UAA Department of Anthropology provides leadership at the International Conference of the Society for Applied Anthropology

Faculty, graduate students and former graduate students of the UAA Department of Anthropology played a significant role in the success of the 76th annual meeting the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) held in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, March 29-April 2, 2016.

The SfAA, which began in 1941 to address social problems in the U.S. and world, includes applied-engaged scholars and community activists from all of the social sciences and related disciplines. A record number of 2,100+ participants gave papers, engaged in roundtable discussions and sessions, including performance/digital anthropology sessions and workshops/posters/films at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Participants from 40 nations came to the conference to discuss their research and views regarding impacts of oil fracking and transport worldwide, dam construction in China, war, poverty, homelessness, health and illness, business, tourism, climate change, agriculture, food and nutrition, indigenous rights, drug addiction and more. 352 sessions were offered during the conference. The first day was devoted to issues confronting the host Canadian province, British Columbia, featuring an exhibit and paper session celebrating the achievements of Canadian Justice Thomas Berger in the 1970s. Justice Berger included indigenous Canadian people's testimony in court proceedings in Canada, and later brought this approach to Alaska, regarding impacts of oil development on traditional territories. The Berger sessions were organized by UAA anthropologist Steve Langdon, who worked with Justice Berger in Alaska.

Two of the three co-chairs of the Program Committee are members of the UAA anthropology department: Kerry Feldman and Steve Langdon, professors emeritus at UAA as of 2010 and 2015, respectively. They were joined by Professor Terre Satterfield of the University of British Columbia as a co-program chair. On the 24 member conference program planning committee were UAA department of anthropology faculty Ryan Harrod (forensic anthropology) and Medeia Csoba DeHass (digital anthropology and social media). In addition, UAA anthropology faculty members Kristen Ogilvie and Sally Carraher organized multiple sessions related to the teaching of applied anthropology (Ogilvie) and homelessness, especially in the far north (Carraher). M.A. anthropology graduates Davin Holen (the first UAA M.A. graduate in applied anthropology, 2002) and Yoko Kugo (graduated 2015) presented papers, and Holen also organized sessions related to northern fisheries with Canadian colleagues. UAA anthropology M.A. graduate Travis Hedwig (Ph.D., University of Kentucky, medical anthropology) co-organized sessions on homelessness with Sally Carraher, also a medical anthropologist. Dr. Hedwig is currently a faculty member in the UAA College of Health. A paper was presented, also, by anthropologist Marie Lowe (a member of the UAA anthropology and public policy departments and ISER).

Jill Crosby, professor, UAA Department of Theater and Dance, organized an installation that demonstrated how all of the sensorium (senses) of individuals learn cultural realities of their society, not just their minds. The innovative installation Crosby organized was part of the offerings of the Centre for Imaginative Ethnography, headquartered at York University, Canada and headed by former UAA anthropology assistant professor Denielle Elliott.

Story by Kerry Feldman. For more information, contact Kerry at kdfeldman@uaa.alaska.edu or visit the UAA Department of Anthropology website.

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