evidence while further exploring how human remains are interpreted within the larger criminal justice system.
Note: There was some discussion about the word "curation," and it seems to be the right word. I guess it's more specific to cultural resource or heritage management, but it still seems like the right word. Thanks for making me double check!
It was during a time of academic uncertainty that I stumbled across my first cultural anthropology class. I found myself intrigued by how culture could affect a person on the individual level. I enrolled in biological anthropology for the next term. It was within this introductory course that my true interests in the field were ignited. I found that using the skeletal remains to generate a picture of the larger culture in which the individual lived to be much more intellectually stimulating. I was amazed by the wealth of information which could be gleaned from only skeletal remains and used to illustrate the individual’s life within their larger society.
Since that time, my interests have continually returned to questions related to the skeletal record. Interning at the Museum Awesome provided me with my first introduction to field work. While working in the field with their Super Cool Archaeology program, I was fascinated by the morphological changes shown by charred animal bones excavated from ancient fire pits. I carefully processed these same specimens for curation in museum collections, wondering at the additional context that the remains would provide for the larger archaeological picture.
Working in the museum also introduced me to some of the broader ethical issues surrounding the study and long-term preservation of skeletal remains. My research focused on the repatriation of Native American remains and the moral questions surrounding identification of an individual skeleton as part of a living cultural group. The fine line between the needs of the living culture to give their ancestors proper burial and the need for scientific understanding of the past emphasizes how communities can become polarized over the interpretation of ambiguous findings. Understanding how society balances these needs reveals how high levels of scholarship can be used to mitigate tension that might otherwise be fostered when dealing with human remains.
This sensitive juxtaposition between the needs of living cultural groups and scientific knowledge led me to explore an interest in East Asian archaeology. As part of a grant from the Moneybags Society awarded to Undergraduate University, I spent two weeks touring burial sites and studying artifacts in Xi’an, in the Shaanxi province of China. Seeing my first human remains in situ at archaeological sites highlighted their contextual importance within their society. In observing how the Chinese used these artifacts within the popular culture, it was possible to see how the remains served to both celebrate their diverse cultural heritage and become a unifying force within the national identity. The interplay of human remains and their function within the culture provides an interesting focusing lens to illuminate how they can be used to either bring societies together or to reinforce boundaries within those societies.
With the goal of further exploring this relationship between current culture and human remains, it is my intention to study biological anthropology and its broader applications within the field of forensics. Lending an anthropologist's knowledge to reconstruct the identities of recent decedents explores the relationship of the justice system and victims’ families and skeletal remains. In seeking admission to University First Choice's graduate school of Anthropology, I hope to study osteology, learn to assess biological indicators of identity, behavioral markers, and skeletal variation with the human population. The presence of University First Choice’s forensic certification program provides the perfect environment in which to explore the practice of forensics and to develop my anthropological interests at the graduate level. I am currently enrolled in undergraduate classes that will qualify me for enrollment in this program as I further specialize in the practice f physical anthropology. It is my intention to learn to assess skeletal evidence while further exploring how human remains are interpreted within the larger criminal justice system.
Note: There was some discussion about the word "curation," and it seems to be the right word. I guess it's more specific to cultural resource or heritage management, but it still seems like the right word. Thanks for making me double check!