Saturday, August 9, 2014

Applied Anthropology Profile: Ria



Ria had not originally intended on becoming an anthropologist, but after taking several anthropology electives while pursuing her undergraduate degree, Ria fell in love with anthropological fieldwork, ethnographic analyses, people and cultures, and the focus on real world problems.  I met Ria in graduate school.  She had come to Canada from the Philippines in order to broaden her educational pursuits and assist in understanding issues concerning Filipino live-in caregivers living abroad in Canada and their families that remained in the Philippines.  Ria had every intention at that time to pursue a PhD upon completion of her MA and returning to the Philippines to teach, but fate had a different plan for Ria.

Upon graduating with her MA degree from the University of Western Ontario, Ria had several employment opportunities available to her.  Many of these opportunities allowed her to work in the non-profit sector, and currently she works for connecting South West Ontario Project as a Change Management and Adoption Coordinator.  This eHealth initiative is funded by eHealth Ontario and is charged with deploying innovative solutions that would potentially change the current health care system in the region.  Ria finds this work incredibly “fulfilling and rewarding” and enjoys the potential to positively affect her community and everyday citizens who utilize the health care system provided in Canada.  Her anthropological background has been instrumental as she can “organize information and draw insights from (her work)” that contributes to the achievement of the project’s primary goals. 

For others who are considering majoring in anthropology, Ria suggests thinking ahead in regards to how you want to utilize your anthropology degree.  Anthropology degrees can provide you not only a multitude of opportunities but the ability to pursue any and all of them.  She also says, “An anthropology degree can take you to many, many places. It’s just a matter of really understanding where opportunities lie and what they can do right now that will help them get to that outcome.”  As Ria’s own story demonstrates, an anthropology degree can take you down some of the most interesting and fulfilling career paths.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Ria has a bright future ahead of her if she want to be an anthropologist and has gone to doing a lot of employment things and connecting with there projects. I like how she has anthropological background, that way you have information and you know what you are capable of doing.
Briana Banuelos
Anthro 102 1001

Anonymous said...

Any individual who studies abroad and gets a degree has my immediate and upmost respect. Again, my fascination for how far anthropology can take you in a career is very high.

Great job Ria!

Zachary Forrester
anthro 101 3001 summer

Anonymous said...

Ria is to be commended for choosing her path in life and the effort she has put into going for the gold. Anthropology is not for everyone.

Jordan R said...

I can relate to how plans change as time progresses awesome she found a good career path.
Jordan R

Charlie Goggin said...

I am wondering if there are only good job opportunities with anthropology if you have an advanced degree. I am too old to get a doctorate if I want to work before retirement!

Dr. Christine Elisabeth Boston said...

It depends on what you define as a good job. There are opportunities for this with just a bachelor's degree (e.g. excavator, surveyor, public outreach, etc.) It all depends on how you frame your degree and goals. :)

Dr. Christine Elisabeth Boston said...

It depends on what you define as a good job. There are opportunities for this with just a bachelor's degree (e.g. excavator, surveyor, public outreach, etc.) It all depends on how you frame your degree and goals. :)

Anonymous said...

A of now I am undecided on what my major should be, but after reading this blog post I think majoring in anthropology wouldn't be a bad idea. Plus I need a major that can help me go into other fields if I need to.

-Monique McAllister

Apreshana Page said...

Anthropology is an easy topic to fall in love with. It started off boring to me but, it actually catches my interest now. I like learning about different cultures and comparing it to my own. It gives you a different perspective on the world.
-apreshana page