NAPA Has Standards! Webinar

Introduction to NAPA’s Professional Standards

Self Awareness Standard

Cultural Relativism Standard

Engagement and Service Standard

Empowerment and Advocacy Standard

Transparency and Accuracy Standard

Accessibility Standard

Command of Our Craft Standard

Reflections and Going Forward

Why Professional Standards?

  • Professional, practicing, and applied anthropologists (PPA) are the rising majority of the anthropological work continuum in the United States; that disciplinary dominance will only continue in the future.
  • Few schools are prepared to fully train anthropologists for the kinds of work that PPA anthropologists undertake.
  • No one has prepared grounded guidance for what good and ethical PPA anthropologists will do in their work.
  • The Disciplinary Standards are important as guidance for PPA anthropologists.
  • The Disciplinary Standards are also necessary to ground all training materials to be developed.

For feedback or suggestions, please use this form: https://syracuseuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_86dRvDa6TJuBGEC

NAPA HAS STANDARDS!

New Guidance for Professional, Practicing, and Applied Anthropologists
[NAPA Logo]
A WEBINAR TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF NAPA

Professional Anthropology Standards

Core Concepts

  • Self Awareness
  • Cultural Relativism
  • Engagement & Service
  • Empowerment & Advocacy
  • Transparency & Accuracy
  • Accessibility
  • Command of our Craft

Each Core Concept is divided into Basic Elements that includes examples of Observable Indicators. The Observable Indicators are not meant to be an exhaustive list, but serve as a springboard for deeper discussion.

Self Awareness

The Core Concept of Self Awareness is broken up into four Basic Elements which include several examples of Observable Indicators.  .

Cultural Relativism

The Core Concept of Cultural Relativism is broken up into eight Basic Elements which include several examples of Observable Indicators for each.

Engagement & Service

The Core Concept of Engagement and Service is broken up into four Basic Elements. Each includes several examples of Observable Indicators.

Empowerment & Advocacy

The Core Concept of Empowerment and Advocacy is broken up into five Basic Elements, each of which includes several examples of Observable Indicators.

Transparency & Accuracy

The Core Concept of Transparency and Accuracy is broken up into four Basic Elements which include several examples of Observable Indicators for each.

Accessibility

The Core Concept of Accessibility is broken up into three Basic Elements, each of which include several examples of Observable Indicators.

Command of our Craft

The Core Concept of Command of Our Craft is broken up into four Basic Elements. Each includes several examples of Observable Indicators.

Joshua Liggett, MS, LSSBB, CPHQ
Joshua Liggett, MS, LSSBB, CPHQ

Joshua has a passion for working with people to solve human problems and striving to make the world a more benevolent and efficient place to call home. Trained as a professional anthropologist, his expertise includes design and execution of both qualitative and quantitative data collection, management, analysis, and reporting for the purposes of evaluation and identifying improvement opportunities.

3 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


  1. One smalll editorial sugggestion:
    In No. 5, Transparency & Accuracy, rearrange the “elements” — Put Disclosure and Review/feedback first, because they both relate to Transparency. Then Record-keeping and Protection after them, as they relate more to accuracy.

  2. I suggest a few small changes to the standards presented at SfAA on 29 March:

    1. Add clothing/jewelry choices as an indicator to the element of Prewssentation of Professional Self in Self-awareness Concept.
    2. In Concept No. 4 – I suggest splitting the Element of Capacity building into two: One should be Needs assessment, sspecification of appropriate interventions. The other could be Capacity building, which is a standard term in development work meaning building up people’s ability to help themselves.

    I echo the suggestion of adding a preamble about the kinds of work situations in which these standards may be of use. I suggest that you also explain what “anthropology” is (four fields in U.S., different definitions elsewhere), because it isn’t always clear to professionals in other disciplines what we may do, what different specialties are. And in different countries anthropology has different meanings.
    Explain PPA too, of course.

    There are a few organizations beyond AAA, SfAA that might be interested in this effort. One is the International Sociological Association, which has an applied wing that they call “”clinical.” . I can give contact information later.
    Congratulations on your amazing effort and smart process!

Skip to content