Anthropology News March 2000 zyxwvutsrq Anthropological Professional Examples of Applications zyx What We Do Attributes Attributes Perspective Methods Skills zyxwvut How We Do It Informs Use of Methods Needed To Be Effective Our Core Approach What we zyxwvutsrqpon Itnlirized zyxwvutsrqpon 9 we own zyxwvutsrqpon it. Finding fiema Ability to Wrk in Teams Ability to Work in Teams Tune-Limited, Focused. and Patterns as Collaborators as Collaborators Product-Oriented Work Holistic Ethnogmphy CAREER DEVELOPMENT Challenges To Enhance Our Professionalism Engagement and Disengagement AREER DEVELOPMENT Systemic Integrative Contextual Comparative Cross-Cultural People-Oriented Relativistic Emic and Etic Valuation Recognition of Complexity Focus On Process Collaborative We hk What the Questions Are Before We Ask for Answers Theoretically Informed Toolkit For Professional Anthropologists zyx Interactive, S ~ S ~ . C Cultural Brokering Adaptability &-Do Orientation Advocacy Research Social Skills Structured, Systematic Translating Advocacy Orientation Entrepreneurial Analyst Good Work Habits Purticipation in Obwvia Observation Approachability Multidisciplinary Administration Public Relations Orientation Interpreting and Understanding of Positive Professional Multiple Lenses Quantitative Methods Policy Making Presentation of Selves Borders With Other Disciplines LineslBoundaries Interviewing Building Trust Risk-Taker Technology Skills Training of Our Work Analysis Teaching Focus Groups Presenting Others’viavs Rapid Assessments Speakmg and Writing Flexibility Business Skills Planning Clearly Program Services Fieldwork Experience ir Evaluation Storytelling Good Work Habits Research and Design All Professional Trainin] Narrating Participatory Provision Methods and Outcome Facilitating Listening Skills Disseminating Our Developing Testin8Analysis With Informants Qualitativeand Quantitavie Research to ReseaKh Therapy Support Networks Respectful Product R&D Iterative Approach Integrating Disparate Parts hto a Whole Secondary and Systematizing/Using Learner Program Evaluation curious Sales and Marketing Archival ksearch Complex hformation Research Inductive and Decductive Inquisitive Reasoning Marketing Ideas Non-Judgmental Teaching Data Management Mediation or Projects Data Collection BY CARMEN GARC~A Kuiz The National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA) Strategic Planning Group made an important discovery several years ago. Although many anthropologists considered pro- fessional development a priority, the content of what we need to develop was poorly defined. Former NAPA president Niel Tashima says he finds “too many students asking what skills they have as anthropologists, and how they can com- municate that to an employer.” Thus sprang a committee that began the process of defining the ANTHROPO SYSTEMS “Toolkit of a Good Professional Anthropologist.” The Toolkit represents the shape of anthropology in current contexts. Although for now it is large- ly focused to the use of cultural anthropology, it should be developed in future iterations to reflect the whole discipline. Who We Are; What We Do The NAPA Toolkit Committee proceeded with two working assumptions. First, professional anthropologists are identified by the fact that they earn their living in the general work arena rather than through teaching and related re- search. Second, defining a toolkit for professional anthropologists is an exploration, not an end point. The Committee recognized early that what anthropologists do is complex and that any exer- cise in defining would require ongoing input from a variety of sources. In fact, the graph has undergone serial changes as it has been reviewed by various groups of anthropologists, and the group expects to continue to refine it. “Some- times talking about what we do as anthropolo- gists,” says Committee member Cathleen Crain, “is like playing ‘Whack a Mole.’ Every time I think I’ve got it, it disappears down the mole hole!” The chart, originally intended as a “think piece” for the Committee, has gained a life of its own as colleagues have reviewed and comment- ed, and it has sparked thinking about the task of defining what we do and the nature of our work. The ultimate goal of the Committee is to develop documents and other media that will assist anthropologists to communicate clearly among ourselves and with others about who we are, what we do, how we do it and the essential philo- 44