2018-9 Final Event

On the 14th of December, 2018, the students met with four professionals in the fields of development, humanitarianism, refugee assistance, and volunteer coordination. They discussed the blog entries that the student groups had written, as well as other issues such as racism and immigration policies in the UK, dilemmas that NGO workers face, and how to address the wide income and other gaps between expats and local aid workers. After group discussions, the visitors spoke about ways to enter a career in humanitarian and development work, and their own experiences starting out in the field. Conversations continued well into lunch time and beyond. 

Based on exchanges I overheard, I imagine many of these conversations will continue beyond the classroom. Studying social anthropology as an undergraduate student might seem removed from ‘real world’ issues but this event showed that it does not have to be that way. In fact, with long-term fieldwork and ethnographic research that involves ‘deep hanging out’, anthropologists can offer unique insights. I hope this event can be the beginning of a life-long journey of exploration for everyone who participated.