Reflects on course designed to assist students with navigating college to career choices
An anthropologist, Huard recently published an article in 人类学的新闻 highlighting how Great Bay students use ethnographic methods to analyze shifting workplace cultures. 这篇文章, Exploring Careers with Ethnography is based on Huard’s experience with her popular course, Introduction to Ethnography: The World of Work. 人类学的新闻 is the American Anthropological Association’s (AAA) award-winning member magazine, published on the web and bimonthly in print.
四年前推出, the course approaches the working life as a cultural system of norms, and students explore careers through the cultural meaning entrenched in workplace expectations and values. They use anthropological research techniques to evaluate myths and stereotypes and gain insight into what motivates people who are successful in their careers. Through their own research based on interviews with working professionals, students have an easier time seeing the difference between a job and a career.
“The theories and techniques of anthropology have always been adaptive—they provide seasoned practitioners and new students a simple set of methods to interact with their world more deeply and critically,” Huard writes in the article. “By approaching the world of work as if it was a brand new culture, students gain a more holistic view of their current world, but also how to shape it through their careers and choices.”
在一次采访中, Huard said she was pleased to highlight the work of a community college and community college students in a prestigious professional journal. “In a lot of literature, the focus is on four-year students. You don’t see a lot of attention paid to community colleges, so having something published in a journal as widely read as the 人类学的新闻, that is important,” Huard said. “Community college students do truly excellent work under sometimes challenging conditions. 大多数人都是全职工作, most have outside obligations, and the fact that they are this devoted to their education needs to be celebrated and highlighted.”
The article considers the world of college students as they grapple with the purpose of college and with choosing careers.
“Students are not always sure how college connects with career goals,” Huard said. “在很多情况下, students come in with likes and dislikes, but they are not sure how those fit with the courses they need to graduate. This course is designed to find, or refine, a particular career pathway. The purpose of the course is to give them a series of tools using ethnographic technologies and a holistic approach to find the right career.”
Huard has enjoyed an outstanding academic and professional career. 她毕业 优等生 彻底地.A. in anthropology/sociology from Elmira College, and earned graduate degrees in anthropology – an M.A. from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and a Ph.D, from Binghamton University. She is a member of anthropological, 科学, and paleopathology professional associations, has presented papers at conferences and been awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
文章链接: http://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/exploring-careers-with-ethnography/
Great Bay Community College is a comprehensive postsecondary institution offering quality academic and professional and technical education in support of workforce development and lifelong learning. Great Bay Community College is part of the Community College System of New Hampshire, a public system of higher education consisting of seven colleges in Berlin, 克莱蒙特, 拉科尼亚, 康科德, 曼彻斯特, 纳舒厄, 和朴茨茅斯. The colleges offer Associate degrees and career training in technical, professional and general fields, including transfer pathways to baccalaureate degrees. For more information on Great Bay Community College, visit xo3z.stylzthreading.com.
