What does Rick Scott know about Anthropology? Apparently nothing

By Nathan Crabbe, The Gainesville Sun

Gov. Rick Scott’s comment that the state doesn’t need more anthropology majors has raised eyebrows at a university with hundreds of them.

Scott told the Herald-Tribune on Monday that he hopes to shift more funding to science, technology, engineering and math departments, the so-called STEM disciplines.

In making the case to the newspaper and other groups in recent days, he used anthropology as an example of the type of degree that doesn’t fit his goal of producing graduates who can land jobs.

“Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists? I don’t think so,” the governor told the Herald-Tribune.

University of Florida President Bernie Machen said he agrees that the state needs to emphasize STEM degrees, noting that UF already produces most of the state’s graduate degrees in those disciplines.

But Machen said it would be a mistake to fund those disciplines by taking funding away from the liberal arts.

“The totality of higher education includes the sciences and the liberal arts, and you need them both to have a complete educational system,” he said. “So it shouldn’t be either/or.”

Susan deFrance, an associate professor and the UF anthropology department’s interim chairwoman, said she was “shocked” by Scott’s comments. She said the governor failed to recognize anthropology’s relevance in addressing modern problems.

“It’s not that we just go out and study primitive people in the jungle somewhere,” she said. “That’s very much a caricature of what anthropologists do.”

DeFrance said anthropology benefits Florida tourism through archaeology done in St. Augustine and other historic sites. Crime prosecution in the state benefits from forensic anthropology, she said, while medical anthropologists have researched race and health disparities in Tallahassee.

She said UF’s anthropology program is one of the biggest in the country and among the most popular majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. There are about 650 undergraduate majors and 158 active graduate students at UF in the program.

Undergraduates are often dual majors and use the degree to apply for professional programs in areas such as law and medicine, deFrance said.

“A lot are incredibly bright students who are not necessarily going to become anthropologists,” she said.

Scott’s comments also drew a reaction from the American Anthropological Association.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the governor, association President Virginia R. Dominguez and Executive Director William E. Davis III said Scott’s comments were a “short-sighted” way of characterizing the discipline.

“Perhaps you are unaware that anthropologists are leaders in our nation’s top science fields, making groundbreaking discoveries in areas as varied as public health, human genetics, legal history, bilingualism, the African American heritage, and infant learning,” the letter said.

DeFrance said anthropology benefits the hard sciences, by helping to develop policies in line with cultural practices and beliefs. She said the field is addressing major problems of the day such as globalization and immigration, rather than just studying primitive cultures, as the governor seemed to be suggesting.

“We’ve gone way beyond that in the 21st century,” she said.

http://htpolitics.com/2011/10/12/rick-scotts-desire-to-cut-liberal-arts-funding-raises-eyebrows-at-university-of-florida/2/