Why would somebody major in anthropology who wasn planning on pursuing a career in it?
College is not a trade school where you go to learn a specific expertise. Rather, college is a place to become a critical thinker and develop your skills as a creative problem solver. Anthropology is a cross-cultural discipline in which you can develop and hone those skills. Anthropology’s breadth will not only expose you to different cultural groups from all over the world, it also requires you to draw on many of the other disciplines like history, political science, economics, religious studies, psychology, and sociology. As a result, anthropology is an excellent major for those students who want to explore, within the framework of understanding human diversity. Many people major in anthropology then go on to pursue careers in unrelated fields. For example, singer-songwriter Tacy Chapman majored in anthropology. Also, Michael Crichton, the author or Jurassic Park, Lost World, and Rising Sun majored in anthropology as an undergraduate.
