POS 11

Today I will talk about the important challenges de Social Anthropology career in three specific aspects: (1) Technology, (2) Social Matters and (3) education.

(1) Technology. First, it’s important to mention that the Social Anthropology career doesn’t use much technology in its professional exercise. Generally, video cameras, photo cameras, voices recorders, on the one hand and software related on data processing, on the other, are examples of technology utilized by anthropologists. With that being said, maybe one of the challenges associated to the career regarding technology could be the personalization of instruments such as cameras and recorders, on one hand, and the adaptation of the software for a more trans-disciplinary approach. The former alludes to the possibility of adapting the ergonometry of cameras and recorders for the particular use of this equipment in anthropologic fieldwork. The latter makes reference to the possibility that the software may be used by people of other disciplines and not just by those related to the Social Sciences. To solve these challenges I think it is necessary, in the first case, that a group of anthropologists properly register the main needs on fieldwork while holding and manipulating cameras and recorders. To solve the second case, I think that colleges where Anthropology is taught there should be a line of investigation were the interdisciplinary application of software is treated. The critical problems that this area presents related to technology, is that most of the time the innovations associated to the area don’t reach poorer countries, or in the case they do reach only those with the mean to acquire it do, that is, very few people.

(2) Social Matters. The challenges regarding this area in the Social Anthropology career are related to the problematization of the introduction of contemporaneousness to the development of theory and methodology in the discipline. Classically, Social Anthropology advocated to the study of ethnical denominated people, however, today Anthropology has all the potential to study society in general. To solve such a problem it is necessary that theoreticians problematize in a better way the introduction of modernity and modernization under the classical presuppositions of Anthropology to create theoretical models for the study of society. The critical problems regarding this, is the inertia presented by the current theoretical developments present in the discipline and that they reflect the academic body of some of the faculties where the career is taught.

(3) Education. Some of the biggest challenges for the discipline are the ones presented in this area. This relates to the capacity that Anthropology has to advance on the national educational system and also, on the ways how learning and teaching are carried out in multicultural groups. Regarding the national educational systems, Anthropology can design and implement reforms and public politics that are better suited with the national reality and its true worries. Regarding multicultural education, on the other hand, we refer to the possibility of creating new methodologies for the learning and teaching at schools were not only students, but also teachers from different cultures assist and teach, respectively. To solve this challenges its precise that the colleges were the Anthropology career is taught, lines of investigation and extension projects are created were its possible that the above difficulties above discussed are developed. These lines could even be institutionalized in an Anthropology of Education on the departments. The critical problems that this area of education presents is that there rarely are academic bodies in the career that deal with the subject specifically. This generates a lack of knowledge from the students on the subject.