Genealogy and Community Development?
I've been tossing around ideas in my head on how to combine my passion for history, genealogy and culture with a career in communtiy development and urban planning. For example, using prosopographical or genealogical research to understand the power relations within and between communities and stakeholders. I am thinking along the lines of "applied genealogy", in the same spirit as "applied anthropology" – i.e. research undertaken and applied in the service of bettering communities and people's lives. If I could do this, I would really enjoy my job. Really. I wonder sometimes though if it will be practical to combine genealogy, history, anthropology with the everyday practice of community development and urban planning. That is when I think maybe I should choose a career in academia instead of in public or private practice. It is theories and research problems that I enjoy, not solving everyday problems and interacting with community stakeholders, playing politics, etc. But this activity is surely a part of academia, too. What to do. What to do.