napaDear Readers:
This is Leni Bohren, the President of NAPA. I am excited to announce that, two weeks from now, members of the NAPA Governing Council will begin blogging regularly on this site. The goal is to keep NAPA members better informed and current about what is happening behind the scenes of NAPA, and to solicit your feedback. The Governing Council consists of both elected officials and committee chairs. Blog posts will include committee activities, news, updates, and really anything that is on the mind of the presenters. We will try to keep these on a bi-weekly schedule, appearing sometime during the day on every other Tuesday.
In the meantime, on alternating Tuesdays, be sure to visit the NAPA LinkedIn page, to follow our interview series with anthropology practitioners. You’ll find brief comments on the state of anthropology in the field today, information of relevance to job seekers, and current issues of interest to practitioners. Feel free to add your voice to these discussions.
Among other current NAPA activities, association committees are active in ongoing work and preparation for the November AAA meeting in Chicago. The Program, Workshop, and Organizational Relations committees all have a lot to prepare for in the coming months. The Communications and Membership committees will likewise be working on materials and activities for the NAPA table in the exhibition hall.
Perhaps the biggest current news comes from the Mentoring Committee, which is preparing to launch a significant new resource for those with questions about graduate schools and working as practitioner anthropologists. An FAQ series with nearly 60 questions (and answers!) will be online soon in the mentoring section of this site. It should prove to be a tremendously useful resource to those with questions about their next steps in applying their anthropological knowledge and experience.
NAPA should also be launching a listserv very soon. NAPA members will receive instructions on signing up directly via email. Other announcements will be posted on NAPA media.
Our volunteer coordinator, Jason Lind, is always looking for energetic individuals who want to contribute to NAPA and the profession; there are many openings on the various committees so let Jason know if you want to be a part of this valuable organization. You can find contact information for Jason or any other member of the Governing Council by selecting the “About” tab above, then the “Governing Council” link. For general queries to NAPA, click on the “Contact” tab above right to reach our contact form.
Thanks for reading, and see you back here in two weeks for the first installment! We welcome your feedback on these blog posts. The subject of each post will begin with “Governing Council Today” to make them easier to archive and find.