Gov. Rick Scott’s attitude toward liberal art degrees is still drawing fire from academics.

Last month the Governor said Florida’s state universities should back away from liberal arts degrees and put more resources into engineering, math and science. In doing so, he specifically targeted anthropology. 

Scott’s daughter received an undergraduate degree in anthropology before becoming a special education teacher and later enrolling in an MBA program. Merrill Eisenberg, President of the Society for Applied Anthropology said that’s evidence that the discipline prepares young people for a broad range of careers.  

“It’s a wonderful liberal arts perspective to have on the world no matter what field you go in – so some people with anthro(sic) degrees will go on to get graduate degrees in anthropology others will go on to fields in the other disciplines but they will be well prepared by having the perspective across time and across cultures of human behavior,” she said.

Eisenberg, who teaches in the College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, mailed a letter to Scott detailing the benefits of studying anthropology.  She said she has not received a response.