The School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg is advertising two PhD positions in Social Anthropology. Take a look at the official announcement here (for the English version click here). Deadline for applications is November 8th 2010.

In this first blog entry I want to elaborate on the mission of the blog and let you know what to expect from future posts.

First, some background and an introduction to your humble host (me). A second year PhD student in Social Anthropology, on a day to day basis I can go from euphoric productivity, a veritable font of brilliant ideas to a state of confusion-induced panic and depression after reading a few incomprehensible articles written by "The Great Theorists". This is all topped off with an almost constant voice in the back of my head saying "why am I doing this? Am I doing it right? Does anyone actually care at all anyway?". When universities are taking some of the biggest budget cuts in history, job opportunities are getting fewer, and my friends and family ask me what exactly it is I plan on doing with a PhD in Anthropology, this spectrum of emotions is not surprising. It took me a while to realize that almost all PhD students feel this way - this is life at the bottom of the academic food chain.

But where to go for advice/answers? I've found that there is no one-stop source for the more general questions about anthropology and doing anthropology. Let me explain. Just when I think I have got to grips with anthropology and doing a PhD, something will come up that sends me dashing to my trusted companion Google. When you're already almost halfway through a PhD it can be hard to ask others questions that you think you should probably already know the answers to. Here's a taster of some of my internet searches over the past year (in no particular order):

What is a "job talk"?
How long should fieldwork be?
Applied Anthropology
anthropology + fieldwork report
anthropology + after fieldwork
difference between social anthropology and sociology
tips for ethnographic interviews
foucault for dummies (It doesn't exist - someone needs to write this book)
poster presentation + conference

Sure I found a few hits that helped me but they were all over the place.

Reason Two is: No one knows what anthropology is. Blank looks or a slightly more knowledgable "Ohh" when I tell people what my PhD is in, newspapers constantly interviewing and quoting sociologists, the fewer numbers of students enrolling in anthropology, budget cuts in the social sciences and humanities, the contributions anthropologists have made to the world that no one seems to realize come from anthropology - all of these things made me want to start blogging.

Wouldn't it be great to have a blog that takes some of the mystery out of anthropology? My goal is to write that blog. Here are the aims and what you can expect from future posts:

- Insights into anthropology, what it is, what is great about it, why all students should take anthropology classes, and why it should be included in high school curriculums.
- Introductions to some of the basics of anthropology and the big names.
- Life as a PhD student for those thinking of academic careers. Including: networking, going to conferences, teaching, applying for a PhD position, grants, getting rejected, what to do when you want to throw out your whole dissertation and starting over.
- What do anthropologists actually do? Who are they? Putting a face on anthropology with interviews and profiles of anthropologists and what they're working on.
- Applied Anthropology and anthropologists who aren't working at universities.
- Tips and guidance about doing fieldwork with experiences from other anthropologists
- Anything else that comes up/people want to read about!

The next entry will be a brief Beginner's Guide to Anthropology. Come back and read it!