News & Views: Spring '02 SMA Meeting Notes
The Society for Medical Anthropology convened its third biennial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. As in prior years, the SMA met jointly with the Society for Applied Anthropology, which agreed to assume all financial liabilities for the conference. The conference proved a great success, particularly as both organizations focused on health issues as their theme. That combination, plus the local presence of anthropologists based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attracted a large audience of medical anthropologists from a wide range of academic and applied settings.
The SMA meeting opened on March 6 with a Plenary Session on “Individual Agency in Health: A Search for Instrumental Self-Determination.” Session Chair William Dressler (Alabama) welcomed the standing room only audience, and introduced speakers Atwood Gaines (Case Western Reserve), Carol Worthman (Emory), Arachu Castro (Harvard), Lenore Manderson (Melbourne) and Mark Nichter (Arizona). Presenters offered diverse and sometimes controversial perspectives on the often conflicting roles of authoritative knowledge, biopower, structural barriers, social disparities and individual agency in relation to health systems. The plenary was followed by a heavily attended Welcoming Reception, sponsored by the SfAA.
In addition to the Plenary, SMA Officers organized several special sessions. Ruthbeth Finerman (Memphis) and Fred Bloom (CDC) co-organized a discussion panel with the assistance of James Carey (CDC) on “Institutional Agency in Health: A Search for Collaboration” as a follow-up to the plenary; representatives from various health agencies reflected on the integration of anthropological perspectives in health policies and programs, and outlined strategies to forge stronger partnerships among institutions and between agencies and communities. Bill Dressler offered a double session on “Research Methods in Medical Anthropology: Old Problems and New Solutions” which demonstrated how new methodologies blending qualitative and quantitative techniques can illuminate relationships among culture, health and healing. Mark Nichter, Jim Kim (Harvard) and Paul Farmer (Harvard) co-organized a mammoth double session on “Confronting Global Challenges to TB and HIV: The Politics of Responsibility.” The first part of the program examined global TB issues such as drug resistance and disparities in treatment access, while the second half spotlighted projects intended to address health care inequities. The SMA also sponsored a double session developed by James Carey and Ron Stall (CDC) on “Anthropology and Multidisciplinary HIV Behavioral Interventions Research at CDC.” Speakers described a series of investigations that blend methods and insights from medical anthropology, psychology, epidemiology, biostatistics, and medicine to improve community-based HIV prevention programs.
In addition to these featured sessions, SMA members in attendance could select from a rich program featuring more than four dozen sessions focusing on health issues. While SMA attendance was not tracked, the SfAA Business Office reports a total joint meeting attendance of nearly 1000 registrants, and indicates that a significant percentage were drawn by the medical anthropology sessions. The SMA Board welcomes feedback from conference participants, as it develops plans for future independent meetings.
- Ruthbeth Finerman