BACK TO AAA
DISCUSSION GROUP
NEWS
OFFICERS OF BAS
BYLAWS OF BAS
WW HOWELLS BOOK PRIZE
STUDENT PRIZE
OPEN POSITIONS
FIELD SCHOOLS
TEACHING RESOURCES
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
November AN Column, Award for Prez, 2005 Annual Report
2006 Annual Program, Call for papers, February AN Column, March AN column, April AN Column, May AN Column, New MA Program
To Appear in AN, volume 47 (9), December 2006 (posted 11/1/06)
Biological Anthropology Section
Virginia J. Vitzthum, Indiana University, Bloomington
Worthy Websites: Science and Public PolicyIt’s nothing new for politicians to twist scientific theory and facts to suit their own agendas. Social Darwinism (aka genetic determinism) wasn’t proposed by Charles D. Punctuated equilibrium isn’t an argument for creationism. Etc, etc. Frequently out of their depth in the swirling forces that shape public policy, scientists all too often retreat to their campuses, harboring unrealistic hopes that empirically based published findings will, somehow, eventually wend their way to the halls of power and transform the debates. As is said, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee! There’s a growing constituency of scientists and like-minded folks who are taking on the admittedly Herculean task of fighting back against the tide of misinformation and suppression of facts that has become de rigueur in some political circles. See the sites below and send me info on any others.
www.defendingscience.org “The Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy (SKAPP) examines the nature of science and how it is used and misused in government decision-making and legal proceedings. Through empirical research, conversations among scholars, and publications, SKAPP aims to enhance understanding of how knowledge is generated and interpreted. SKAPP promotes transparent decision-making, based on the best available science, to protect public health.”
www.sefora.org/index.php Scientists and Engineers for America is advocating a Bill of Rights for Scientists and Engineers that states (item 7), “The federal government shall not support any science education program that includes instruction in concepts that are derived from ideology and not science.“
www.nationalpriorities.org The National Priorities Project (“turning data into action”) offers fully referenced accessible data on government spending. We know scientific research and education are getting short changed; NPP shows by how much for every state and congressional district.
www.realclimate.org Climate science from climate scientists.
Graduate Training in Human Biology at Northwestern UniversityContributed by Thom McDade (t-mcdade@northwestern.edu)
Persuade an undergraduate to get off the pre-med bandwagon! Our doctoral program provides broad training in human population biology with an emphasis on adaptation, evolutionary biology and the cultural factors that shape human biological variation and health. We also offer a joint PhD/MPH degree in medical anthropology. This is a rewarding area of study, with growing job prospects in academic and applied settings.Our four-field anthropology department values biocultural research and dialogue across subdisciplinary lines. Our students are fully funded, and admission is highly selective. There are many opportunities for laboratory and field pilot research, and students are encouraged to become active collaborators in our projects.
The Laboratory for Human Biology Research is our training cente
r. It is fully equipped for immunoassay analysis of human blood and saliva, and the assessment of body composition, energy expenditure, and cardiovascular function. Regular meetings and work space for students create a collaborative environment that promotes innovative human biology research. A primary goal of the laboratory is the development of minimally invasive, "field-friendly" methods for measuring physiological indicators of health and development. These methods have proven very successful in the diverse field research projects directed by our faculty.
Bill Leonard (professor and department chair) investigates comparative and evolutionary dimensions of human energy requirements, physiological adaptations to cold stress, and the health consequences of globalization. He has ongoing research in Siberia, and is a director for the Tsimane’ Amazonian Panel Study investigating health in relation to economic and cultural transitions in lowland Bolivia.
Thom McDade (associate professor) studies how social and cultural contexts shape human development and health, with a particular emphasis on stress and the ecology of human immune function. He is investigating inflammation and immune function in Tsimane’ children, and is launching a study of the links among social stratification, stress, and health in the U.S. Thom is associate director of Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Health—a new NIH-supported research center at Northwestern.
Chris Kuzawa (assistant professor) integrates perspectives from evolutionary theory and public health to investigate the impact that environments experienced early in life—especially in utero and during infancy—have on long-term health and physiological function. Chris is a principle investigator for the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey in the Philippines.
Our program also has close ties with the Feinberg School of Medicine, the Chicago Field Museum, the programs in African Studies and Latin American & Caribbean Studies, the Center for Reproductive Science, and the Institute for Policy Research.
See www.cas.northwestern.edu/anthropology/LHBR/Home.html and www.northwestern.edu/graduate/academic/medical-anthro.html.
To Appear in AN, volume 47 (8), November 2006 (posted 11/1/06)
Biological Anthropology Section
Virginia J Vitzthum, Contributing Editor
BAS Program at AAA Annual MeetingMany thanks to David Himmelgreen (USF), BAS Program Chair, and the individual organizers for putting together an intriguing program (briefly summarized below), sure to satisfy a diversity of interests while sparking lively debate (see www.aaanet.org/mtgs/2006/prelim.htm for the searchable AAA Preliminary Program and Abstracts).
"From the Margins Toward the Center: Women and Gender in Human Biology" (Thurs, 8:00-9:45 AM). Deborah L Crooks and Geraldine Moreno-Black are co-chairs of this invited session (open to all) co-sponsored by BAS and the Association for Feminist Anthropology. They and 4 other speakers (Rebecca Huss-Ashmore, Ivy Pike, Wenda Trevathan, Andrea Wiley) will explore the implications of integrating an explicitely gendered perspective into the study of human biological variation. In these presentations, biocultural models are scrutinized and reformulated, methodological challenges are considered, and the scholarly discourse is informed and enriched by the professional and personal experiences of each female scientist.
For me, this session is deja-vu all over again. In 1990 I participated, with 16 other female biologists, in a small conference, "Women Scientists Look at Evolution: Female Biology and Life History," organized by Mary Ellen Morbeck and Adrienne Zihlman. Among the several goals of this gathering, we considered, as will the presenters at this AAA session, how our experiences as women shape our scientific research. The conference was both intellectually and socially successful, creating new networks among the participants, some of which I enjoy to this day, and yielding a favorably received edited volume published by Princeton ("The Evolving Female: A Life-History Perspective," 1997). The conference also proved to be unexpectedly controversial. An inaccurate and denigrating report in Science (vol 249:1494) provoked media commentary, and I was frequently assailed by irritated colleagues. A letter from conference participants corrected some of the more egregious misrepresentations ("All-women conference: did it discriminate? Alison Galloway et al., Science, 7 December 1990, vol 250:1319) and supportive remarks supplanted disapproving quips. Compared to 16 years ago, are biological anthropologists now more open to the possibility that one's gender impacts one's science? Hard to say. I'm looking forward to the debates these presenters will engender and welcome your contributions to this column on this issue.
"Critical Intersections in Biological Anthropology: Increasing Specialization and Shared Perspectives" (Fri, 8:00- 9:45 AM). Sweeping across time and space, 7 authors explore variation and adaptation in Neanderthals ( Karen J Weinstein), the Flores hominids ( John Y Anderson), prehistoric Amerinds (Elizabeth Weiss), ancient Peruvians ( Matthew J Edwards), and contemporary populations in Bolivia ( Stacey L Rucas), Argentina (Marcela Mendoza), and the U.S. (Amanda L Thompson).
"Innovations in Skeletal Biology: Understanding the Past" (Poster Session; Thurs, 1:45-3:30 PM) Amanda L Mummert reports on patterns of cranial vault modification in ancient Peruvians and Patricia Sherin offers a new method for aging skeletal remains.
"Adaptation and Disease: Current Research and Future Directions" (Saturday, 8:00-9:45 AM). Five speakers ( Patrick F Clarkin, M Geoffrey Hayes, William Leonard, Susan N Tanner, Sharon R Williams) join organizers, Josh Snodgrass and Elizabeth T Abrams, to consider human adaptation to infectious, chronic and warfare-associated diseases.
2006 Events and AwardsWenda Trevathan, Ph.D., Regents Professor of Anthropology at New Mexico State University, is this year's Distinguished Lecturer. She has done pioneering research on human birth ("Human Birth, An Evolutionary Perspective"), human sexuality, mother & infant biology, behavior & learning and evolutionary medicine ("Evolutionary Medicine" with Neal Smith & Jim McKenna). Her research has been supported by NSF and NIH, among other agencies. She was honored with the 1990 Margaret Mead Award from the AAA and Society for Applied Anthropology. She has served on the AAA Committee on Ethics, Executive Board of SMA and as Chair of BAS.
The W.W. Howells Book Award winners are Donna L. Hart ( U. Missouri- St. Louis) and Robert W. Sussman (Washington University) for "Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators and Human Evolution" (2005) Westview Press (Perseus Book Group). This book dispels the myth of “man the hunter” and replaces it with the theory and supporting evidence that early hominin were very vulnerable to predation.
Thursday evening, 11 Nov, begins with the BAS Business Meeting at 6:15 PM. We will have a Special Howells' Remembrance and Drs. Hart & Sussman will be presented with the WW Howells Book Award. Dr. Wenda Trevathan, Distinguished Speaker, will deliver her presentation,"Our Bodies, Our Past: Evolutionary Medicine and Women's Health" from 7:30-8:30 PM. The evening will be capped off by a Gala Reception from 8:30-9:30 PM.
The BAS Graduate Student Reception, with refreshments, will be held on Saturday, 13 Nov, from 12:15- 1:30 PM.
Leslie Sue Lieberman given Croatian Anthropology award (posted 9/1/06)
Leslie Sue Lieberman, President of the Biological Anthropology 
Section and Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Women's Research Center at the University of Central Florida was honored with the Dragutin Gorvanovic-Kramberger Memorial Plaque and certificate from the Croatian Anthropological Society at the 32nd annual School of Biological Anthropology held in June in Zagreb. Dr. Lieberman has been working in Croatia with the Institute for Anthropological Research since 1988. Gorvanovic-Kramberger discovered the Krapina Neandertals and was a founding member of the Croatian Anthropological Society.
Call for papers (posted 1/25/06)
SPECIAL ISSUE: TRIBUTE TO CHRISTINE S. WILSON (1919-2005) NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A BIOCULTURAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN FOODWAYS, DIET AND NUTRITION. For details, click here.
To Appear in AN, volume 47 (5), May 2006 (posted 5/3/06)
Biological Anthropology Section
Virginia J Vitzthum, Contributing Editor
AAAS 2006
BAS Chair, Leslie Lieberman, reports on the 172nd Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in St. Louis, February 15-20, 2006.
Anthropology’s listings comprised 41 sessions across 12 topical areas: Human Origins and Culture (8 sessions including "Man the Hunted","Language Evolution", and "First Human Entry into the Americas"); Environment, Ecology and Energy (5 sessions including "Complex Interactions between People and the Natural Environment” and "Impacts of Agricultural Conservation"); and Biological Frontiers ("Speciation: The Enduring Legacy of Ernst Mayr").
Ten Section H anthropologists were inducted as AAAS Fellows: Stephen Beckerman, Russell Ciochon, Gary Feinman, William Hylander, Clifford Jolly, William Kimbel, Jeffrey Laitman, William McGrew, Thomas Patterson, and Payson Sheets. Section H was chaired by Laurie Godfrey (U Massachusetts) and the incoming Chair is Karen Strier (U Wisconsin-Madison).
The theme for the 2007 meetings in San Francisco is "Science and Technology for Sustainable Wellbeing". Section H identified the following “hot topics” related to this theme: biodiversity, including the “orphaning” of surviving species that lose symbiotic partners; archaeology—using the past to inform the future; resilience and collapse of systems and demographic change; loss of circum-polar cultural and biological diversity; genomics, behavior and human evolution related to cognition and the capacity for language; and food, weather change, and water.
Preserving the Past
Two recent publications are welcome additions to growing efforts to document the historical development of physical/biological anthropology.
“Juan Comas’s Summary History of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (1928-1968)” appears in the 2005 Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, volume 48 (supplement 41 to AJPA), pp.163-195. Marta P. Alfonso and Michael A. Little have ably translated and edited Comas’ original Spanish-language publication (Departamento de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Publication 22, Instituto Nacional de Antropolgía e Historia, Mexico, 1969). A description of Hrdlicka’s efforts to create the AJPA (first published in 1918) and the AAPA (first annual meeting in April 1930) is followed by summaries of each annual meeting (including a listing of the presenters) through the 37 th in 1968. The text is accompanied by several tables listing the officers and their terms of service over the four decades. Additional sections cover the Viking Fund Summer Seminars, Prizes and Medals; the creation and development of the Yearbook (Volume 1 appeared in 1945) and the AJPA; the substantial support of the Wenner-Gren Foundation; and the AAPA’s activities regarding anthropometric standards, academic freedom, and racial discrimination, among other concerns. As 2009 will mark Darwin’s 200 th birthday, the 150 th anniversary of the publication of “On the Origin of Species,” and 40 years since Comas’ invaluable contribution, it is to be hoped that some dedicated person or persons will produce a similar account of the most recent four decades of AAPA’s history and the development of BAS.
The University of Michigan's topical journal of four-field anthropology, Michigan Discussions in Anthropology (MDIA, www.umich.edu/~mdia/mdiahome.htm), has just released volume 16: "Retrospectives: Lives and Works of Michigan Anthropologists" (Derek P. Brereton, Issue Editor; Josh Reno, Managing Editor). Contributions include pieces on two of the more prominent and influential biological anthropologists of the second half of the 20 th century, both recipients of the AAPA’s Charles R. Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement: “Professor C. Loring Brace: Bringing Physical Anthropology (‘Kicking and Screaming’) Into the 21st Century!” (by Dean Falk and Noriko Seguch), and “The Four-Field Anthropology and Multi-Faceted Life of Frank B. Livingstone” (by Virginia J. Vitzthum, Alan G. Fix, and Amy Livingstone). In each essay, anecdotes from family, colleagues and students enrich a synopsis of the scholar’s impressive intellectual contributions. Readers will also find much of interest in the volume’s other contributions: “The University of Michigan's Department of Anthropology: Leslie White and the Politics of Departmental Expansion” (by William J. Peace), “Striving for Unity: A Conversation with Roy Rappaport” (by Brian Hoey and Tom Fricke), “Structure, Cultural Logic, and Transformational Dynamics in the Social Organization of Unstratified Societies: The Work of Raymond C. Kelly” (by Bruce Knauft and Michael Peletz), “ Archeology on Foot: Jeffrey Parsons and The University of Michigan” (by Deborah Nichols), “Diamond in the Field: The Life and Work of Norma Diamond” (by Susan Blum), “A Fair Reflection: The 'Dirt Anthropology' of Robbins Burling” (by Derek P. Brereton). An appendix lists each anthropologist's complete published works.
Looking to the Future
This is the final column of the spring. Good luck to everyone with your summer plans, whether in the field or the lab, or finally getting a chance to write up past work, or just taking a well-earned breather. Please send reports and any other news to vitzthum@indiana.edu by August 1 for the October newsletter.
To Appear in AN, volume 47 (4), April 2006 (posted 1/25/06)
Biological Anthropology Section
Virginia J Vitzthum, Contributing Editor
Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries
Economics and Human Biology is a relatively new, but already exciting, interdisciplinary journal “devoted to the exploration of the effect of socio-economic processes on human beings as biological organisms” (also available online: www.elsevier.com/locate/ehb). Coverage is not restricted to any time period or geographic region. The Editorial Board, headed by John Komlos (University of Munich, www.vwl.uni-muenchen.de/ls_ komlos), has several bioanthropologists. All of the issues have contained articles of interest to our field, for example: a consideration of the biological constraints on secular growth trends (Tim Cole); examinations of children’s growth in South Africa (Noël Cameron), Kazakhstan (Alan Dangour, A Farmer, HL Hill, SJ Ismail) and Maya immigrant families in the US (Patricia Smith, Barry Bogin, Maria Inês Varela-Silva, James Loucky); health and physical fitness in southern Ethiopia (Ayal Kimhi); trends in diet and body size in the Cook Islands (Stanley Ulijaszek); and an examination of t he anthropometric legacy of Franz Boas (Richard Jantz). There is a Special Issue on Child Health in Latin America (volume 2(3), December 2004) and another on the Socio-Economic Correlates of Overweight and Obesity (volume 3(2), July 2005). As well as the research on living populations, several articles are based on archival data or measurements of skeletal collections.
In tandem with the appearance of the new journal, Komlos and his colleague, Joerg Baten (University of Tuebingen, www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/wwl/baten.htm), have thus far organized 3 International Conferences on Economics and Human Biology (www.econhist.de/ehb/), financially supported by the German Science Foundation (DFG). The 1st Conference in 2002 was held at the medieval castle, Hohentuebingen, located on a steep hill in the center of Tuebingen, an old university town in Southern Germany with inspiring vistas. Participants represented more than twenty nations and a variety of disciplines including economics, bioanthropology, demography, nutritional science, public health, and sociology. The extraordinary success in bringing together such a wide range of scholars was repeated at the 2 nd Conference in Munich, and even more participants are expected at the 3 rd Conference in Strasbourg this coming June.
Darwin Day
Charles Darwin’s (and Abraham Lincoln’s) 200 th birthday will occur on February 12, 2009, and the folks at Darwin Day Celebration (www.darwinday.org) are promoting efforts worldwide to commemorate Darwin’s achievements. As the following November 24 will mark 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, there’s good reason to host and attend events throughout the year. “The dual mission of Darwin Day Celebration is to promote public education about science and…to encourage the celebration of Science and Humanity throughout the global community….” Such efforts can be gratifyingly successful. For example, increased awareness about science and its practitioners was generated by the recently concluded World Year of Physics 2005--so designated by The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics to coincide with the centennial anniversary of Einstein’s Miracle Year, during which he published 4 groundbreaking papers (the third introduced the theory of relativity). Likewise, Darwin Day Celebrations are also opportunities for educating the general public, the popular media, legislators, school boards, and religious communities about evolutionary biology and the astounding body of supporting evidence. Visit the website to learn of, volunteer for, or list an event. Join the supporters’ list if so inclined (your name will be included on the web page). In addition, they have requested volunteers to translate their Mission Statement into other languages. Anthropologists can certainly help there!
Evolution Sunday
Several recent events suggest there is a growing awareness among non-scientists that dismissing evolution is no more credible, or desirable, than dismissing gravity or continental drift. In addition to the recent rejection or withdrawing of plans to teach intelligent design in several school districts nationwide, the NY Times reported on February 13, 2006 (www.nytimes.com) that ministers at hundreds of churches marked Darwin’s 197 th birthday on Sunday, February 12, with sermons addressing the compatibility of religion and evolution. Quoting Rev. Patricia Templeton of Atlanta, “A faith that requires you to close your mind in order to believe is not much of a faith at all.” Evolution Sunday was organized by The Clergy Letter Project (www.uwosh.edu/colleges/cols/clergy_project.htm), initiated by Michael Zimmerman, Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences at University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. They have collected more than 10,000 signatures from clergy in support of teaching evolution and are actively promoting support for evolutionary and scientific thinking. Please see their web site for opportunities to participate.
This column will be posted at the BAS web site (www.as.ua.edu/bas/) about 6 weeks before the print edition. Please send info on websites/organizations promoting evolution, news items, short comments and brief field reports to vitzthum@indiana.edu. Note that all items must be received at least 2 months before the issue in which they will appear.
To Appear in AN, volume 47 (2), February 2006 (posted 1/25/06)
Biological Anthropology Section
Virginia J Vitzthum, Contributing Editor
2005 BAS Student Award Winner
Congratulations to Brian M. Kemp and his coauthors at UC Davis for his winning presentation at the AAA Meetings. In addition to a $250 award, we are please to reprint the abstract here :
Mitochondrial DNA Variation Among Uto-Aztecan Speakers by Brian M. Kemp (Anthropology, UCD), Andres Resendez (History, UCD), and David Glenn Smith (Anthropology, UCD).
“It has been hypothesized that many of the world’s largest language families found their modern-day distributions through spreads facilitated by innovations, such as agriculture. In the New World, it has been suggested that proto-Uto-Aztecan speakers in central Mexico were responsible for maize domestication and this innovation resulted in population expansion and movement northward into the American Southwest. Reliance on maize is just one of many cultural similarities found between Mesoamerica and the Southwest. Given the close cultural and linguistic ties between the two regions, one would suspect that close biological relations have ensued as well. Genes, language, and culture evolve in different manners, yet under the above scenario they should be tightly correlated across geography. However, previous genetic studies have failed to provide unequivocal clues to the nature of relationships between populations of Mesoamerica and the Southwest. To address this issue, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation was determined in indigenous populations of Mexico and the Southwest. The focus of sampling was on Uto-Aztecan speaking populations (Cora, Huichol, Nahua, Tarahumara, Akimal O’odham, and Tahono O’odham). Non-Uto-Aztecan populations were also considered for comparative purposes. This genetic marker was used to assess the degree of biological relations between populations of the two regions.”
Thanks and Welcome
At the BAS Business Meeting at the 2005 AAA Annual Meetings in Washington, DC (see photos at www.as.ua.edu/BAS/meeting05.htm), Chair Leslie Lieberman expressed appreciation for the service of outgoing officers: Tom Leatherman (Secretary/Treasurer), Jim Bindon (Member at Large), Tad Schurr (Program Chair), Deborah Bolnick (Student Member), and Linda Wolfe (Newsletter Editor). And she welcomed incoming officers (positions listed in same order): Douglas Crews, Chris Kuzawa, David Himmelgreen, Amanda Thompson, Virginia Vitzthum and Trudy Turner (Chair-Elect). Continuing Executive Board Members are Karen Weinstein (Member at Large) and Karen Strier (Chair, W.W. Howells Award Committee).
Following brisk deliveries of officer reports, the Gala Reception opened with presentations of W.W. Howells Awards to John Relethford for Reflections of Our Past: How Human History is Revealed in Our Genes and Chris Beard for The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans. Our collective thanks to their respective publishers, Perseus Books Group and University of California Press, for their generous financial support of the evening’s festivities.
Kudos to George Armelagos, this year’s Distinguished Speaker, for a lively examination of biocultural anthropology, delivered to a packed and appreciative audience.
The 105th AAA Meetings are in San Jose, CA (Nov 15-19, 2006). Start planning—student participation and submission for the student award is especially welcomed.
BAS Website: New Home/New Look
Thanks to Jim Bindon (our new webmaster) and the University of Alabama, the BAS website is now hosted at www.as.ua.edu/bas/ (also linked from www.aaanet.org) and has expanded offerings. Find links to field schools, career opportunities, job postings and teaching resources as well as contact info for the Executive Board, BAS By-Laws, and winners of the W.W. Howells Book Award. This column will also be posted in advance of the printed version. Your contributions to, and suggestions regarding, the website are most welcome (contact jbindon@tenhoor.as.ua.edu).
New MA Program in Anthropology
The University of Central Florida, Orlando, invites applications for its new MA Program. There are 2 tracks: 1. Archaeological Investigations in Forensics and Human Adaptation Anthropology, and 2. Cultural Competency in the Professions with a focus on education, tourism and medical/public health anthropology. There is also a graduate certificate in Maya Studies. UCF is a major metropolitan research university with over 45,000 students. Please visit the university and department websites (www.cas.ucf.edu/soc_anthro/anthropology/index.htm). Also see item at bottom of this page.
Please send news items, short comments and brief field reports to vitzthum@indiana.edu.
© American Anthropological Association, 2006
To Appear in AN, volume 47 (3), March 2006 (posted 1/25/06)
Biological Anthropology Section
Virginia J Vitzthum, Contributing Editor
Call for Papers, 105 th Annual AAA Meeting
David Himmelgreen, BAS Program Chair, offers some suggestions for biological anthropology sessions. The deadline for submission of invited sessions is April 1, 2006. See the AAA website for instructions for submitting abstracts.
The Meeting’s theme is “Critical Intersections/Dangerous Issues.” Members are encouraged to submit abstracts and sessions that examine the links among increasingly specialized areas in anthropology and how such collaborations could be used to address the challenges of the 21 st Century. For example, we all know why intelligent design should not be taught in science classes but it is not as clear as to why ID is gaining increasing recognition among the general public. A session examining this would likely appeal to a large audience including those outside academia and in the media. The “racial” targeting of pharmaceuticals, the rising concerns over the spread of avian flu, and the new discoveries regarding early hominid evolution are but a few of the topics that BAS members may want to propose for the 2006 Meeting. Members are also invited to examine the rising tensions in the discipline over anthropology’s identity as science, ethics, relevance, and responsibility to the broader public. For instance, what are the ethical considerations in research involving the evolution and identification of genetic diseases? What is the potential political impact of bioarchaeology in the U.S. on Native American primacy? And what role, if any, do biological anthropologists have in doing applied anthropology? These and other issues underscore critical analysis from within the discipline.
Diversifying the U.S. Scientific Workforce
The goal of the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program (www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383&from=fund) is “to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce.” The University of Michigan was among the first recipients of a 5-year Institutional Transformation Award to “support innovative and comprehensive programs for institution-wide change.” Prompted by the success of the program (e.g., 34% of the UM’s tenure-track hires in science/engineering are now filled by women, compared to 14% in the years before the program), UM officials have committed to extending and funding the program for an additional 5 years (www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2005/Dec05/r121405a). Visit the ADVANCE web site to learn more about the program and IT successes at 20 institutions across the U.S. (www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/advance/itwebsites.jsp).
Worthy Websites
PubMed (www.pubmed.gov) is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's no-cost searchable database of biomedical citations and abstracts. Its largest component is MEDLINE, covering over 4800 journals from more than 70 countries. Search terms include authors and keywords. Each retrieved citation is linked to additional related citations, and many are linked to sites providing a full text of the article, often available at no cost. Searches can be saved and automatically updated. See PubMed Overview and PubMed Help (accessed from the main web page) for additional information on its content, features and searching.
Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) is an online no-cost encyclopedia, currently with more than 900,000 “articles” in English and several hundred thousand more in other languages. Whether you’re curious about iPod or interferon, there’s likely to be a helpful entry. But be forewarned—there’s no guarantee the information is correct because contributions are from anyone with a keyboard. The better articles list citations, and it’s important to review the reader feedback included under the “discussion” tab. Articles can be edited by any reader. Based on assessments by a panel of reviewers, Nature recently reported that science articles in Wikipedia are about as accurate as those in the Encyclopedia Britannica, but both sources had “many factual errors, omissions or misleading statements” (www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/pdf/438900a.pdf). Do check out the entry on “physical anthropology”—it would benefit by much greater input from our community. Wikipedia is popular among students and the generally curious. Contributing your expertise is one quick and easy way to improve the national science quotient.
Please send news items, short comments and brief field reports to vitzthum@indiana.edu. Note that all items must be received at least 2 months before the issue in which they will appear.
© American Anthropological Association, 2006