You might look into applied anthropology masters programs and see what they can offer you. I'm in one at San Jose State University in California and while there isn't a heavy focus on urban design, there is a lot of emphasis on how to use anthropology in a variety of ways which could be helpful. I also know there's a program at the University of South Florida that also focuses on applied anth. Might be another avenue for you to check into :)
i concur with this sentiment. i'm also in one at american univeristy (in dc) though to be more pc/avoid past issues of the term applied, we are public anthro. i wanted this so i could still ahve focus and worth with anthro without plans on being a professional anthropologist like a researcher/professor.
Applied anth is really great, but there is a lot of angst over the term and those involved in it. It seems to have lower self esteem than other branches of anth, and gets looked down on by other branches... I hope one day it's Just Another Branch and doesn't have so much teenage angst.
I have no idea why it looks like I was drunk in my first message. Heh. Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that applied anth aren't professionals, just that it allows for anthropological work outside the traditional academia and research that the traditional 4-field approach entails. I think the main reason it gets looks down on is due to anth's sordid history and involvement with imperialism, colonization, etc. Much of that and similar later policy was applied anth work, so people feel guilty doing work in a field that has had so much bad press. Also, there just IS a split between applied/non academia anth workers and those in academia and what is deemed worthy work and pursuits. I saw all too much of that when I went to the AAA's in December and comparing that to WAPA (Washington Area Professional Anthropologists) meetings. The AAA were all academic and if you were not doing academic style work therre was this air like you weren't worthy of time or attention, just a "wannabe". WAPA are all like anthro professionals who work in other fields
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I have a Master's in Geography and a lot of the people I went to school with became urban planners -- I don't think there's much overlap. Have you ever worked with GIS?
I can't believe you're not telling me what I want to hear. How dare you. When I said I wanted input...I only wanted it if it fit in with my vision of blueprints/Macchu Pichu hybridization.
If you want to do blueprints of anything GIS is the industry standard; no one does paper-and-pencil stuff anymore. ArcGIS is the big one but there are a few out there. They probably offer a course in GIS at your school if you're still in school and if you're feeling ambitious there are a few few software packages out there you can download and just fuck around with. Here's one. There's also a livejournal community, gis that's barely updated that might be able to help. Blah blah blah.
I actually got a degree in Resources Laws, and if I'd been better about getting the paperwork in on time, my degree could have been in growth management or urban planning or something along those lines. I didn't find it much of a stretch to take law classes- it's just a memorization of taboos and a linguistic study of semantics with an emphasis on logic. The program that accepted me was a one year program, and they didn't mind at all that my BA was in anthro. Let me know if you want to know more about the program.
S'what it came down to from my perspective. I was taking classes with second and third year law students. Full schedule. It was a one year program. I was very happy with it. I'm still celebrating getting my Master's :)
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Applied anth is really great, but there is a lot of angst over the term and those involved in it. It seems to have lower self esteem than other branches of anth, and gets looked down on by other branches... I hope one day it's Just Another Branch and doesn't have so much teenage angst.
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Will check it out, thank you.
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I can't believe you're not telling me what I want to hear. How dare you. When I said I wanted input...I only wanted it if it fit in with my vision of blueprints/Macchu Pichu hybridization.
You jerk.
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Good luck - and my apologies :(
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Wow...heee hee hee.
Yeah, where was your program, iyp?
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University of Denver, aka DU.
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