1. DeppyKeranidou
Essay
20/10/2016
“WHAT ANTHROPOLOGISTS CAN CONTRIBUTE?”
Dear sir or madam, I am Deppy Keranidou a student from Greece that currently is
doing a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology; Sustainable Citizenship.
Since I was very little I have always been deeply interested in the “otherness” and
different cultures as a whole. Despite being brought up within typical Greek cultural
surroundings , when later on started travelling and exploring this world I realized
how difficult sometimes it is for certain peoples and communities to fit in the dry
world led by profits, corporate powers and western dominant ideas.
Therefore, what I questioned myself was “How can we (as people) integrate in this
world through creative pathways?” Social integration through arts will therefore be
my case study for the following months representing a productive agency for
minorities and marginalized actors to express themselves.
Migrants, refugees, minorities and marginalized people are given the opportunity to
communicate, express themselves and get involved in the broader community and
share their own stories through laboratories and initiatives by using public spaces
(such as squares, parks) ,artistic spaces (exhibition centers/ libraries /museums) as
well as universities for a deeper connection and externalization.
“The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.”
Ruth Benedict. This is a deeply inspiring quote of Ruth Benedict an
American anthropologist revealing that anthropologists should be skilled with open
mindedness to comprehend this world with its particular characteristics and variations.
On that matter, an anthropologist is a key person that can contribute to the social
integration of these people by engaging in his actions tools such as policy- making,
consultancy, coaching- mentoring and practices to involve other stakeholders. By
and large, it is remarkable to point out that an anthropological view and

2. participation is essential to make such initiatives more visible as well as feasible. I
will further analyze this key contribution under a multifaceted scale.
First of all, it is pretty significant for a case that is being examined, to equally pay
attention to its background and history so as to be able to design the patterns and
methodologies of actions over the matters that an anthropologist approaches. Thus,
in the core of the research lies the study of how the current situation of these
societies emerges, what has brought them in these specific Umwelt in terms of
Cultural, Social, Economic, Psychological and Political aspects. In concrete, as
anthropologists we are called to examine all the historical background of the societal
surroundings that led these people “On the move” since every human being of the
world has their own story that shaped their culture, lifestyle, mentality and identity.
This can be achieved through interviews to the people in interest, participant
observation on the specific populations to examine their typical –cultural
characteristics that will result in a better communication and vision on behalf of the
anthropologist.
During the study of these human beings’ background the anthropologist gains plenty
of skills, knowledge ,experience and materials that will later on use while acting as
the mediator between the people he is working on and the space that is equipped to
them as a chance to get involved and act freely. Consequently, after collecting data
and information the anthropologist aims at bridging the gap between people
experiencing a totally new environment in terms of social, cultural or economic facts
and the society itself together with various infrastructures. A fruitful example could
be that of people which after a certain period in prison are struggling in fully getting
involved in the society again. The anthropologist in such a case is called to measure
the distance to the desired outcome, namely to help the two poles interconnect, the
people in need and the society that has to absorb them. In particular, engaging
stakeholders in the design and implementation of the policies and creative spaces
owners by offering the space and opportunities for them to act as for example,
organizing exhibitions together with municipality members or library directors that
will be run by the persons in need so as to have an arena to express their own
cultural characteristics and share their own stories allowing them to have a more
interpersonal and interactive connection with others.
Furthermore, the anthropologist plays a very important role since is aimed to bring
in light many Cultural characteristics and cultural narratives of these populations by
offering them the space and infrastructure to exhibit, to ”work” and act within the
intercultural dialogue with other cultural backgrounds. Together with other partners
such as Non-Governmental Organizations, artistic curators, activists and properties’
owners they all together provide them with think tanks to act while at the same time
they shake up stereotypes and spread awareness with regards to the people above.
Besides, these actors have this opportunity with the intention to meet, interact and

3. get inspired by others* and as a result feel confident and part of the community they
live in.
Nowadays, even though technology has made huge steps forward and the media is
captivating the majority of the News spectrum, however it is a big issue that not
every story comes into sight in the most procuratorial way. As a consequence,
media representatives are as well required to be involved in that series of initiatives
being invited by the anthropologist as well. In particular, media is indeed significant
in such attempts in order to share the outcomes and these experiences with the
public. Alternatively, due to the fact that anthropology is a broad science and
captivates many aspects including Psychology, Sociology, Arts and Media at all times
and places, the anthropologist of this specific case might cover the media part of the
initiative exposing himself the results showing the meaningful existence and
blending of the multilayer and multidimensional societies in publication.
For instance, communicating and releasing these workshops and laboratories’
outcomes may lead to a better reflection on these minorities on behalf of the entire
society that will consequently bring up a stronger intercultural communication and
strengthen their identities that are at stake due to strong existing stereotypes.
To sum up, anthropology as a science and more specifically anthropologists are
required nowadays to cover a broad range of requirements. At first, they study the
human being as of how and where they ended up living in the current conditions.
Such knowledge and research supplies them with all the needed skills and materials
so as to design and implement various policies and interventions aiming at bringing
together all citizens having a just daily life in terms of social, political, cultural and
economic aspects.
Deppy Keranidou ,
5945224,
MSc student in Cultural Anthropology,
Course ACADEMICPROFESSIONAL - CULTURALANTHROPOLOGY