Leith Mullings
It is my pleasure to report that the association is financially sound and in overall good health. This has been a busy and challenging year, but we have made significant progress. Given the challenges facing us, my priority has been to maintain the stability and promote the growth of the association. This has meant adapting to a rapidly changing publishing environment, striving to improve the experience and diversity of our members, and enhancing the visibility and dissemination of anthropological knowledge. Before providing highlights of our work in 2012, I would like to thank the officers, Executive Board (EB), staff, and many, many members who have worked so hard in these many efforts.
New Executive Director
The executive director (ED) is critical to the functioning of the association. As many of you know, last April, Bill Davis, our executive director for 16 years, informed us of his intention to resign. We thank Bill for his many years of diligent service to the AAA. In the interest of appointing the best ED for the association, we embarked on a very thorough and wide-ranging search. The stellar Search Committee, chaired by Vice President and President-Elect Monica Heller, included former presidents, representatives of all subfields, and many of the various interests in our association. An EB subcommittee selected a search firm that in turn preselected eight candidates, from which five candidates were chosen for in-person interviews. The Search Committee then presented two candidates to the EB and, after extensive interviews, the EB is in the process of completing the search. We have confidence that the new ED will have the skills, knowledge, and passion to help to guide AAA as we move forward.
Anticipating a Changing Context for Scholarly Publishing
Recognizing our responsibility to maintain and protect the sustainability of the association, our commitment to maintain a diverse portfolio, and the AAA’s mission to disseminate anthropological knowledge as widely as possible, the EB, in consultation with section leadership, has taken steps to prepare for the inevitable transformations that will take place in scholarly publishing. We have made every attempt to make our current, complex publishing program as transparent as possible to the membership through “The State of AAA’s Publishing Program” (in Anthropology News [AN] and the AAA website) and “Publication Facts” (on the AAA website.)
The Committee for the Future of Print and Electronic Publishing (CFPEP) has worked hard over the past year to provide the leadership and membership with a lucid analysis of our current publishing program and the directions it might take in the future. Recently, CFPEP conducted a membership survey to gather quantitative and qualitative data about how our membership assesses the current program as well as potential future models and directions. With EB approval, CFPEP contracted Raym Crow of the Chain Bridge Group to analyze our publishing program and provide suggestions for alternative models. Following an EB motion, both the Crow Report and the results of the CFPEP membership survey have been distributed to the membership to provide as much information as possible.
We must collectively consider how to address the critical issues facing the association and at this meeting we will continue the discussion of these challenges and alternative publishing models. In anticipation of these issues, and with the support of the Section Assembly, the EB established a strategic fund for the future of publishing that will be used to support strategies and activities to address the changing world of publishing and to explore new models. The staff and EB have also taken some immediate cost-saving measures. For example, the AN, winner of the 2012 EXCEL Award, is publishing more online and, starting in 2013, printing bimonthly.Though these are complicated issues, I am confident that the EB, committees, sections, and members will develop a multiyear plan.
As another innovative step, we have established Open Anthropology, our first public, digital-only journal that, with the cooperation of participating section publications, opens access to anthropological content. It is expected to launch in 2013 and will include previously published AAA articles, review articles, book and audiovisual reviews, reports, and comments culled from all AAA journals of participating sections. This pilot project will not only get anthropological knowledge to non-anthropologists, but will also help us to think about new publishing models.
Statement on Ethics: Principles of Professional Responsibility
After several years of broad consultation, through the leadership of several presidents and EBs, the AAA membership has voted to approve the Statement on Ethics: Principles of Professional Responsibility. An eight-person task force, selected under the presidency of Setha Low, presented a draft to the EB in November 2011. This was posted on the AAA website and members were invited to comment. An EB subcommittee reviewed these comments and revised the document, which was unanimously approved by the EB in May. The statement was then sent to the membership for a final vote in September and October. These principles, intended to provide guidelines for teaching and practice, should be considered to be a living document in that, through the stewardship of the Committee on Ethics, we will be able to discuss the code and update the hyperlinked resources as conditions change and dialogue develops.
Toward a More Attentive and Inclusive Organization
The AAA continues to be highly respected and our membership continues to grow. We now have well over 11,000 members. The membership of the Society for Economic Anthropology has approved a proposal to cease to exist as a separate corporation and to become a section of the AAA, which they describe as the largest and most diverse association of anthropologists in the world. The EB has voted to recommend that the membership approve the merger and the ballot is now before the membership.
Task Force to Review the Annual Meeting
Attendance at our annual meeting has increased significantly, now averaging around 6,000. The executive program chairs of our annual meeting have made many excellent innovations. However, it is now time to formally consider the new context in which our annual meetings take place and how we can improve the meeting experience for all our members. To this end I have appointed a task force to review the annual meeting. This task force, charged with reviewing all aspects of the annual meeting and recommending improvements, includes representatives from staff, sections, section editors, executive program committee chairs, practicing anthropologists, and the Finance Committee. The task force will submit its report by May 2013.
New Dues Structure
We have taken steps to improve the experience of our members. Recognizing the financial difficulties some of our members confront, the EB has approved a new dues structure that holds closely to ability to pay. Dues for the lowest income level have been reduced by 15% from the 2012 rate, and that tier has been opened up to all members of the association. We expect this new structure to also facilitate participation from our colleagues in a broader range of countries. In addition, we are considering measures that will give attention to our members who find themselves part of a contingent labor force.
Diversity
The strength of our association is built on its diversity. We continue to strive for a more inclusive and robust association. In 2008, then-President Alan Goodman established the Commission on Race and Racism in Anthropology. After three years of research and deliberation, the commission submitted its report, which included ideas for the AAA to consider to promote greater diversity in anthropology. A subcommittee of the Association Operations Committee (AOC) organized a panel, “Who Counts and Who’s Counting,” for this meeting. I have appointed a strong and diverse task force to provide specific suggestions for implementing some of the recommendations presented by the commission.
International Members
Almost one-fifth of our membership lives or works outside the US. We continue to be actively involved in World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUEAS). Last July, AAA members participated in an international panel on inequality and disparity held in Brazil at the meetings of theAsociaciao Brasileira de Antropologia (ABA) and the European Association of Social Anthropologists. In addition, the AAA Committee on World Anthropology (CWA) is organizing a virtual seminar on the centrality of language in the production of anthropological knowledge in collaboration with the ABA and EASA.
Distinguished Member Program
The AAA is fortunate to have members who have given more than 50 years of service to the association and the discipline. To recognize and utilize their accumulated knowledge and experience, the Membership Department, in consultation with the ASA leadership, has developed a Distinguished Member Program. The program includes posting online profiles of distinguished members as well as other forms of recognition. We hope to be able to gain from these members’ experiences with mentoring, long-term field experience, and their ability to contextualize current trends in anthropology with respect to our history of theory.
Expanding the Visibility and Influence of Anthropology
This year we have taken several steps to disseminate anthropological knowledge and increase the influence of anthropology in scholarly and policy debates through both print and electronic media and public education projects. The finishing touches are being placed on the public website This Is Anthropology. Created for students, parents and the general public, the site uses accessible language to provide information about the many kinds of things that anthropologists do, and allows users to locate anthropologists working in various parts of the world.
We are actively involved with social media. The Anthropological Communications Committee’s (ACC) social media subcommittee has conducted the first social media quantitative and qualitative survey. The baseline data about the usage, demographic characteristics and satisfaction of the users with the website, Twitter and blogs will allow us to make improvements and extend our outreach to the broader public. Interestingly, of the 259 people who participated in the survey, only 54% were AAA members.
Our new public, online journal, Open Anthropology, discussed earlier, will open access to anthropological knowledge relevant to current problems to policymakers and the general public. This is one step toward the broader challenge of making anthropological knowledge available. In addition, Anthropology Now, the public anthropology journal received by all GAD members, now has a circulation of 88 libraries and approximately 1,250 individuals.
Thanks to the Resource Development Committee, the AAA has launched an Anthropology Document Portal as a section of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), a digital center. The Anthropology and Archaeology ResearchNetwork will allow anthropologists to deposit published and unpublished material, providing non-anthropologists with open access to anthropological writing.
Public Education
Our public education project is doing well and we are continuing to work on developing the next project. Race: Are We So Different? continues to be exhibited in large and small museums. In 2012 it was exhibited in nine locations, including the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History; the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina; and the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio.
We have taken important steps forward with the new public education initiative on migration. After seeking input from the sections, we have pulled together a working group, including representatives from all the subfields, who will begin to think about the shape of the project. As it develops, we will be drawing in a wide range of members. As one aspect of this initiative, we are exploring a relationship with the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian is developing a multiyear project on migration, which will include an exhibition. Representatives from the Smithsonian are attending this meeting and the working group will continue to explore how the AAA project might collaborate with the Smithsonian project.
Looking Forward
As I said, this has been a challenging year, but also one affording unique opportunities. Through the hard work of the staff, officers, Executive Board members, commissions, committees and membership I am positive we will continue to meet the challenges of the future, facing both inward and outward. Again, I would like to thank everyone for their service and their contributions to making this the vibrant association that it is.
via Anthropology-News http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2013/01/09/presidents-2012-report-to-the-membership/
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