AAA Anthropology in Public Policy Award Nominations Due Feb 1

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) Committee on Public Policy (CoPP) has established a major biennial award, the AAA Anthropology in Public Policy Award (APP-COPP for short) to acknowledge and honor anthropologists whose work has had a positive influence on the course of government or major institution decision-making and action at any level (local, regional, national) and anywhere in the world. The award will be conferred every other year starting in 2013 in rotation with the AAA Solon T Kimball award. Winners will be publicly announced at the AAA annual meeting, receive $500, and be invited to give a public lecture at that year’s AAA meeting (the association will waive the meeting registration fee). The deadline for nominations is February 1.

The first award will be made in November 2013 to a living anthropologist nominated for a specific policy-relevant accomplishment made within the past three calendar years (for the 2013 award, however, the five previous calendar years will be considered). Nomination will consist of the submission (preferably via electronic means) of a nomination package by one individual (not by an organization, institution or publisher). The package will include:

1. One signed letter of nomination

2. Three to five letters of support

3. A copy of the nominee’s current brief CV (four pages maximum)

4. One to three supporting documents that indicated the nominee’s policy work and contributions.

All nomination materials must be submitted in English and fonts no smaller than 12 points. Joint nominations are accepted. For details regarding nomination materials and information on the award, visit http://www.aaanet.org/cmtes/ppc/AIPP-award.cfm.

Please send nomination materials by email to: publicpolicyaward@aaanet.org. For inquiries, please contact the award committee chair, Merrill Singer, at merrill.singer@uconn.edu

What kind of work might be eligible?

All work that involves activism or advocacy resulting in changes, to or even simply informing, public policy will be considered. Here we will note that the committee solicited nominations of anthropologists after whom we might name the award two times in 2012. We had a very fine pool of nominees and thank all nominators for their careful and thoughtful nomination statements. In the end, however, process concerns trumped the desire to honor a predecessor: the committee did not wish to artificially narrow the field of applicants by inadvertently suggesting that only work related to anyone named in the award’s title might be eligible. We voted therefore to retain the generic award label.

Still, we realize that some readers will be looking for ideas regarding nominations. So, with the caveat that the field is wide open, here are some areas that we expect might be relevant (while recognizing that anthropologists work in many policy-relevant areas and that this is a very partial list): water policy, integration of the armed forces, gender equity, child labor laws, disability rights, gay marriage, standardized testing in K-12, health policy (eg, Affordable Care Act, HIV/AIDS policies), organ transfer/donation, environmental toxins, disaster mitigation, organic and biodynamic food systems, under-age soldiers, climate change, drug policy, global health, human trafficking, First Peoples’ land rights, repatriation, immigration, and the like.

About CoPP

CoPP is administered by the AAA Department of Public Affairs, and reports to the Executive Board. There are seven committee members, including the chairs; each has a three year term. Four are elected by AAA’s membership; three are appointed by the AAA president. The AAA president, the AAA president-elect, and one member of the executive board also sit on the committee. For more detailed information on CoPP, visit AAA Committee on Public Policy.

Susan B Hyatt is contributing editor of Views on Policy, the AN column of the AAA Committee on Public Policy. She may be contacted at sbhyatt@iupui.edu.

via Anthropology-News http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2013/01/29/aaa-anthropology-in-public-policy-award-nominations-due-feb-1/