Anthropologists find jobs
Letter to the Editor

By TBO.COM | Staff
Published: October 14, 2011

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I am writing in response to Gov. Rick Scott's recent statement about anthropology degrees. The governor is unaware of the job potential anthropology graduates have.

Anthropologists work in the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, in police departments, in zoological institutions, hospitals, etc. The governor's statement also shows that he is unaware that anthropology is science. One of the 2011 recipients of The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) program is an anthropologist.

A degree in anthropology is becoming more and more popular as a pre-med course of study. The degree prepares pre-medical school students with the right amount of natural and social science so that they may become compassionate and effective doctors.

Job creation and economic growth is not possible without education. The impact that departments of anthropology have had on the Florida economy is beyond dollars and cents.

Lorena Madrigal

Tampa

The writer is a professor in USF's Department of Anthropology.