Anthropology in the Public Consciousness

Abstract

A LTHOUGH each professional discipline Ji\_ot higher learning in our society seeks to accumulate knowledge for its own sake, there is always the problem of communicating this knowledge to the general public in a meaningful way. The purpose of such communication may be merely to enrich the experience and broaden the horizons of the intelligent layman, or it may be di? rected hopefully toward the solution of pressing practical problems. In either case, the extent to which the general public develops sympathetic understanding of the work of the discipline is necessarily a mat? ter of serious concern to the professionals. During the years 1952-1954, there is good evidence that the members of the anthro?