News & Views: SMA CALL FOR SESSION AND PAPER PROPOSALS 2008!
From SMA Program Co-Chairs: Tom Leatherman and Carolyn Smith-Morris
It is time to start putting together proposals for the SMA Program for the 2008 AAA Meetings in San Francisco. The call for papers is in the January Anthropology News while the hard copy submission forms can be downloaded from the AAA web site at www.aaanet.org. The forms will be posted in early February. The meeting theme is included below and can be found in the January issue of Anthropology News.. The AAA prefers that program participants should submit proposals and register online via the AAA’s secure website. The submission deadline for this year is April 1, 2008. The SMA internal deadline for invited session proposals is March 1.
I. INVITED SESSION PROPOSALS DUE MARCH 1
The SMA welcomes proposals for Invited Session status. Guidelines are the same as for regular panels, with the following exceptions: proposals must be submitted ahead of time electronically to the Program Committee Chair, Tom Leatherman ( leatherman@sc.edu ) by March 1 to receive full consideration. Proposals must be carefully thought out and complete, including (1) the session abstract; (2) a list of presenters, discussants, and proposed slots for audience discussion; (3) all individual abstracts. Incomplete proposals will not be accepted.
In addition to the criteria for regularly submitted sessions, organizers of sessions to be proposed for Invited status should make sure their proposals also meet the criteria of importance of topic, timeliness, and relevance to conference theme.
SMA has only 4 Invited slots (i.e., 4 single session slots) to sponsor. The number of sessions we sponsor depends on whether sessions chosen are double- or single- sessions, and whether one or two of them are co-sponsored with another AAA subgroup). Thus single (versus double) sessions have a greater chance of acquiring approval. Finally, if you believe that another section of the AAA would be interested in co-sponsoring (which means co-inviting) your panel, let us know! Co-sponsorship can increase the number of sessions that SMA can invite. (If your session is accepted for Invited Status, please remember that you must still submit it to AAA by April 1, marked "Invited.")
II. REGULAR SESSION AND PAPER PROPOSALS ARE DUE TO AAA BY TUESDAY APRIL 1
As one of the largest sections of the AAA, the SMA receives an impressive array of panel and paper proposals. The review process is complex and involves numerous steps, during which proposals are screened by the SMA and the AAA Board. The volume of material submitted is exhilarating, offering clear evidence of medical anthropology’s significance within the discipline; it nevertheless also heralds an inevitable increase in the number of proposals that are turned away. How, then, to write a winning proposal? We offer the following friendly tips for success for panels, followed by brief comments on individual submissions.
Read (and reread) submission instructions. This is no trivial matter. (See Anthropology News, 1/08, pp. 26-27 for more detailed directions on submitting papers and session, or visit the AAA webpage for details.) A failure to follow the guidelines can insure that even the most compelling proposal will fail. Session organizer(s) must take their oversight role seriously. Strangely, each year the SMA receives at least a few incomplete proposals; incomplete submissions, even if received by the April 1 deadline, will be immediately discarded.
How “WOSO” is the Panel? Considering Worth, Originality, Substance, and Organization. Neither the SMA Executive Board, nor its Program Committee (hereafter PC), sets internal thematic priorities for the annual meeting. Instead, the SMA promotes variety and inclusiveness. Nevertheless, PC members rely on certain basic rules of thumb as they scrutinize submitted materials. Is the panel’s theme clear? Do the papers define a cohesive whole? How intriguing is the panel? Is there a sense of originality, or timeliness, to the panel’s theme, or are the papers simply revisiting tried and true (and overworked) ideas? Are the papers limited to descriptive details, or do clear theoretical questions or arguments shape the panel’s concerns? Internal networking is certainly an important part of many panels, but remember that these are public events. Will the panel draw an audience? Who might wish to attend, both inside and beyond the confines of medical anthropology? And, finally, is SMA the best home for the submission?
Time is of the Essence. Small is Beautiful. Each year, the PC receives a few proposals plagued by inefficient use of time and space. For one, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify double sessions. Before submitting double panels, organizers should think carefully and critically about the panel’s purpose and membership. Could the same ideas be conveyed in half the time? Some single panels likewise suffer from disorganization. Slotted for 1.75 hours, a single panel typically includes 4-6 papers, no breaks, a maximum of two discussants, and perhaps one discussion period. If the organizer(s) intend to provide an opening statement, this should occupy a full time slot. All time slots are 15 minutes long, whether reserved for introductory remarks, individual papers, discussant time, or open/audience discussion. Time slot lengths should not be altered.
Befriend Your Neighbor. The SMA receives an astonishing number of individual paper submissions. The PC takes seriously its task of organizing strong papers into cohesive and well-balanced sessions. Submitting a paper individually, however, is risky business, and thus we urge authors to consider organizing their own panels (one might extend a call for participants through the SMA website). The PC beseeches panel organizers to be open and receptive to occasional requests to take on a strong yet “orphaned” paper. The PC makes such requests only when the fit is appropriate.
And, Yes, Fear Not the Poster. Poster submissions have grown in recent years. Posters offer an easy and compelling method for presenting research findings, and a format that allows for more audience interaction than does a panel. The SMA welcomes poster submissions!
III. MEETING THEME – “INCLUSION, COLLABORATION & ENGAGEMENT”
Inclusion, Collaboration & Engagement
The theme for the 2008 AAA Annual Meeting in San Francisco is “Inclusion, Collaboration, and Engagement.” This theme provides us the opportunity to critically examine anthropology's relationships: across subfields, with other disciplines, with our many publics, and with contemporary social problems. The Executive Program Committee envisions healthy debate as we confront methodological, ethical, and epistemological concerns that unite and divide us; as well as discuss the challenges, risks, and opportunities for growth enabled by this dialog.
Inclusion, Collaboration, and Engagement are ideas that have been central to anthropology throughout the discipline’s history and they are particularly important today. Anthropologists, scholars in other disciplines, and the general public have begun to recognize that anthropology has a great deal to contribute in this era of globalization. Still, our discipline remains a mystery to many and we are often not approached when social science information is needed. Moreover, anthropologists are conflicted about whether and how to participate in important public debates. Although there are the myriad attempts to develop a public interest anthropology, we are also wary of activism and public engagement, particularly as we recall government influence on anthropology during times of war.
This theme deserves our scholarly exploration. Analysis of the processes that promote inclusion, collaboration and engagement for positive human outcomes is a common area of interest for both academic and applied/practicing anthropologists, as is clear communication of anthropological perspectives to the wider public.
Inclusion
Anthropology’s historic mission to study humanity through the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities by definition requires the inclusion of multiple disciplines. For example, paleoanthropology and archaeology depend on chemistry, zoology, botany, geology and other disciplines to date sites and interpret data. Similarly, linguistic and sociocultural anthropology regularly include perspectives from other disciplines, including history, philosophy, psychology, and political science. Moreover, there is much merit in an enhanced inclusive dialogue between the branches of anthropology. Cultural and biological anthropology, for example, have opportunities to work together in examining themes such as race, disease, and the environment. Many applied and practicing anthropologists have joint roots in anthropology and other professions such as public health, urban planning, education, business, international development or social work. Their work relies on and contributes to these other disciplines as well as anthropology.
Inclusive anthropology implies more than a holistic or interdisciplinary approach. It suggests research problems and relationships that explicitly address the knowledges and concerns of those who have been relegated to peripheral zones of analysis and theory because of preconceptions about the seemingly static division of intellectual labor. Bringing diverse voices and epistemic perspectives onto the discipline's center stage—and enlarging that space according to a less hierarchical logic—is consistent with anthropology’s historic principle of inclusion.
Collaboration
Working together toward a common goal is a central characteristic of anthropology, where collaboration may describe work done by teams of anthropologists from diverse subfields or research done by a single anthropologist working together with a subject. For example, heterogeneous research teams in physical anthropology and archeology assemble to address complex intellectual problems. Additionally, the relationship between anthropologists and many Native American tribes might now be best described as collaborative. Native American tribes often require that all anthropological work conducted on reservations directly and actively involve tribal members in the design, implementation, and dissemination of research that addresses problems with contemporary relevance to their tribes. This reconceptualization of the researcher-subject relationship both suggests new challenges and reveals exciting opportunities to improve research and ensure it engages community needs.
Anthropologists who use participatory action methods engage in a knowledge production process that converts "informants" into research consultants and collaborators. These methods can empower local people to have a voice in government and corporate decision-making. Beyond invoking notions of partnership and the sharing of ethnographic authority rhetorically, many anthropologists work to build concrete collaborative relationships in community settings. The benefits, challenges, and contradictory outcomes of collaboration are worthy of examination and constructive self-criticism.
Engagement
Engaged anthropology has many dimensions. Engagement is becoming a key value in college and university settings where anthropologists recognize that relationships with local publics and community organizations are essential to higher education. From both within and outside of academia, engaged anthropologists have examined public policy issues related to welfare reform, immigration, and protection of indigenous knowledge and rights, and have joined with local participants to instigate and sustain government and community change.
In this area anthropology has much to offer, but the discipline has not yet decisively stepped forward. This year’s theme provides an opportunity for academic and applied/practicing anthropologists to engage in dialogue to set a new agenda for making anthropology increasingly relevant to key issues in the twenty-first century, including social identity, economic growth, cultural preservation, peace-making, and environmental and social justice.