November 2003
Rebecca Zarger, Section Editor
Reminder: Mark your calendars and please plan on attending the annual business meeting Friday November 21, 2003. More information is provided below.
Anthropology and Environment Section
The new officers for Anthropology and Environment Section will begin their terms at the end of the official business meeting at the AAA Annual Meetings in Chicago, to be held on Friday November 21, at 12:15pm. Tom Sheridan (U. Arizona) becomes President; Kelly Alley (Auburn U.) becomes President-Elect; Wendy Weisman (Rutgers U) becomes Executive Committee Member-at-Large (student); and Steve Brush (UC Davis) becomes Executive Committee Member-at-Large. Many thanks are extended to all of the outgoing officers for their commitment and service to the section.
The section has several interesting sessions and workshops planned for the AAA meetings this year. The section’s invited session, "Conservation as Science, Discourse and Practices of Control: Conflict with Indigenous Peoples" will be held Thursday, November 20, 2003 from 1:45 pm to 5:30 pm. The co-organizers are Harvey Feit and Steve Langdon. As a section we received proposals for a total of 13 organized sessions, 21 individually volunteered papers, and 4 posters, so check the preliminary program schedule for the sessions reviewed by A & E.
We are sponsoring a workshop entitled, “Crossing the Divide: Anthropologists and Effective Environmental Justice Policy Intervention”, on Friday, November 21, 2003 from 9-11 a.m. in room 4G of the Chicago Hilton and Towers. The workshop will bring together professionals and anthropologists to discuss their own environmental justice issues and problems. They will also work with workshop participants on strategies for contributing to public policy initiatives and collaborating across academia and professional fields. Presenters include academics, EPA representatives,lawyers and activists. The fee for the workshop is $40 for AAA members and $20 for student members. Please contact Melissa Checker (mchecker@memphis.edu) or Kelly Alley (alleykd@auburn.edu) for further details.
A workshop on campus sustainability, sponsored by NAPA, will be held Wednesday,November 19, 2003 from 2:00pm - 5:00pm. Peggy Barlett (Emory U) & Kate Meatyard (St. Mary's C of MD) are the organizers. Colleges and universities across the country are rising to the challenge of bringing the lessons of sustainability home to the institution. What is the role of the anthropologist in this work, and how can we learn from those who have made strides in large and small, public and private, institutions around the country? Many feel drawn to help their campuses move toward reducing environmental harms and embracing more forward-thinking policies, but feel intimidated by unfamiliarity with the issues or with appropriate strategies. This workshop will provide concrete models for how to get started building momentum on your campus. What are the lessons to assure success? How do we build trust and havefun, as we shift campus culture toward sustainability? The workshop will involve several break-out sessions and times for reflection, as well as narratives about the satisfactions and rewards of this work.
(Send essays, news, and other information to the section editor: Rebecca Zarger (zarger@fiu.edu), Dept. of Environmental Studies & Sociology/Anthropology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199.)