Avery Lavalley on “Why Anthropology?”

Avery Lavalley (Anthropology, Class of 2016)

AveryLavalleyEntering college, I had no idea what anthropology was. I knew that studying people was what I wanted to do, but no other subject seemed to truly integrate all aspects of the human experience to create a comprehensive understanding of it: history, biology, sociology, psychology, linguistics. An understanding of all of these fields and how they interact with each other is anthropology, and that is where I found my passion. We as anthropologists are trained to really look at moments, situations, people, and objects from a point of view that takes into account all of which that makes it up.  We do our best to accept and understand our own biases enough to see some kind of reality, then learn from that reality. Having always been fascinated by history, and the historical processes that shape our lives in the present, I found my calling in archaeology. Being able to interact with history itself is an incredible experience and working to preserve the cultural history of the world’s societies is becoming more and more necessary as humanity expands and globalizes.

 

 

 

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