Compiled by Dennis Wiedman, President Florida International University wiedmand@fiu.edu

Hello NAPA Members:

The theme of the upcoming AAA meetings “Inclusion, Collaboration & Engagement” is another indication of the AAA’s recognition of applied, practicing and public anthropology. With Setha Low as AAA President and Noel Chrisman as Executive Program Chair of the annual meetings, the annual program should be both innovative and intellectually rewarding for practitioners. T.J. Ferguson, a practicing archaeologist, is now in the professional/practicing seat on the AAA Executive Board. Both T.J. and Noel spoke with the NAPA Governing Council at our planning and business meetings in Washington.  In the news below NAPA Program Chair Kate Gillogly presents how best NAPA members can contribute to the annual meetings.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the SfAA meetings in Memphis, March 26-29.  NAPA is

not a co-sponsor this year since our four proposed sessions did not meet the SfAA minimum criteria of five sessions with 50% of the participants being non-SfAA members.

Best Regards – Dennis Wiedman

NAPA Student Achievement Award Winners

First place winners of this years’ Student Achievement award are coauthors Cynthia S. Hernandez and Alejandro Angee of Florida International University.  Their paper was titled: “Seed ofJustice: Community Action and Social Research Working Together to Combat Wage Theft in South Florida‘s Plant Nurseries.”

Second place was presented to Emily Hogue for her paper titled: “El Agua Es Vida: Water, Power, and Neoliberalism in Southern Andean Peasant Communities.” She is a doctoral student at Florida International University

These students were presented with a framed certificate at the very well attended NAPA Business meeting during the AAA meetings in Washington. First place receives $300, and 1strunner up $100.

NAPA eNewsletter

Student Achievement Award Deadline Changed to July 1.

In order to promote more paper submissions the deadline was changed from October to July 1 by the NAPA Governing Council at their November meeting.  This correlates better with the end of the academic year and it gives more time for the student winners to plan their trip to the AAA meetings in November.  Tracy Tessmann, Student Representative on the GoverningCouncil, can answer any of your questions. Contact her at artiebast@mindspring.com or go to the NAPA web page: www.practicinganthropology.org/students/?section=student_award

Now’s the Time to Join the NAPA Leadership

With more than half of the anthropologists in this country now in anthropological practice, the profile of practitioners becomes more and more prominent within the profession. What an exciting time to be a practicing anthropologist!  Now is your opportunity to become part of NAPA leadership as we move ahead with a new strategic plan that will lay out how we connect with other anthropologists and with broader communities over the next few years.  NAPA is looking for candidates for President-elect, Treasurer, Member-at-Large and Student representative for the 2008 elections.  Each of these offices will be for a two year term commencing at the 2008 AAA meeting.  The President-elect will become President in 2010.  The deadline for submissions to NAPA is January 28, 2008. For more information contact Mary Odell Butler at (703) 860-6564, maryobutler@comcast.net.

Call for Papers, 107th Meeting, American Anthropological Association – Upcoming Deadlines.

By NAPA Program Chair Kate Gillogly

The theme of the 107th meeting is “Inclusion, Collaboration & Engagement.”  To quote from the call for papers: “This theme provides us with the opportunity to [for healthy debate and to]critically examine anthropology’s relationships: across subfields with other disciplines, with our many publics and with contemporary social problems.”  “…our discipline remains a mystery to many and we are often not approached when social science information is needed.  Moreover, anthropologists are conflicted about whether and how to participate in important public debates. Although there are the myriad attempts to develop a public interest anthropology, we are also wary of activism and public engagement, particularly as we recall government influence on anthropology during times of war.”

“Analysis of the processes that promote inclusion, collaboration and engagement for positive human

outcomes is a common area of interest for both academic and applied/practicing anthropologists, as is clear communication of anthropological perspectives to the wider public.”

(Program information is not yet available on the AAA web site.)  Below is a basic list of significant deadlines for various types of sessions. Contact me for more information (kagillogly@comcast.net).

The deadline for PRESIDENTIAL SESSIONS was January 14th, 2008.  Executive Program chair (Noel Chrisman, noelj@u.washington.edu), is working with NAPA to sponsor a range of innovative formats that bring people together across sub-disciplines to exchange ideas.  Among these formats are High Tables and Round Tables – formats oriented toward brief statements by a panel with opportunities for debate among the panelists or significant audience input through small group discussion and questions to the panel.

NAPA eNewsletter

The submission deadline for invited session status is to Kate Gillogly (kagillogly@comcast.net) by March 1st, 2008. This gives us time to evaluate and select sessions, and to negotiate co- sponsorship when possible, before the AAA deadline.  Sessions that do not receive invited session status will have ample time to submit as volunteered sessions. We have three invited session slots

this year.  In addition, we have an extra one slot for an invited poster session.  Proposals for invited sessions or posters must include the session abstract, name of sponsor and contact information, and ALL of the paper abstracts and authors.

• On co‐sponsorship. If you are considering applying for invited session status, please also consider co‐ sponsorship with another section. There are a number ofadvantages to this. NAPA is not a content‐ driven section; we are defined, rather, by where and how we practice. Therefore, there’s much fruitful interaction possible withco‐sponsored sessions. Plus, it will widen the audience for our sessions, facilitate discussion across subdisciplines, and give NAPA more invited sessions on the schedule.This works best if you make the first step in working with people from other sections and when you submit your invited session proposal, tell Kate Gillogly what other sectionyou’d like to co‐sponsor with and who you have contacted so that she can try to work it out with that section’s Program Chair.

AAA Public Policy Forums are due by March 1st, 2008 and submitted to the AAA (see below). These are designed to provide a setting to discuss critical societal issues affecting anthropology, public policy issues of interest to anthropology, or public policy issues that would benefit from anthropological knowledge or expertise.  The AAA Public Policy Forumengages anthropologists and non-anthropologists, as well as presenters and audience, in a discussion of public policy issues to enhance application of anthropological knowledge.  Theformat consists of a moderator and no more than 7 panelists and ideally at least one policy maker would be included in the forum.  No papers are presented. The goal is to present a balanced view of the issue in order to promote dialogue among participants.

• To submit: Complete the Annual Meeting Form for an Organized Session; Specify “AAA Public Policy Forum: …” at the beginning of the session title; Refer the Reviewof the Session Proposal to the AAA Committee on Public Policy, NOT a Section; Complete a List of Participants Form, identifying the Moderator and potential Panelists, andchecking their role as Discussant (time allotment is 1.75 hours); Attach an Abstract describing the Public Policy Forum and the public policy issue to be discussed; Submitthe completed proposal package to AAA by March 1.

The submission deadline for Volunteered Sessions, Posters, and Papers is April 1st, 2008. These will be submitted directly to the AAA on the meetings web site.  If you are considering submitting an individual paper, email Kate Gillogly before submission – it is possible we can find a slot for your paper in an organized session, which can considerably increase chances ofacceptance.

This year, the Program Committee is encouraging Roundtables in general and these will not be counted against our invited sessions.  That means you can submit a volunteered session as a roundtable, which was not possible before.

The deadline for Special Events (business meetings, receptions, book launches, etc.) is April 1st.

Workshop Proposals are also due April 1st, 2008.  Contact Lenora Bohren at bohren@CAHS.Colostate.edu for more information.