[URBANTH-L]Submissions Needed for AN Forum on the Meetings

[Angela Jancius]

Anthropology News is considering the publication of a series of 
commentaries on issues emerging from the Executive Board's decision to 
move the AAA annual meeting from San Francisco to Atlanta.  Elzbieta 
Gozdziak emg27 at georgetown.edu would like to hear SUNTA members' who are 
interested in contributing, or have thoughts about topics for the 
series.  See below for details, and send Elzbieta with your submissions 
or submission proposals.   -AJ

Stacy Lathrop, Managing Editor of AN, writes:

"Several of you, along with others, have suggested that AN organize a 
series of commentaries on issues that have emerged from the Executive 
Board's decision to move the AAA annual meeting from San Francisco to 
Atlanta.
[...]  In thinking how AN might provide a forum for some of the issues 
emerging from recent events, I am certain that I would want to frame 
such a discussion in a way that we might look reflectively toward the 
future rather than place blame on what has already been done.  I would 
also want to try having contributors speak to one another  about broadly 
shared concerns and interests about the role of the association and 
direction of the discipline, for instance by analyzing some of the 
differing, at times conflicting, assumptions and claims made about 
association ethics and governance. I am writing you now for your input 
(please respond this week by Friday, Nov 12):
1) Do you think it would be beneficial to invite comments on this 
broadly conceived topic? 
2) If so, what do you think some of the important discussion questions 
would be?  Keep in mind that if AN does invite commentaries on this 
topic, that they would not run until January or February, so the 
questions would need to be broad and general enough to still be relevant 
at that time.

Based on the emails I've read and conversations I've had, I think 
several reoccurring issues emerge.
*    What is and should be the role of the AAA as a scholarly 
association, in terms of its legal bylaws and the expectations and     
     actions of its members and various entities?   Some have made 
statements that the association should change.  Do you             
       agree?  If so, how and why should it do this?
*    What do you think is the best way of developing and communicating 
association-wide policy?
*    To whom is the AAA, and its governing body, responsible?   
*    What ethical precepts do and should guide our views about the 
association and its actions?  What legal obligations must be         
considered?
*    When these ethical precepts and legal obligations conflict, how 
should association leaders work through all the relevant factors to make 
decisions having significant consequences for all interested parties?  
Furthermore, if the membership is divided in its opinions about a 
matter, how should the AAA responsibly decide a course of action? I look 
forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter."