If you do a Google image search for "researcher", the results suggest that it is all about pie charts and petri dishes. I was trying to find a cartoon that I felt applied to my research, specifically working on my proposal, and while I did find an amusing one (see below), I still was made to feel like because I don't have lab equipment and molecular models that my research doesn't really fit into the nation's view of what research means and what it produces.
The cartoon I did find, however, suitably epitomizes my sentiment at the moment. Anthropology simply has so many influences, and likewise has influenced many areas of study, that I am liable to get lost in a sea of theories, paradigms, criticisms and nodes of thought. I was excited to see a favorite Bio-Ethicist of mine, Carl Elliot, MD, PhD, to be cited in numerous pieces on psychopharmacology I've been reviewing. I had taken an online course on Bio-Ethics last summer and had been in correspondence with Elliot regarding some of his works. These recent citations prompted me to track down what materials I had and re-visit them.
So then I took a detour into philosophy and now I’m trying to track down a hard to find Derrida, with little forethought on how to get back to the main hi-way. The dilemma here is I am realizing I need to revisit my roots in the humanities to get through any complex piece of anthropological writing. Learning how to straddle multiple disciplines in order to enrich my anthropological work will be an immense challenge indeed.
