Before her second year of high school, Kelsey Fevrier hadn't heard of anthropology. But in a world history class, she realized that it would be the perfect major because it encompasses her two great passions – learning about cultures and people. Now, she's complementing it with minors that will prepare her for medical school.
"I realized that studying anthropology was exactly what I wanted to do," Kelsey says. "That's because it's the multidisciplinary study of people. And when I discovered that the College has a strong anthropology program, I knew this was the right place for me."
Kelsey is focusing on cultural anthropology. "There is a whole sub-discipline of medical anthropology within that. It combines biology and traditional medical practices, and fits perfectly with the trend in medicine today of practitioners viewing patients as people first and medical specimens second."
During her first year at the College, she asked an anthropology professor about his research, and he invited her to participate. Kelsey jumped right in and started working as a research assistant on a cross-cultural study set up to examine sexual controls in 60 societies around the world. "I didn't have the background to fully understand the scope of this study, but I quickly learned the basics. Now, we're developing a code that will help us analyze why there is more control in an Indian caste system, say, versus an egalitarian society."
Among the courses that she has taken in this major, Kelsey says she thoroughly enjoyed "Peoples and Cultures of the Caribbean" and the "Ethics of Addiction." As she prepares for her future, she's certain that she's getting the best grounding possible by studying anthropology.
"I have a friend in medical school, and the entire first unit she studied there was cultural anthropology. I take that as strong proof of the broad applicability of a degree in anthropology."
