What inspired you to work for Anthro International?
College education shouldn't leave people in a lifetime of debt without job prospects, so an organization that is both affordable and practical is incredible. I'd love to be a part of the next era of higher education that can make it easier for young people to get careers in social sciences without having to struggle with a lifetime of debt.
Why do you do what you do?
I am an instructor and guide for programs related to indigenous studies and/or women's history. Specifically, I help create course curriculum that excludes any classroom time so participants can get field experience and learn from local experts rather than receive classroom knowledge that doesn't apply in real-world settings.
Meeting the Seattle Reign FC football team at an exclusive training session in Seattle
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I have backgrounds in education, anthropology, history, and Native American studies and find the best way to prepare future anthropologists and other social scientists is through field experience that can prepare then for what they can expect from a career in social science research, including how to travel on a budget, write or edit video footage, and make meaningful connections with local experts.
What advice would you give your pre-travel self?
Honestly, looking back on it, I believe it was a waste of time and money going to a traditional 4-year college. Everything I learned about how to be a good social science researcher- including the ethics of the job- I learned from traveling. For those interested in pursuing careers in the social sciences, I would suggest spending a year or more traveling, meeting locals and fellow travelers, avoiding tourist traps, ignoring restaurants with menus printed in English, and never visiting anywhere you've heard of on social media. Ditch the brochures and explore the places the locals lead you to.
Very Serious work at a locally-owned apple orchard in Illinois
Why should someone choose Anthro International over competitors?
Anthro International is an organization dedicated to inspiring ethical tourism by avoiding the places so overwhelmed by tourists that locals march through the streets in protest. We encourage tourism to places where our travel can be a force for good and focus on educating our travelers on the practical lessons of how to monetize their passion for learning and travel. We don't award college degrees; we give you the real-world training on how to become a social science researcher without a lifetime of debt.
What is your organization's mission, and how do you continue to work toward it?
Anthro International approaches everything we do from the standpoint of what responsibility we have to our posterity seven generations in the future (roughly 140 years). By the year 2165, none of our current staff will be alive anymore, but our hope is that what we do today will make the world of that year a better place by revolutionizing the tourism industry of the future, and pressuring US universities to create more affordable education programs so that everyone who wants to go to college can without financial barriers.
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
Each of our programs is designed to provide participants with field experience- whether from the saddle of a horseback expedition in Patagonia or a dive certification from our program in Hawaii. We don't provide classroom education; we provide field experience you can actually put on a resume that won't break your bank account.
How do you help support participants?
Throughout our programs, we connect participants with local guides and team instructors who help participants learn how to journal about their experiences, develop their skills in either writing or videography, and then show them how to edit their work to find ways to monetize their passion for travel. Not only do we provide a better version of a college education, but we also teach participants how to monetize that knowledge.
Stopping for smoothies at a roadside fruit stand on Maui
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
Mark Twain once said the greatest enemy to prejudice is travel, and we believe it. Travel has the power to revolutionize our points of view, but it can also be damaging. Over tourism in places like Venice and Barcelona doesn't just anger locals, it often drives them from cities their families have lived in for generations, while resorts in places like Hawaii and Jamaica provide a sterilized and stereotyped version of local culture mass-produced to make it more marketable to cruise ship travelers. Ethical travel is the heart of Anthro International's core message of connecting travelers with real locations, avoiding over-visited locales, and educating travelers on the local cultures and history of the places we visit.
How do you help support participants?
Throughout our programs, we connect participants with local guides and team instructors who help participants learn how to journal about their experiences, develop their skills in either writing or videography, and then show them how to edit their work to find ways to monetize their passion for travel. Not only do we provide a better version of a college education, but we also teach participants how to monetize that knowledge.
Exploring the ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
Mark Twain once said the greatest enemy to prejudice is travel, and we believe it. Travel has the power to revolutionize our points of view, but it can also be damaging. Over tourism in places like Venice and Barcelona doesn't just anger locals, it often drives them from cities their families have lived in for generations, while resorts in places like Hawaii and Jamaica provide a sterilized and stereotyped version of local culture mass-produced to make it more marketable to cruise ship travelers. Ethical travel is the heart of Anthro International's core message of connecting travelers with real locations, avoiding over-visited locales, and educating travelers on the local cultures and history of the places we visit.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful travel means avoiding the tourist traps and the social media hotspots. In a non-English speaking country, never eat at restaurants with menus printed in English. In unfamiliar places, find out what the locals do for fun. When choosing hotels, stay at locally owned places and never buy souvenirs from anywhere near the main tourist locations. Meaningful tourism means supporting the communities you are a guest in, not destroying their cities.
What issues do you see in the world of international education that don’t line up with your values and expectations for mutually beneficial & educational relationships between providers and the communities in which they are located?
More often than not, higher education across the world has become like learning how to ride a bicycle in a classroom over 4 years, costing thousands of dollars, without ever touching a bicycle, then awarding participants with a meaningless piece of paper that says you know how to ride a bike- but no one will hire you at a bike shop without that piece of paper. Anthro International intends to change that by creating short, intensive programs that ditch the classroom and give participants real experience, so you can show you know how to do something without the worthless piece of paper, and for a fraction of the cost.