By Melissa Stevens
[melissa.stevens7@gmail.com]
University of Maryland, College Park
Melissa Stevens
Before jumping into an overview of the upcoming SfAA meetings in Baltimore, I have two exciting announcements. Both of these items are direct results of the success of the first annual SfAA Tourism and Heritage TIG Student Paper Competition, in which top student papers on tourism and/or heritage research are selected for inclusion in an organized session at the upcoming SfAA meetings in Baltimore. The call for abstracts solicited 25 submissions from students all over the world, and the quality of the submissions was so great that it was decided to expand the student paper session in Baltimore to a double session. As a result of the positive attention that the competition has brought to tourism studies and the SfAA, Tom May, Executive Director of the SfAA, proposed two ideas in order to encourage continued growth in the field of tourism and heritage research. One idea is a special tourism-focused issue of Practicing Anthropology, and the other is a special one-day symposium during the 2013 SfAA meetings in Denver focused on tourism and heritage.
The Tourism and Heritage TIG is working with Tom May to plan and execute these ideas, and we could use your assistance. We will be discussing both of these items during the Tourism and Heritage TIG meeting at the SfAA meetings in Baltimore (details below). Please attend and share your ideas, or if you are unable to make the meeting, we welcome your emailed ideas (sent to Melissa at melissa.stevens7@gmail.com).
Tourism and Heritage TIG Listserve and Facebook
If you would like to join our listserve, send a message to either me or Tim Wallace [tmwallace237@gmail.com] and we will add you to the list. We also have a Facebook page. If you want to post messages and see what we are doing, search Facebook.com for SfAA Tourism Topical Interest Group. We are also on twitter. Follow us @SfAATourismTIG (twitter.com/SfAATourismTIG). If you have suggestions for tweets feel free to contact Kris Sullivan at krismsulli@gmail.com or tweet to our page.
Special Tourism Issue of Practicing Anthropology
Practicing Anthropology is a career-oriented publication of the Society for Applied Anthropology. It focuses on the work that anthropologists do outside of academia and endeavors to encourage a bridge between practice inside and outside the university. Practicing Anthropology occasionally publishes special issues centered on a theme or topic. The tourism issue will be published July 2012 (vol. 34, Issue 3), and will consist of three sections. This issue, to be edited by Sharon Gmelch and Tim Wallace, will feature papers that were presented at the conference “Reflections and New Directions: A Conference on the Anthropology of Tourism in Honor of Valene L. Smith,” held March 4-5, 2011 at the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology at California State University, in Chico. In addition, another section of the issue will be edited by Melissa Stevens and will feature the best of the student papers from the SfAA Tourism and Heritage TIG Student Paper Competition. A third section, to be edited by Heidi Nichols, will feature information from the winning posters at the Valene Smith Student Poster Competition at the Baltimore SfAA meetings.
Tourism Symposium at 2013 SfAA Denver Meetings
Extra copies of the special tourism issue of Practicing Anthropology will be printed and distributed to bring attention to a special one-day tourism symposium to be held during the 2013 SfAA Annual Meeting in Denver. The symposium is in the very early stages of planning and development, and will be the central topic for discussion during the TIG meeting in Baltimore. We would appreciate your thoughts in determining the themes and activities at the proposed symposium (e.g., types of events, roundtable topics, keynote speakers, etc). Please share your thoughts at the TIG meeting or email your ideas to Melissa (melissa.stevens7@gmail.com).
The SfAA Annual Meetings in Baltimore
The Tourism and Heritage TIG meeting will be held SATURDAY 12:00-1:20 in the Poe meeting room at the Sheraton. We invite everyone interested in the anthropology of tourism and heritage (including students) to join us as we discuss the Practicing Anthropology issue, the Denver symposium, other tourism and heritage-related topics, and plans for TIG involvement in next year’s SfAA meetings. We would love to have your input and ideas.
Student papers selected from the SfAA Tourism and Heritage TIG Student Paper Competition will be presented during a special double session entitled “New Trends in Tourism and Heritage Studies at the Global-Local Nexus, Part I and Part II,” held THURSDAY, 8:00-9:50 (Part I) and 10:00-11:50 (Part II) in Schaefer meeting room. The selected papers are now in the running for the $500 prize to be awarded to the top paper, as well as for inclusion in the Practicing Anthropology issue. The session is co-chaired by the TIG co-chairs Melissa Stevens and Tim Wallace. The selected papers represent new and innovative approaches to tourism and heritage issues and constitute a diverse array of topics, including explorations of the politics of competing constructions of heritage and identity in the context of tourism, the role of art and visual culture in recording and representing both local and tourist perceptions of heritage, and the development of heritage tourism in conflict zones and disaster areas.
The Valene Smith Tourism Poster Competition is now in its sixth year. The competition is endowed through the generosity of Valene Smith, one of the founders of the study of tourism. Dr. Smith’s groundbreaking book, Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism established the foundation for the anthropological study of this topic. The award is given to support the research of future leaders in the field of applied tourism and heritage studies, and this year’s submissions represent an interesting variety of topics by many promising students. The tourism and heritage posters will be displayed during the general poster session (THURSDAY 2:30-4:30; Int’l A). Stop by to see cutting edge tourism research and to meet the students presenting their work.
Tourism TIG Co-Chair Tim Wallace and tourism and museum scholar, Betty J. Duggan, are co-chairing a roundtable featuring many of the preeminent voices within the anthropology of tourism and heritage. Linking Communities to Heritage and Tourism: Sustainable Commitments in Anthropological Praxis (FRIDAY 12:00-1:20, Peale) will involve a discussion between the roundtable chairs and Quetzil Castañeda, Antoinette Jackson, Alicia Re Cruz, and Alayne Unterberger.
Other tourism and heritage related sessions include:
WEDNESDAY 8:00-9:50; Poe
Addressing the Impacts of/on Tourism
WEDNESDAY 10:00-11:50; Int’l D
Images and Impacts of Tourism
FRIDAY 8:00-9:50; Peale
Tradition, Tourism, and Community in Sololá, Guatemala: Reports from the Ethnographic Field School of North Carolina State University, Part I
FRIDAY 10:00-11:50; Peale
Tradition, Tourism, and Community in Sololá, Guatemala: Reports from the Ethnographic Field School of North Carolina State University, Part II
FRIDAY 3:30-5:20; Poe
Interpreting America’s Complex Heritage: Diversifying Participation and Increasing Visitation at National Park Sites and Venues
FRIDAY 3:30-5:20; Peale
Issues in Globalization and Environmental Interactions Related to Tourism, Cultural Sustainability and Health
Future Columns Call for Papers
The Tourism and Heritage TIG would like to see your work published here! Please send us your travel and research stories, book and film reviews, or general tourism and heritage-related musings to Melissa Stevens (melissa.stevens7@gmail.com) for consideration for inclusion in future newsletter columns. Pieces should be no more than 1500-1750 words in length, including references. Please do not use endnotes or footnotes. Submissions for the May newsletter must be received by April 15, 2012.
Stay connected to the Tourism and Heritage TIG through:
TourismTIG List-serve: to subscribe, contact Tim Wallace (tmwallace@mindspring.com) or Melissa Stevens (melissa.stevens7@gmail.com)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/SfAA-Tourism-Topical-Interest-Group/139663493424
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sfaatourismtig
