WAPA Event Archives: 2005-06

Sunday, September 25:  Fall Party

Join us for the WAPA Fall Party this Sunday, September 25, 2005 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the home of Laurie Kreiger, 12710 Saddlebrook Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland. RSVP ASAP to WAPA president John Mullen at wapapresident@yahoo.com. This will be a traditional WAPA potluck. A board meeting will be held one hour before the meeting. The party is open to WAPA members, potential members, and friends.

FOOD

WAPA will provide some beverages, hot dogs and buns, paper plates, napkins, utensils, ice, charcoal, etc. Participants please provide…

• Appetizers: Those with last names beginning A-F

Salad: Those with last names S-Z

Main Dish: Those fortunate few with last names M-R

Dessert: Those with last names G-L

Note: PLEASE DO NOT BRING SHELLFISH OR PORK PRODUCTS

DIRECTIONS

From northern Bethesda/Rockville:

• If going south on Rockville Pike (toward Bethesda) turn left on Randolph Road. ȂTake Randolph Road to Georgia Avenue. (Georgia Avenue is a major intersection with a traffic light. There is a fire station on the SE corner and a McDonalds on the SW corner). ȂTurn left onto Georgia Ave. and stay in your right hand lane. Layhill Road will be a right fork almost immediately (as soon as you pass the shopping center. Layhill runs along the side of the shopping center near the “Supper Buffet”). At the second traffic light on Layhill, turn right onto Briggs Road. ȂTurn right at the third street to the right (immediately after the second traffic bump onto Saddlebrook Drive. ȂLaurie's House is the last house on the right. Street parking is available.

From Connecticut Avenue out of DC:

Take Connecticut Avenue and turn right onto Randolph Road. Follow directions as above. Ȃ(If you are coming from Chevy Chase or DC, Connecticut Ave veers to the left at University Blvd so please be sure to take the left-hand as Connecticut and University Blvd split.)

From Virginia:

• Take the Beltway toward Silver Spring and exit onto Georgia Avenue. Go NORTH on Georgia Ave. for about 2-½ to 3 miles, watch for Randolph Road. ȂThere is a traffic light and a fire station on your right. ontinue on Georgia Ave as it crosses Randolph. After you pass Randolph Rd., you will go past the shopping center. Take the right fork, Layhill Road, and continue as above.

Tuesday, October 11: The Discovery of George Washington's Whiskey Distillery

In honor of Virginia Archaeology Month, Esther White, director of archeology at historic Mount Vernon, George and Martha Washington's Potomac River plantation, will speak. Title: “A Business with Which I am Entirely Unacquainted: Discovering George Washington's Whiskey Distillery.” This illustrated lecture will explore the discovery of Washington’s successful distillery and detail Mount Vernon’s reconstruction scheduled to open to the public in October 2006.

Esther White has been an archaeological staff member at Mount Vernon since 1989, and has overseen the archaeological research since 1994. Ms. White directed the excavation of Mount Vernon’s Distillery, which Washington constructed in 1797 to make corn and rye whiskey. The distillery was located on Mount Vernon, adjacent to Washington’s large gristmill and cooperage. One of the largest in early America, the distillery produced over 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year, which was sold by several Alexandria merchants, as well as directly to neighbors and local farmers. Washington’s mill was reconstructed in 1932 and reopened in 2002 as a fully operating gristmill. George Washington’s whiskey distillery is being studied as part of a reconstruction of the distillery where the process of creating spirits in the 18th-century manner will be interpreted for visitors to the plantation. This long-term research project is the focus of numerous educational and special programs including an Advanced Internship in Historical Archaeology for young professionals.

A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Ms. White holds an MA in Historical Archaeology from the College of William and Mary and a BA in history and anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Alexandria with her husband and two boys.

Tuesday, November 1 "The 'Culture' of an American Disaster Response"

Longtime WAPA member Adam Koons is the scheduled speaker for Tuesday's meeting. The director of relief for International Relief and Development, Koons will present his recent work, "The 'Culture' of an American Disaster Response."

Koons spent three weeks on the Mississippi coast assessing emergency program opportunities and developing program strategies. For the first time, IRG will be initiating programs in the U.S. in response to Hurricane Katrina, as a result of its extensive experience providing Asian tsunami assistance. There are many similarities and also many differences between the two disasters. Among the most interesting aspects in the Mississippi have been the sociocultural and socioeconomic characteristics there.

Koons has been a member of WAPA since 1978 and is a past president. He has worked in development and relief for 20 years, mostly as a resident in Africa, for such organizations as USAID, the UN , Peace Corps, CARE, and Save the Children, and for various consulting companies.

IRD is a private voluntary organization that works in the implementation of targeted, cost-effective relief and development programs. For more information visit www.ird-dc.org.

Tuesday, November 28, 6 pm: Special Reception addressing Corporate Responsibility

A special reception welcoming our guest speaker, Carolyn McCommon and other applied/practicing anthropologist friends who will be attending the American Anthropological Association meetings. Light fare and beverages will be provided, to be followed by a panel on Corporate Responsibility in Extractive Industry: What Can Anthropologists Offer?

Carolyn McCommon, a former WAPA member, will describe her role as corporate anthropologist in Rio Tinto, a global mining company that extracts gold, diamonds, other metals and minerals, including borax. After introducing the concept of corporate social responsibility, she will describe her work in corporate assurance, risk assessment, policy design and implementation and technical support, and offer concrete examples to illustrate the range of that work and some of the key issues she addresses. Based in London, she plays the role of a facilitator in the development of policies, strategies, processes and tools which are directed at placing corporate social responsibility alongside business success. Her work guides and supports sustainable, community-based development that comprises a part of Rio Tinto's 20 year plan for entry in and exit from each mining venture. Some of the questions that she will address: "What does the field of anthropology offer to an application in corporate social responsibility in extractive industry such as mining?" "What other skills are needed?" "What are the advantages?" "What are the dilemmas?"

Prior to her work in corporate social responsibility, Carolyn worked for over 20 years with U.S. NGOs, USAID, the World Bank and the United Nations on development program. She is prepared to discuss the challenges she has faced in making the transition from working with NGOs to the private sector.

Discussants: Deirdre La Pin, Former senior adviser to the Sustainable Development Division of Shell Oil Nigeria, and Bennett Freeman, Managing Director of the Washington DC Office of Burson-Marsteller and leader of their corporate responsibility practice.

This special event constitutes the regular December meeting. Note the early start time.

Sunday, January 8, 2006, 4-7pm:  HOLIDAY PARTY

WAPA invites you to the Annual Winter Party at the home of Jonnie Marks and Bob Wallis

From 4 to 7 pm
1213 N Street NW, Apartment A
Washington, DC 20005

Please RSVP to 202-360-4784 or jonnie2192@peoplepc.com

Musical instruments and party hats are welcome but not required. Jonnie and Bob have a guitar and an accordion should anyone feel the need. (Jonnie encourages the former and discourages the latter!)

Directions

The Logan Circle area of Washington, on N Street between 12th and 14th Streets. There is street parking and pay parking at the Washington Plaza Hotel at Thomas Circle, two blocks away on Vermont Ave NW, on the northeast side of the circle (which is currently under construction).

What to Bring (no lamb, please):

Main dish: Last names beginning with A-G

Side dish: Last names beginning with H-O

Dessert: Last names beginning with P-Z

WAPA will supply the hot cider and beverages. Don't forget to RSVP, and we'll look for you there! The event is open to all WAPA members and friends.

Tuesday, February 7:  Building Community Research Organizations

SPEAKER: Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D.

This presentation will situate community based research and research organizations (CBROs) in applied anthropology. It will discuss different types of CBROs in which anthropologists play a major and/or leading role. Innovative anthropologically based approaches to Community-based research that bridge research and action, organizing and art will constitute the heart of the presentation. The presentation will conclude with the challenges faced by CBROs and the anthropologists that contribute to their welfare.

Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D. is the founding director of The Institute for Community Research (since 1987) and a co-founder and former Deputy Director of the Hispanic Health Council (1978-87). She is an educational / medical anthropologist with expertise in ethnography, prevention research methods, research partnerships and participatory action research. Dr. Schensul is the recipient of a number of NIH, and other federal and foundation research and intervention grants on drug and alcohol use, HIV, mental health, and social problem solving that cover the developmental spectrum for work in the United States and internationally. Her international work includes research on sexuality and HIV risk in Mauritius and Sri Lanka, and research on alcohol use and HIV in Mumbai, India. She has consulted to U.S. federal agencies, the World Health Organization, the United States Agency for International Development, UNICEF, and other international organizations on public health and research methodology.

Dr. Schensul is on the editorial board of Medical Anthropology Quarterly, and is one of two consulting editors for the Journal of HIV / AIDS Prevention in Children & Youth. She is past president of the Council on Anthropology and Education, and the Society for Applied Anthropology and a member of the joint AAA / SFAA Commission on Applied and Practicing Anthropology. She is the recipient with Stephen Schensul of the Solon T. Kimball award from the American Anthropological Association for application of anthropology to policy in Hispanic communities. Her academic affiliation is with Yale University, Department of Psychology and she plays an active role in the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS in the areas of research methodology and international research

Sumner School, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, March 7:  No Meeting on this date

Tuesday, April 4:  Tammy Bryant and Wally Owens are to speak on Civil War archeology in Alexandria

"Crimean Oven" Discovered in VA

Senior archaeologist Tammy Bryant of Thunderbird Archeology and Walton H. Owen II, Assistant Director and Curator of the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, will present on a rare Civil War feature at the WAPA meeting 7 PM, Apr. 4 at the Sumner School. Through historical documentation, an interpretive drawing, and the trial and tribulations of uncovering this feature during the archaeological excavations, Bryant and Owen will give life to this "Crimean Oven."

During a Phase I Archeological Survey in Alexandria, Thunderbird Archeological Associates (a division of Wetland Studies and Solutions) uncovered the "Crimean Oven," as it is referred to in period documents. The archaeologists discovered the remains of a large heating device that consisted of an external brick firebox and a long subterranean brick-lined flue that was once covered with sheet metal and terminated in a chimney.

This brick feature was probably used to heat a hospital tent during the winter of 1861-1862. Documents and regimental accounts dating to the winter of 1861 testify to the use of similar devices by the Eighth Brigade, which was positioned in the general area at that time. This feature seems to be the most complete known archeological example of such a system, giving the site particular significance and making a substantial contribution to our knowledge of Civil War technologies.

Bryant has over 15 years of archaeological experience in the Middle Atlantic region, and has worked in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. She has served as a senior archaeologist with Thunderbird Archeology for over 11 years and has supervised and worked on hundreds of sites from Native American villages along the floodplain of the Potomac River to field slave sites in the Northern Virginia Piedmont. She currently manages the Archaeology Lab for the new archaeology division of Wetland Studies and Solutions, and is adding artifact processing, cataloging, analysis, and computer skills to her repertoire.

For over 20 years, Owens has been a specialist on the Civil War Defenses of Washington and is the co-author, along with B.F. Cooling, III, of Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington. He currently works as a consulting historian researching and writing historical narratives that are published as part of professional papers for archaeological and historical assessments.

Sumner School, 7 p.m.

Sunday, April 9:  Special WAPA Spring Fling Book Party

Join WAPA in Welcoming the Return of Spring and to announce new publications by Jo Anne Schneider, Judith Freidenberg, and Ruth Cernea. This special gathering will indclude an authors' discussion about their new publications.

Sunday, April 9, 4 to 8 PM
at the home of Adam Koons and Yukari Horiba
47 Old Bonifant Road, Silver Spring, Maryland
RSVP to wapapresident@yahoo.com

WAPA will provide sodas, hot dogs and buns, paper plates, napkins, utensils, ice, charcoal, etc. Participants please provide:
MAIN DISH: those fortunate few with last names A- I
Salad/Side Dish: those will last names beginning J-R
Dessert: those with last names S-Z

DIRECTIONS

From Rockville Pike or Georgia Ave, turn East onto Randolph Road. Follow Randolph until New Hampshire Ave (huge intersection) and turn left (North) on New Hampshire. Continue three lights and turn left onto Bonifant Road. Then first real left onto Old Bonifant Road. Continue 1/3 mile to #47. Yellow house on left.

From Beltway: exit New Hampshire Ave North. On NH Ave you will pass White Oak Center and later cross Randolph Road. Continue north. See above.

From downtown. Follow New Hampshire Ave. Northeast out of town. See above.

Tuesday, May 9:  Adventures of an Applied Anthropologist in The Gambia, 1979 to Present

With former WAPA president Bill Roberts

Join us for a slide illustrated talk when applied anthropologist Bill Roberts talks about his long-term experiences in the tiny West African country of The Gambia. Convinced that anthropology made a positive difference in his Peace Corps service as a public health volunteer in The Gambia, Bill pursued graduate work in applied anthropology at American University. He continued to intermittently work and gain valuable applied experience in The Gambia after beginning graduate studies. His work in Gambia began to take its present shape after he initiated a field study program in Gambia for St. Mary's College students in 1996. Today, St. Mary's College has a strong exchange program with the new University of The Gambia, and Bill is working to expand and strengthen mutually beneficial relationships between individuals and institutions in the US and Gambia. If you are interested, visit the Gambia website that documents previous work carried out in Gambia, www.smcm.edu/gambia.

Sumner School, 7 p.m.

A premeeting dinner is slated from 5:30 to 7 at the Café Luna, 1633 P St NW, a couple of blocks up from the Sumner School.

June: Spring/Summer Picnic Event

This event has been canceled.