“The best thing you can say in class is ‘prove it!’ But be careful, [your professors] will ask the same thing of you and they’ll give you the tools to be able to.” – Jamey Quinn

Five years out of college at VCU, Jamey Quinn has been halfway around the world and back, and is now hitting the books once again – this time around he’s studying law at the University of Pittsburgh. With a focus on international criminal law and human rights law, he sees his background in anthropology as somewhat related and really a key in opening his eyes to some of the issues he hopes to one day confront.

Having volunteered for the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan after getting his Bachelor of Science degree, he reports that the linguistic training and basic theory of cultural anthropology he received at VCU put him well ahead of the forty-five others in his group. Due largely to his experience there, he is now enrolled in an additional certification program in Russian and Eastern European Studies while pursuing his law degree, which requires fluency in a Slavic language as well as courses in anthropology, history and economics. And if that weren’t enough, Jamey has been participating in a legal internship for the United Nations since the summer of '07.

Initially it was the multidisciplinary approach that drew Jamey to anthropology at VCU. “It permits the study of pretty much anything, including the hard sciences, but then relates those topics back to the study of culture,” he explains, going off on how something as simple as “sugar” can lead to the inquiry of economics, world history, biology, agriculture and more. “Seriously, though,” he remarks, “it’s a science that is better done through travel and interaction than any other.” And it is the genuine encouragement from VCU’s anthropology faculty to travel and experience new things that Jamey cites as compelling him most to pursue the unique path that he has. He fondly notes the close relationships that he still maintains with a number of his professors at VCU, with whom he has both visited and hosted in various spots across the globe.

Back to Anthropology Alumni