ABSTRACT
Application and practice is the part of Anthropologists discipline from the outset, but are marginalized in the mid-twentieth century. Recent decades, however, have seen the reappearance of application as a major aspect of anthropology. To understand the significance of practice for the discipline today, it is helpful to look briefly at its history. Anthropology certainly had connections to colonialism, but so did many other fields, such as medicine and engineering. After World War II, two things happened which were to shape the application of anthropology. One was the rapid expansion of the US university system; the other was the appearance of what would come to be known as international development. Anthropology took advantage of the growth of universities to establish itself securely within the academy. The academic profession is producing a substantial number of professional anthropologists who have no choice but to practice in extra academic professional niches.
