How do you feel about silos that exist in our discipline? You are invited to review audio-visual presentations on the NAPA website from a 2019 AAA Presidential Session, and add your thoughts to the discussion forum on how to break down silos in anthropology: 

https://www.practicinganthropology.org/annual-meeting/breaking-down-silos/ 

Highlights include addressing the separation of theory from practice in anthropology, and creating new collaboration models to bridge silos between academics and practitioners. There are also video remarks by Gillian Tett (Financial Times), who served as the remote discussant. 

In reviewing the presentations, ponder these questions: 

• What is anthropology's collective future? 

• How will we adopt, adapt, and create new models to develop as a collaborative discipline, using both theory and practice and reaching out to “The Other”? 

• How do we scale up collaboration within the discipline to be more engaged with each other and the world around us? 

This is a starting point. Add your reflections, thoughts, and ideas in the discussion area, and let’s see what we can break down and rebuild.

A local immigration attorney is seeking country experts with knowledge of violence in NW rural Honduras and the situation of educated gay men in Nigeria. The experts would write affidavits and testify in support of asylum seekers from those countries. Modest payment might be available.

If you can help, please contact Linda Rabben (associate research professor of anthropology, UMD, and WAPA member) at lrabben@verizon.net. She will forward your CV and contact information to the attorney and provide general information about asylum affidavits.

I have been explicitly asked to recruit more anthropologists for this conference. It will be held in DC this year (not competing with AAAs). I used to be the chair, and it would be a great venue for anyone working on energy or climate change, but we are also interested in food, transportation, and other sustainability related issues. 

BECC

WAPA would like to congratulate the five recipients of the 2017 Praxis Award. There was one first place award, and four honorable mentions (typically, a maximum of four awards are presented). This was a very competitive year, reflecting the tremendous value of the work being done by anthropologists. The awards were presented on December 1, 2017, in Washington, DC, immediately following the business meeting of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology as part of the American Anthropological Association annual meeting.

The 2017 Praxis Award recipient is Luisa Cortesi, Yale University, for the competition entry, “Dug-well Revival: Tradition, Knowledge, and Equity in Drinking Water in North Bihar, India.”

Honorable Mentions were presented to the following:

Cathleen Crain, Nathaniel Tashima, Reiko Ishihara-Brito, and Erick Lee Cummings, LTG Associates, Inc., for the project: "A Video Ethnographic Study: Raising Healthy Children in Poverty and Examples of Excellence in Addressing Childhood Wellness."

Adam B. Seligman, Rahel R. Wasserfall, and David W. Montgomery, CEDAR (Communities Engaging with Difference and Religion) Program, for the project: "Learning to Live with Difference: Taking Anthropology Out of the Classroom and Into the World."

Thurka Sangaramoorthy, U of Maryland, and the Project Team, for the project: "Marcellus Shale Public Health Study."

Olive M. Minor, International Rescue Committee (current), for the project: "Socio-cultural Barriers and Enablers in the Ebola Response."

Additional information about the awardees and their projects can be found under the Praxis Award link on this site (use the drop down menu under the "Professional Anthropology" link near the top of the page.)

PROFESSIONAL CAREER PATHS! NETWORK AND DISCOVER COLLEAGUES! 

Students, new professionals, and faculty who mentor young anthropologists: Come and meet with professional anthropologists to explore career options.  Careers Expo sponsored by NAPA and AAA Friday December 1st at the AAA meeting in the atrium just outside the main exhibit hall, 11am-4:00pm; 660 Woodley Rd NW, Washington, DC 20008

FREE ADMISSION - Register Here

NYU Washington, DC -1307 L Street Northwest

Thursday, November 30, 2017 from 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM (EST)

This public event is in conjunction with the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) held in Washington DC, November 29 – December 3.  World on the Move: 100,000 Years of Human Migration is an AAA initiative designed to change the public conversation about migration, immigration, and displacement. The special event will include the screening of El mar la mar, a documentary on undocumented immigration.

Still taken from film, El mar la mar (2017)

 Over the last 20 years, the US border patrol is alleged to have retrieved 6,029 human remains from the arid terrain of the Sonoran desert that stretches across the US-Mexico border. The bodies of thousands of others who have tried to enter the US through this treacherous stretch of desert may have been obliterated by the sun before they were found.

 El mar la mar shares the harrowing stories of individuals who attempt this journey. Filmmakers Joshua Bonnetta and JP Sniadecki spent almost three years documenting this hostile environment, filming the landscape, recording wildlife, and talking to border rangers, aid workers and people-smugglers to put together a film that speaks to the devastating reality that many who set out to find a better life in the US never make it through.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/205561041

As we kick off the 2017-18 year, WAPA would like you to consider sharing your recent work with other professional anthropologists. We have slots open for new and interesting talks on the first Tuesday of the month until next June.

If you have a project that you think would be of interest to other anthropologists because of the topic, methodology or challenges overcome, please let us know. We also want to extend this invitation to anthropologists visiting local colleges, agencies or non-profits. We welcome new and interesting presentations and look forward to hearing from you.

Please send an email with a brief description of your proposed talk and your contact information to Laurie Krieger and Jennifer Zazo-Brown at: laurie_krieger@hotmail.com, and Zazo-BrownJ@si.edu.    

We have several open positions on the WAPA Board. These can be a great way to help out and learn more about the organization while meeting active members. Open positions and responsibilities follow. Please contact Erik Kjeldgaard with questions, nominations, or to volunteer.

Secretary – Take notes during WAPA board meetings, draft notes for board review, and post final notes on website.

Membership/Communications Liaison –update information for events in the events tab, schedule events emails, field requests to send things out to the membership/contacts list, assist with any issues related to updating membership, edit all automatic communications with membership to reflect accurate information, serve as the point of contact for prospective members or members and send those individuals to the appropriate contact, collaborate with the social media team on a social media strategy and protocol

Student representatives from area colleges and universities –to serve as a voice for and help WAPA reach students interested in anthropological praxis at those institutions
Programming Committee and other committee members –to work with the program committee chair to identify and schedule speakers and events

The National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) is releasing free, Advance Timed Entry Passes for September 2017 beginning at 9:00 am, tomorrow, June 7.  Timed Passes are released on the first Wednesday of each month.

The NMAAHC is proud to have welcomed approximately 1.7 million visitors, making us one of the most popular cultural destinations in the country.  The museum is working diligently to ensure that as many people as possible can visit while ensuring the safety, security and quality of the visitor experience.

The museum offers several options for obtaining passes:

Online Same-Day Timed Passes: Visitors can obtain passes on the day of their planned visit starting at 6:30 a.m. on the museum’s website, nmaahc.si.edu/sameday.  

Walk-Up Passes: A limited number of walk up passes are available starting at 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. No walk-up passes will be available on weekends due to high visitation. 

Group Passes: To date, we have received more than 55,000 requests for group passes and are working through a long waiting list. The demand for passes is so high that we have temporarily suspended group reservations; we cannot accept requests until further notice. 

Please welcome our incoming WAPA President for 2017-2018, Erik Kjeldgaard.  

Erik Kjeldgaard received his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology in 2007 from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His dissertation research, supported by a Fulbright scholarship, focused on religious conversion to pentecostal Christianity in Trinidad, West Indies. He has been an analyst at the US Government Accountability Office since 2009, where he has worked on human capital, government performance, agricultural, worker safety and environmental issues, among others.  Prior to that, he administered the social and behavioral sciences institutional review board and worked in educational evaluation at Northwestern University. He has served as WAPA secretary since 2014.