CHANGING THE ATMOSPHERE 2014 ANNUAL REPORT Advancing Knowledge, Solving Human Problems EXECUTIVE BOARD AND COMMITTEES AAA 2014 Practicing/ AAA Treasurer-Ex Officio Committee on Ethics Executive Board Professional Seat Edmund T Hamann Pamela Stone Elizabeth Briody (2013–16) (2012–15) President Cultural Keys LLC University of Nebraska, Committee for Monica Heller (2013–15) Lincoln Human Rights University of Toronto, Student Seat Eric Johnson Ontario Institute for Studies Karen G Williams (2012–15) AAA Committees In Education The Graduate Center of the and Chairs Committee on Minority City University of New York Issues in Anthropology President-Elect/Vice Annual Meeting Shalini Shankar President Undesignated #1 Executive Program Alisse Waterston (2013–15) Cheryl Mwaria (2012–15) Committee Committee on Gender John Jay College of the City Hofstra University Mary Gray Equity in Anthropology University of New York Rachel Watkins Rebecca Galemba Undesignated #2 Secretary Mark Aldenderfer (2013–16) Audit Committee Committee on Practicing Margaret Buckner (2012–15) University of California, Cheryl Mwaria Applied and Public Missouri State University Merced Interest Anthropology Awards Committee Mary Butler Archaeology Seat Undesignated #3 Bernard Perley Sandra Lopez Varella Fran Mascia-Lees (2011–14) Committee on (2011–14) Rutgers University Association Operations Labor Relations Facultad de Filosofia Committee y Letras, Universidad Christine Walley Undesignated #4 Karen Nakamura NacionalAutonoma Rayna Rapp de Mexico Committee on (2012–15) Anthropological World Anthropologies New York University Communications Biological Seat Florence Babb & Bela Committee David Himmelgreen Feldman Bianco Section Assembly Mark Aldenderfer (2011–14) Convenor University of South Florida Finance Committee Alex W Barker (2012–14) Committee on the Ted Hamman University of Missouri Future of Print and Cultural Seat Electronic Publishing A Lynn Bolles Nominations Committee Section Assembly EB #1 Deb Nichols (2012–15) Margie Buckner Karen Nakamura (2012–15) University of Maryland Yale University Committee on Resource Development Public Policy Linguistic Seat Committee Section Assembly EB #2 Gregory Button Niko Besnier Linda Whiteford Ramona Perez (2013–16) (2011–14) San Diego State University University of Amsterdam Minority Seat Bernard Perley (2013–16) University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee 2014 ANNUAL REPORT CHANGING THE ATMOSPHERE CONTENTS Executive Board and Committees inside front cover Letter from the President 2 A Word from the Executive Director 4 World on the Move —100,000 Years of Human Migration 6 Changing the Atmosphere 8 Association Briefs 10 Staff Updates 11 In Memoriam 14 Association Spotlight 15 2014 AAA Photo Contest Award Winners 16 2014 AAA Award Winners 18 Financial Report 22 2014 AAA Section Award Winners 24 AAA Staff and Publications inside back cover 2014 Donor Recognition inside back cover Letter from the President e adapted (ok, stole) Changing the Atmosphere from our Global Climate Change Task Force and used it for this year’s AAA annual report. at’s because it ties in so well with what we accomplished during the year. From race relations to climate concerns to issues surrounding the political climate in the Middle Monica Heller President (2013–15) East, the Association worked hard to “charge” the atmosphere in our field and make sure Wthe winds of change blew strong in 2014. The changes began with our continued push ➤ The Task Force on Israel/Palestine was to bring anthropology into public debate and established to gather a wide range of public awareness, locally, regionally, nationally information, expertise and viewpoints. We and internationally. We made progress on our believe the association is well placed to internal ability to keep on top of, and respond offer AAA members a chance to gain an to, breaking news, as well as on shaping stories anthropologically informed perspective on (I became the first tweeting AAA president — the region and the broader questions it raises, follow me @anthroprez). This included work by and to participate in productive conversations our Task Forces, as well as major interventions in about them. Our members can provide us both national and international discussions, and with a diverse set of lenses through which to LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATION increased relations with sister organizations. understand and illuminate these questions. If we are able to have a focused conversation Three Task Forces set up a few years ago submitted in which opposing views can be expressed, their final reports this year: the Task Force on and complexities can be acknowledged and Anthropology and (K–12) Education, the Global understood, we will have made progress Climate Change Task Force, and the Task Force on in exploring how to make dialogue work Race and Racism. All three reports are available despite — or maybe because of — difference. In on the AAA website. Follow-through on their and of itself we believe this is a worthy goal. recommendations is taking a number of forms, from releasing a statement on humanity and AAA also entered into several robust debates in climate change, to strategies to work towards 2014, starting with our well-received response to the inclusion of anthropology in K–12 curriculum, a book by former New York Times science editor, to the development of a survey instrument that Nicholas Wade, A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, will allow AAA to regularly track our progress on Race and Human History (published in March the inclusion of racialized minorities within the 2014 by Penguin). With the rapid mobilization of association, and within the discipline more broadly. key colleagues and the use of our new webinar infrastructure, we were able to establish a strong Two other task forces were also hard at work: counter-narrative to Wade’s astonishingly well- ➤ The Task Force on Cultural Heritage began publicized attempts to bring back social Darwinism. work with the Associação Brasileira de Largely due to the efforts of our executive director Antropología and the Society for American and staff, we consistently responded, together with Archaeology to explore the establishment sister US-based social science organizations, to the of a UNESCO-sponsored Interamerican unceasing stream of US lawmaker efforts which Forum on Cultural Heritage. seriously threaten anthropology funding programs, 2 American Anthropological Association • 2014 ANNUAL REPORT LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATION both in terms of available resources and in terms As for increasing our relations with sister of the degree of close oversight government organizations, we coordinated joint panels with wishes to exert on thematic eligibility. We worked the American Association of Applied Linguistics to construct strong relations with Congressional and the Linguistic Society of America, at both staffers so that it becomes increasingly possible to their conferences and ours. We also successfully educate elected officials about anthropology, not negotiated a joint conference in 2019 with the simply react to their initiatives. Canadian Anthropology Society/Société canadienne d’anthropologie. At the invitation of the Japanese We also continued to develop, on our own and Society of Cultural Anthropology (JASCA), a in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, a delegation from AAA attended the IUAES inter- public education initiative on mobilities, migration congress and 50th anniversary JASCA conference, and displacement, with a core team involving presenting our public education initiative and members from around the US and Europe. Our taking part in a joint AAA-JASCA panel. Executive goal is to use the classic anthropological strategy board members, Ed Liebow and I also each of making the familiar strange and the strange attended sister organization conferences and familiar, in order to place the often fractious meetings throughout the world, including Taiwan, contemporary debates around immigration in a Mexico, Canada, and even Estonia. much broader context in which we can take stock of the fact that moving around is a normal thing for humans, and that we all have migration stories In my first year as president I have been of one kind or another. struck by the power of anthropological Lastly, with the help of the World Council of approaches to understanding just Anthropological Associations, and the financial about anything. support of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, George Washington In the years ahead, we will continue to work University, and the International Development on the issues that are important to AAA and, Research Centre (Canada), we initiated most importantly, our members. In my first year development of an initiative to use anthropological as president I have been struck by the power of expertise to help stem the spread of the Ebola anthropological approaches to understanding just virus and address the suffering it causes. We hope about anything. I have also learned a great deal the international communication infrastructure about how anthropologists ask questions, including developed through this initiative will lay the questions you didn’t know were there to be asked. groundwork for better coordinated rapid response I do think we have the ability to use this association to global health crises and global health concerns as a safe space to do that, in the service of broad generally, not only among anthropologists enquiry, and in the service