"So What Are You...?" Life as a Mixed-Blood in Academia

Autor/in	Pelletier, Julie
Titel	"So What Are You...?" Life as a Mixed-Blood in Academia
Quelle	In: American Indian Quarterly, 27 (2003) 1-2, S.369-372 (4 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0095-182X
Schlagwörter	Anthropology; Higher Education; Multiracial Persons; Canada Natives; Social Class; Social Differences; Graduate Students + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Anthropologie; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Mischling; Social classes; Soziale Klasse; Sozialer Unterschied; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin
Abstract	The author and her mentor, Loudell Snow, were standing in the anthropology department's shabby little lounge, discussing the merits of French wine. Lou was teasing her for being partial to French wine since she is French American. "Hey, I thought that you're an American Indian, but now you are saying you are French? Make up your mind!" Lou and the author looked at each other in amazement when her anthropological theory professor interrupted their conversation with this comment. The author is not insensitive to the complicated nature of her identity. She was appalled, however, to be addressed in such a way by a man who, in the classroom, reveled in discussions of postmodernity and the permeability of boundaries, including the boundaries of identity. This brief conversation heightened her awareness that earning a graduate degree in anthropology has implications for an Indian or mixed-blood that it may not have for members of other racial or ethnic groups. Anthropologists are often feared, despised, or disdained by the people they study, especially by Indians. The author has been accused of betraying Indian people as a whole by associating herself with anthropology but also charged with the weighty responsibility of influencing the field of anthropology through her presence and contributions. So why would the author choose this profession? Like many individuals who are happy with their work, the author believes that anthropology chose her. Her passion for anthropology led her to graduate school, but graduate school was like a foreign country. While the author suspected that some of her colleagues were "passing" for middle class, the sense of isolation was intense. At the age of thirty, as a working-class, mixed-blood woman, the author had never been so thoroughly surrounded by nor immersed in middle-class society. Differences in social class were not discussed. The assumption seemed to be that graduate students and academics were all middle or upper middle class, that we all had the same background and life experiences. Diversity has been the motto in American academia for more than a decade. Yet her experience has taught her that in academics' sometimes frantic desire for cultural diversity, they are sometimes neglecting a discussion of social class. The author is convinced, both by her social interactions and by her anthropological training, that all of the facets of a person's identity, including race/ethnicity and social class, are significant factors in shaping his or her experience in academia. (ERIC).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10