After Gov. Rick Scott of Florida proposed cutting public colleges’ liberal-arts programs in favor of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Lyndsey Fitzgerald, a junior majoring in anthropology at the University of Central Florida, started a campaign. Her petition, which more than 9,000 people have signed, asks the state’s Legislature to defend the liberal arts from potential cuts. The Chronicle talked with Ms. Fitzgerald, who was a linguist with the U.S. Navy before going to college, about her project.
Q. Why did you decide to start the petition?
A. I saw many people and organizations writing letters, trying to explain and defend anthropology in general. However, I was looking to assert the broader issue. We can write all the letters in the world that we want, but unless we can show that there is a definitive number of people who disagree with the measure, then we won’t get any attention from the legislature.
Q. What are you hoping to accomplish?
A. I would like to pressure the Legislature to block any funding cuts that are proposed. At this point the governor hasn’t specifically outlined which area he is looking to cut, but based on his comments we have a good idea where he is going. So when the Legislature meets again, I’d like to show them that we, the voters, are not OK with the governor’s plans.
Q. What do you see in the future for the humanities in Florida?
A. I’m concerned. If the governor and the Legislature are successful in passing these measures to cut liberal arts in order to fund science, technology, engineering, and math, we will see the firing of faculty, the dissolution of multiple departments, and Florida will lose the competitive edge in the nation.
Q. Do you see it as a STEM-versus-liberal-arts issue?
A. There is a little bit of miscommunication when it is seen as a liberal-arts-versus-STEM issue. Nobody is out there arguing against the governor’s desire to fund STEM, because that is a good thing. We absolutely support STEM fields, but we don’t want to see these other departments go.
Q. Why did you major in anthropology?
A. It is really the one subject that I’m extremely passionate about. It is the study of man, so it encompasses everything. Since it is a dynamic field of study, there are many options available.
Q. What do you plan to do with your degree once you graduate?
A. I’d like to go to graduate school or get a job. I’m not sure which path I’m going to take. I was a linguist in the Navy for almost nine years, and while it wasn’t anthropology, it was related because anthropology is an incredibly broad subject. For example, the federal government often hires what they call human-terrain analysts, who do, essentially, applied cultural anthropology. I could look into doing something like that.
