In this alumni spotlight, Kaetlyn Liddy '22 details what life has been like after graduating from Brown — including a position at NBC News as a newsroom coordinator.
"I graduated from Brown in 2022 with a double concentration in anthropology and English. In addition to my academic work, I was heavily involved in student-run theater on campus, so I endeavored to synthesize my interests in and outside the classroom through my senior honors thesis in anthropology, which was entitled "Performance Art, Identity, and Belonging: An Ethnographic Study of Student-Produced Musical Theatre."
After leaving Brown, I moved to New York City to join NBC News as a newsroom coordinator. I covered significant events in culture, sports, and entertainment, such as the Oscars and the Paris Olympic Games. Last fall, I returned to Providence on a reporting trip when a Palestinian Brown student was shot in Vermont. The more experience I gained as a journalist, the more parallels I drew to my studies in anthropology. The ethnographic training I received as an anthropology concentrator prepared me to ethically immerse myself in new communities and distill my findings for a national audience.
I recently left my job at NBC to continue my education at the University of Cambridge, where I am pursuing an MPhil in Social Anthropology. My dissertation will explore the sociocultural impacts of digital technologies like generative AI on the journalism industry and the extent to which these emerging tools can amplify the increasingly vital role of independent journalism in our society, rather than subvert or supplant human journalists.
My advice to current students would be to consider how studying anthropology has changed the way you think, write, and view the world. Some aspects of anthropology may seem abstract or theoretical, but there is truly no limit to the opportunities for "real world" applications. Not every person who reads your resume will be well-versed in anthropology or even know what anthropology means, but that doesn't mean that academia is the only sphere where you can apply your degree. Anthropology is a lens through which to view and make sense of the world, so it can be of use in virtually every professional field.
Many Brown professors helped me bridge the gap between anthropology and digital media, performance art and social impact, but especially Irene Glasser and Lina Fruzzetti, who was my thesis advisor. One of the best things you can do at Brown is talk to your professors about the research and work they do and think about the ways anthropology helps you make sense of your own communities and interests."
