Dear fellow SMA members,
Your Society presented you with an embarrassment of riches for spring meetings: encounters in both Habana and Albuquerque, in adjacent weeks. Even as much as a month ago, the world of SMA spring meetings looked remarkably rosy. Well, life happens, human-nonhuman alike, and the world has become a bit more complicated since these two wonderful programs were assembled.
We still anticipate that both of these meetings will take place. I, personally, plan to attend both. Nevertheless, it is important that you know that SMA would never want you to feel obligated to contradict what you think might affect adversely your own health or that of others with whom you are in contact. SMA is not in control of the processes of registration or hotel accommodations for either meeting, and thus we cannot project in advance what either SfAA or the Havana Convention Center (and associated hotels) would do in the case of individuals who decide not to travel or if either meeting were to be cancelled by the sponsors.
For the SfAA/SMA meeting, please keep an eye out for updates that will be provided by SfAA. For the SMA meeting in Havana, Arachu Castro is in close touch with Cuban officials, and we will place notices on the SMA website if the situation changes.
With all best wishes,
Charles L. Briggs
President, Society for Medical Anthropology