Accepted Panels

 Title: Studying anthropology at the university: a choice or a constraint

Anthropology as a subject of post-baccalaureate study is a difficult choice for the bachelor who undertakes it at the University of Douala. A discipline very little known by future students as a whole, anthropology is very poorly perceived by them. Based on this observation, we wanted to know the motivations of students registered or re-registered in this discipline since the start of the 2008/2009 academic year, the year in which the defunct Department of Sociology and Anthropology was set up in two distinct departments, thus giving students the opportunity to enroll in one or the other discipline. More than a decade after, the reality seems the same. To know more, we extend the data collection to others universities We have constructed a questionnaire that we have submitted to students registered or re-registered in anthropology since this period in order to collect their opinion on the reason for their choice for a discipline that does not is useless and has no outlets either. Our analysis shows that anthropology is very little known and is still perceived as the study of “tradition”. Paradoxically, most of the students on whom the discipline was imposed remain ready to orient other people towards this discipline that these learners ultimately find beneficial and promote the knowledge of others whether they are near or far.