By Betsy Taylor
[betsy.taylor@gmail.com]
Virginia Tech University

Betsy Taylor

Did SfAA disgrace itself by meeting in Baltimore in a hotel notorious for mistreating its workers? Baltimore is my hometown and many there tell me so. But, I tell them that we anthropologists are waking up. We might not be able to undo the damage we did to Baltimore workers and their already un-level playing field. But, if we learn from mistakes, this is a time of surprising opportunities for socially responsible meetings. There has been a burst of creativity in labor organizing by hotel workers. Professional associations are growing new ethical muscles with new coalitions. For instance, in 2006, creative leadership from the American Studies Association, the union UNITE-HERE, and others, created a non-profit Informed Meetings Exchange (www.inmex.org) that manages socially responsible meetings for free.

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By Kara Klemins
[kiclemin@ncsu.edu]
North Carolina State University

Kara Klemins

Many students struggle to gain field experience before the graduate level. A holistic approach to teaching should be applied to anthropology as it claims to be a holistic science. We should take to heart the values of holism when disseminating knowledge throughout academia and increase the level of communication not only between professional academics but with those they teach. By increasing opportunities to work in field situations students will be able to gain a more holistic understanding what it is to be an anthropologist. This notion of a dialogue that breaks down the traditional academic hierarchy should be coupled with an emphasis on cross departmental communication. A model that emphasizes more practical application of anthropological concepts through the professorial supervision and guidance will yield more knowledgeable and prepared undergraduate anthropologists.

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By Darby C. Stapp
[dstapp@pocketinet.com]
Northwest Anthropology LLC

Darby C. Stapp

We were reminded during the recent presidential election campaign that values are important. More importantly, we were shown why one must actually possess values before espousing them publically. The reason is simple. If you don’t possess the values you espouse, then your opinions, decisions and actions will be all over the map; you won’t be consistent in your responses, and you might flip-flop depending on the audience you are addressing.

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By Megan Gorby
[megangorby@my.unt.edu]
Chair, SfAA Podcast Project
University of North Texas

By Jo Aiken
[jonieaiken@gmail.com]
Associate Chair, SfAA Podcast Project
University of North Texas

Megan Gorby

Jo Aiken

The Session Selection Survey will be distributed in early January and the SfAA Podcast Project would like to invite everyone to participate. The survey will be posted on our website sfaapodcasts.net, Facebook, and Twitter accounts and helps determine what sessions will be podcasted during the Annual Meeting. By subscribing to the website, you can receive email updates so that you don’t miss the survey. If you have any questions, please contact us at sfaapodcasts@gmail.com.

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On October 2, an intercultural group of artisans and the scholars who work with them arrived at the School of Advance Research (SAR) in Santa Fe to discuss ongoing work in all areas intersecting with the production, marketing and consumption of crafts, boutique food products and cultural heritage tourism. Co-organized by Jeanne Simonelli, (WFU) June Nash (CUNY) and Katherine O’Donnell (Hartwick College), Artisan Production and the World Market: Collaborating in Theory, Methods, Practice is the SAR/SfAA 2013 Seminar and Plenary.

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