Archive for the AAA News Category

2018 AAA Submissions

Logo_of_the_American_Anthropological_AssociationThis year we will be organizing a session of student presentations and will give awards for best student presentations. To be eligible for BAS awards, students must be part of this session! To be included in this session and therefore eligible for awards, students MUST notify Program Chair Chris Lynn (cdlynn@ua.edu) that they have submitted individual presentations for the BAS section.

We encourage you to consider organizing sessions in affiliation with BAS or joint sessions with BAS and other organizations (which means we can sponsor more sessions!). The BAS Program Committee is happy to provide feedback to anyone considering a submission for AAA or to answer any questions. Contact Program Chair Chris Lynn (cdlynn@ua.edu) with questions or info about your sessions.

The AAA submission portal closes April 16th at 3pm EST, with no new submissions allowed after 2pm EST.

AMNH Curator Position in Biological Anthropology

The Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), is conducting an open search for a position in Biological Anthropology with a specialization in paleoanthropology (human origins) at the level of Assistant, Associate, or Full Curator. This is a tenure-track position. For candidates showing notable experience and accomplishment, there is possibility of tenure at the time of appointment, pending review and determination through the Museum’s tenure process. Candidates should have a strong background and evidence of documented or potential international leadership in paleoanthropological research. AMNH Biological Anthropology collections are some of the most comprehensive in the world, offering a unique opportunity for collections research. Extensive possibilities also exist for professional interaction with colleagues at AMNH across the biological and physical sciences. AMNH curatorships are defined as research positions and evidence of an active research program is essential, ideally including an active field component. Prior experience with museum collections is also an asset.

AMNH curators are expected to maintain a high level of productivity in original research, to seek
extramural funding, and to assume oversight responsibility for the management of Museum collections relevant to their areas of expertise. Other responsibilities or opportunities may include advising graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, offering courses in the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School, serving on academic and administrative committees, and participating in Museum-sponsored exhibits and educational programs. Candidates should have completed the Ph.D. degree. The American Museum of Natural History is committed to the principles of Affirmative Action and encourages applications from women and minority candidates. For further information about the position contact Dr. David Hurst Thomas (thomasd@amnh.org).

Interested candidates should submit the following materials in PDF format:
a) cover statement including the candidate’s name, address, and current position and including a
description of the candidate’s research interests, accomplishments, and plans.
b) list of dissertation advisors, committee members, co-authors and co-PIs on funded grants
during the preceding five years.
c) detailed curriculum vitae, complete bibliography, copies of up to five relevant publications.
d) names, positions, institutional affiliations and contact information for no more than three
referees regarding the applicants professional qualifications.

All materials should be submitted in PDF format directed to Anita Caltabiano (attention,
Anthropology Search Committee) (anita@amnh.org). To receive the fullest consideration, applications should be received no later than November 30, 2017.

This employer does prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation/preference.
This employer does prohibit discrimination based on gender identity/expression.
This employer offers health insurance benefits to eligible same-sex domestic partners.
This employer does not appear on the AAUP list of censured institutions.

CFP: AFA column

As the co-editors of the AFA’s (Association for Feminist Anthropology) Anthropology News section notes, we are looking for submissions for both in print and online columns. This is a great opportunity to share your research with the readers of AN and support feminist research in humanities and social sciences!

There are no limitations on themes. Any contribution/report that focuses on feminist anthropological concerns and/or employs feminist research methodology is welcome.

Continue reading CFP: AFA column

AAA Writers Circle

BAS members are invited to submit pieces to the AAA Writers Circle. As explained at the link below, this is a project meant to encourage anthropologists to write op-eds and magazine articles, and to engage in other ways with public media:

http://www.aaanet.org/resources/AAA-Writers-Circle.cfm

This is an opportunity for biological anthropologists to convey the importance of our science to broad audiences. Please feel free to contact Dr. Barbara J. King about this.

BAS-member selected as AAA Leadership Fellow

Julienne Rutherford has been selected as a AAA Leadership Fellow

AAA Minority Dissertation Fellowship

The American Anthropological Association invites minority doctoral candidates from any subfield in anthropology to apply for a dissertation writing fellowship of $10,000.

Deadline: February 15th 2011.

Follow this link for details.

BAS communication re: AAA Mission Statement

BAS Executive Committee communication on AAA Mission Statement:
Download as PDF

The above is the official BAS response.

Some members and other biological anthropologists also composed and sent this letter to the Executive Board of the AAA.

2010 AAA Meetings: sessions of interest to BAS

List of sessions of interest to BAS members:

  • Innovative Methods in Biological Anthropology
  • Circulating Through Us: Violence, Trauma and Memory
  • Critical Collisions in Health and Culture: Sleep
  • Ancient Humans: Birth, Health and Lifestyle
  • Biocultural Acts, Biocultural Survival
  • Biocultural Adaptation and Evolution: Guts, Diet and Microbes

AAA Writers Circle Invitation

BAS members are invited to submit pieces to the AAA Writers Circle. As explained in this link, this is a project meant to encourage anthropologists to write op-eds and magazine articles, and to engage in other ways with public media.

This is an opportunity for biological anthropologists to convey the importance of our science to broad audiences. Please feel free to contact Dr. Barbara J. King about this. 

BAS Executive Committee communication on AAA Mission Statement

Download as PDF

Recap of the 2009 AAA Meetings

The 2009 W.W. Howells Book Award winners are Alan Walker and Pat Shipman for their book, The Ape in the Tree:  An Intellectual and Natural History of Proconsul, published by Harvard University Press. From Robert Proctor’s Science book review: “The Ape in the Tree is a fine account of new ways to puzzle out the behaviors of fossilized animals from odd scraps of bones.”

The BAS Student Award Winner for 2009 was Molly Zuckerman for her paper “Making Sex Less Dangerous: Evaluating the Evolution of Virulence in Syphilis.” Honorable mentions went to Matt Nowak for his poster “Group size, social structure, and ranging in lar-gibbons: implications for the ecological constraints model,” and to Carrie Veilleux for her paper “Habitat preference and nocturnal lemur color vision: implications for primate and human evolution.”

The 2009 Distinguished Lecture was presented by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. The title of the lecture was “Darwin and the Ascent of Emotionally Modern Man: How Humans Became such Hypersocial Apes.”

Program Chair Debra Martin, organizes thee BAS sponsored and cosponsored sessions. This year we had 23 volunteered abstracts that came to us for review – almost all of them requested podium except for 3 that preferred being in a poster session. We accepted all of the abstracts, and organized them into 2 thematic session and 1 poster session. Some individuals were asked if they would shift their papers to posters or vice versa, and everyone did agree. The themes/titles for the volunteered paper sessions included “Evolutionary Perspectives on Morphology, the Brain and Tool Use” and “Biocultural Perspectives on Inequality, Health and Diet.” The posters were grouped into two themes, one having to do with forensics and field methods, and one having to do with cooperative breeding. In addition to these volunteered sessions, there was one organized session on “Bioarchaeology of Captivity and Slavery” organized by Debra Martin and Ventura Perez. We used our invited designations for one of the volunteered sessions, the captivity and slavery session and we co-sponsored a session with Medical Anthropology in immigration and health. All BAS sessions were spread out across the days and time slots, and do not seem to conflict with other biological sessions that did not go through BAS (such as the Presidential session on Darwin). In 2008we had a total of 49 papers and posters, and in 2007 a total of 34. The declining numbers of papers/posters is a concern and we will work to increase the number.

The Reception followed the distinguished lecture. I had requested a room for 100 people for the both events. The lecture was schedule for a smaller room (about 75 seats) and was overly full with people sitting on the floor. The room was too small to set up the reception in the back of the room as planned (and discussed with the hotel in at least 3 phone calls). The inadequate space negatively impacted the reception and it did not last as long as usual.