From Research to Policy:
First Annual SMA Special Event on Practicing Medical Anthropology
AAA 2008 Special Event - San Francisco, CA
Date/time TBA
Applied and practicing medical anthropologists represent a large proportion of the SMA membership, and are significant for their engagement outside of academia, their potential impact on health and health discourses, and for the roles they play in translating ethnographic research into health policy. By focusing explicitly on the work of applied and practicing medical anthropologists, the SMA hopes through this Special Event to: (1) support applied and practicing endeavors of all members with targeted educational events; (2) encourage our membership to more broadly disseminate their ethnographic findings in non-academic venues; and (3) promote dialogue and partnerships outside of anthropology for the purpose of health education and advocacy. The schedule includes a panel of anthropologists and non-anthropologists engaged around a shared health issue, small group breakouts on applied/practicing skills and topics, and a closing plenary. All members of the SMA are encouraged to attend these intensive panel and plenary discussions.
SCHEDULE
Panel Discussion:
- A panel of local advocates, activists, lobbyists, and media representatives working on a specific health issue of importance will address the group. Panelists with a history of having worked with anthropologists, or who themselves are practicing anthropologists, will be preferred. Preference will also be given to those working in the area of the conference site.
- Each panelist will use 10 minutes to introduce and describe their work. Introductions will be followed by serial responses to 1-3 prepared questions, then to questions from the audience.
Topical Groups:
- Following the Panel Discussion, the group will break into four small groups on the following topics:
- Op-Ed and Press Release Writing for Impact
- Finding and Engaging with Relevant Policy Makers
- Grant-Writing Fast
- Training and Managing a Team
- Small groups will be facilitated by pre-determined members of the SMA. If possible, the invited panelists will be divided between these groups.
Plenary and Next Steps:
The Facilitator will guide a concluding discussion to include: (1) a brief review of the plenary group meetings; (2) concluding remarks from each of the panelists (5-10 minutes each); (3) open comments, questions, and dialogue with the audience.