The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
. With 10,000 members, the association, based in
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
, includes
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
s,
cultural anthropologist
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portman ...
s,
biological (or physical) anthropologists,
linguistic anthropologists,
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
s,
medical anthropologists
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
and applied anthropologists in universities and colleges, research institutions, government agencies, museums, corporations and non-profits throughout the world. The AAA publishes more than 20 peer-reviewed
scholarly journal
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...
s, available in print and online through AnthroSource. The AAA was founded in 1902.
History
The first anthropological society in the US was the American Ethnological Society of New York, which was founded by
Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan– American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...
and revived in 1899 by Franz Boas after a hiatus. 1879 saw the establishment of the Anthropological Society of Washington (which first published the journal ''
American Anthropologist
''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
'', before it became a national journal), and 1882 saw the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
established an anthropological section. Boas and other anthropologist discussed the possibility of creating a single national society already in 1898, but fears that it might damage the AAAS caused a long discussion. In 1901 the AES and ASW sent members to attend the meeting of the AAAS anthropologists in Chicago in which discussions continued and there was general agreement that a national society should be formed. Boas advocated a restricted membership of 40 "professional anthropologists", but the AAA's first president,
W. J. McGee
William John McGee, LL.D. (April 17, 1853 – September 4, 1912) was an American inventor, geologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist, born in Farley, Iowa.
Biography
While largely self-taught, McGee attended a rural Lincoln School (Farley, Iowa) ...
, ensured that membership would be open to everyone with an interest in the discipline.
[ At its incorporation, it assumed responsibility for the journal'' ]American Anthropologist
''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
'', created in 1888 by the Anthropological Society of Washington (ASW).
Business affairs are conducted by a 41-member Section Assembly representing each of the association's constituent sections, and a 15-member Executive Board.
According to its articles of incorporation, the AAA was formed to:
promote the science of anthropology, to stimulate and coordinate the efforts of American anthropologists, to foster local and other societies devoted to anthropology, to serve as a bond among American anthropologists and anthropologic lorganizations present and prospective, and to publish and encourage the publication of matter pertaining to anthropology.
From an initial membership of 175, the AAA grew slowly during the first half of the 20th century. Annual meetings were held primarily in the Northeast and accommodated all attendees in a single room.
The Association describes itself as "a democratic organization since its beginning."
In 2010, AAA Executive Board stripped the word "science" from a draft statement of its long-range plan, instead pledging to advance "the public understanding of humankind." The change set off a wide-ranging controversy over the definition of the discipline, with many archaeologists and physical anthropologists describing themselves as marginalized within the AAA. The final version of the long-range plan begins, "The strength of Anthropology lies in its distinctive position at the nexus of the sciences and humanities" and declares, "The purpose of the Association shall be to advance scholarly understanding of humankind in all its aspects ... drawing from and building upon knowledge from biological and physical sciences as well as the humanities and social sciences."
The offices of the AAA are located in Arlington, Virginia.[Regna Darnell, Frederic Wright Gleach (eds.) 2002. Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological Association: Presidential Portraits. U of Nebraska Press, 2002]
Sections
The AAA is composed of 40 sections, which are groups organized around identity affiliations or intellectual interests within the discipline of anthropology. Sections each have an elected president or chair; many publish journals and host meetings.
Sections
* American Ethnological Society
The American Ethnological Society (AES) is the oldest professional anthropological association in the United States.
History of the American Ethnological Society
Albert Gallatin and John Russell Bartlett founded the American Ethnological Societ ...
(AES)
* Anthropology and the Environment (A&E)
* The Archaeology Division of the American Anthropological Association (AD)
* Association for Africanist Anthropology (AfAA)
* Association for Feminist Anthropology (AFA)
* Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA)
* Association for Queer Anthropology (AQA)
* Association for the Anthropology of Policy (ASAP)
* Association of Black Anthropologists
The Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA) founded in 1975, is an American organization which brings together Black anthropologists with a view to highlighting the history of African Americans, especially in regard to exploitation, oppressio ...
(ABA)
* Association of Indigenous Anthropologists (AIA)
* Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists (ALLA)
* Association of Senior Anthropologists (ASA)
* Biological Anthropology Section (BAS)
* Central States Anthropological Association (CSAS)
* Council for Museum Anthropology (CMA)
* Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE)
* Culture and Agriculture (C&A)
* Evolutionary Anthropology Society (EAS)
* General Anthropology Division (GAD)
* Middle East Section (MES)
* National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA)
* National Association of Student Anthropologists (NASA)
* Society for Anthropological Sciences (CAS)
* Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges (SACC)
* Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA)
* Society for East Asian Anthropology (SEAA)
* Society for Economic Anthropology {{Unreferenced, date=October 2017
The Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA) is a group of anthropologists, archaeologists, economists, geographers and other scholars interested in the connections between economics and social life. Its members tak ...
(SEA)
* Society for Humanistic Anthropology (SHA)
* Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (SLACA)
* Society for Linguistic Anthropology (SLA)
* Society for Medical Anthropology
The Organization of Medical Anthropology was formed in 1967 and first met on April 27, 1968, at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA), during which the Medical Anthropology Newsletter was conceived and first publish ...
(SMA)
* Society for Psychological Anthropology (SPA)
* Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness (SAC)
* Society for the Anthropology of Europe (SAE)
* Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN)
* Society for the Anthropology of North America (SANA)
* Society for the Anthropology of Religion (SAR)
* Society for the Anthropology of Work (SAW)
* Society for Urban, National, and Transnational/Global Anthropology (SUNTA)
* Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA)
Publications
The AAA publishes more than 20 section publications including ''American Anthropologist
''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
'', ''American Ethnologist
The American Ethnological Society (AES) is the oldest professional anthropological association in the United States.
History of the American Ethnological Society
Albert Gallatin and John Russell Bartlett founded the American Ethnological Societ ...
'', ''Cultural Anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...
'', ''Anthropology & Education Quarterly'' and ''Medical Anthropology Quarterly
''Medical Anthropology Quarterly'' (MAQ) is an international peer-reviewed academic journal published for the Society for Medical Anthropology, a section of the American Anthropological Association, by Wiley-Blackwell. It publishes research and ...
''. The AAA's official magazine,
Anthropology News
', is published bimonthly. AAA publications are available online throug
AnthroSource
Since 2007, journals have been published in partnership with Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...
since 2007. Since 1962 the association has published the AAA AnthroGuide, giving staff and program information about anthropology departments.
Meetings
Since 1902, the society has held annual meetings. Th
AAA Annual Meeting
with more than 6,000 attendees, is the world's largest gathering of anthropologists. The meeting is held in a different location each year.
Public issues involvement
The AAA supported the passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906
The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential procla ...
, protested the discontinuance of anthropological research in the Philippines (1915), urged the teaching of anthropology in high schools (1927), spoke out for the preservation of archaeological materials when dams were built by the Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
(1935), passed a pre-WWII resolution against racism (1938), and expressed the need to "guard against the dangers, and utilize the promise, inherent in the use of atomic energy" (1945).
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the association examined the issues of government-sponsored classified research, use of anthropologists by the military in Vietnam, secret research in Thailand, and the general problem of a code of ethics for anthropological research, particularly for the protection of the rights of those studied. Other issues addressed from the 1970s through the 1980s included illegal antiquities trade
The antiquities trade is the exchange of antiquities and archaeological artifacts from around the world. This trade may be illicit or completely legal. The legal antiquities trade abides by national regulations, allowing for extraction of artifact ...
, the insertion of religious beliefs into social science texts, the preservation of endangered nonhuman primates, and the religious significance of peyote
The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...
to Native Americans.
In 2004, in response to President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's call for a constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
banning same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
, the Association issued a statement on marriage and the family. It states:
The Association also has adopted resolutions against the 2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, against the use of anthropological knowledge as an element for physical or psychological torture, and against any covert or overt U.S. military action against Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
A number of ideologically polarized debates within the discipline of anthropology have prompted the association to conduct investigations. These include the dispute between Derek Freeman
John Derek Freeman (15 August 1916 – 6 July 2001) was a New Zealand anthropologist knownTuzin, page 1013. for #Freeman_vs._Mead:_A_self_described_heresy, his criticism of Margaret Mead's work on Samoan society, as described in her 1928 ethno ...
and defenders of Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...
, as well as the controversy over the book ''Darkness in El Dorado
''Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon'' is a polemical book written by author Patrick Tierney in 2000, in which the author accuses geneticist James Neel and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon of conducting ...
''. In the latter case, Alice Dreger
Alice Domurat Dreger () is an American historian, bioethicist, author, and former professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.
Dreger engages in academic ...
, an historian of medicine and science, and an outsider to the debate, concluded after a year of research that the American Anthropological Association was complicit and irresponsible in helping spread the falsehoods contained in the book, and not protecting "scholars from baseless and sensationalistic charges".
Race
The AAA has issued a number of statements on the topic of race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
, and since the 1950s has argued publicly that race is best understood as a cultural or bio-cultural rather than mostly biological construction.
In the 1990s, in response to what it felt was public confusion about the meaning of "race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
," particularly perceived public misconceptions about race and intelligence
Discussions of race and intelligence – specifically, claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines – have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of Race (human categorization), race was fi ...
, the AAA Executive Board commissioned the ''American Anthropological Association Statement on Race
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
'' as a constructed social mechanism The term social mechanisms and mechanism-based explanations of social phenomena originate from the philosophy of science.
The core thinking behind the mechanism approach has been expressed as follows by Elster (1989: 3-4): “To explain an event i ...
. In 2006, the association developed and continues to manage a public education program titled "RACE: Are We So Different?" The program includes a traveling museum exhibit, an interactive website, and educational materials.
Human rights
Initially, AAA was highly skeptical of the concept of universal human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
, with some anthropologists arguing that because of cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the idea that a person's beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture. Proponents of cultural relativism also tend to argue that the norms and values of one culture should not be evaluated ...
there are no principles that can be universally valid for humans of all cultures. IN 1947 the AAA issued a statement on Human rights, noting that value judgments are culturally contextual and arguing that a declaration about universal human rights ought to take into consideration and encompass all the different human value systems. This stance has gradually been abandoned by most anthropologists, many of whom today see universal human rights as an important way through which discrimination, oppression of cultural minorities can be reduced.
Immigration policy
Arizona
On May 22, 2010, the AAA Executive Board issued a resolution that declared Arizona's SB1070, a law which empowers state law enforcement to assist with the enforcement of federal law, to be "unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
." The Board claimed it would boycott Arizona, but would not boycott "Indian Reservations
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
" within the state, until the law "is either repealed or struck down as constitutionally invalid." The Board did not state what it will do if the courts uphold SB1070 as constitutionally valid.
The Board stated that "The AAA has a long and rich history of supporting policies that prohibit discrimination based on ... national origin..."
On September 19, 2016, the U.S. District Court in Arizona entered a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the remaining provisions. With the law's repeal
AAA's ban on considering AAA conferences in Arizona was lifted
Engaging with the military
Vietnam War
In March 1967, during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, the Council of the AAA adopted a "Statement on Problems of Anthropological Research and Ethics" that stated:
Human Terrain System
Through 2007 and 2008, debates surrounding anthropologists and the military resurfaced in response to the Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek Ï€Îντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°.
A pentagon may be simpl ...
's Human Terrain System
The Human Terrain System (HTS) was a United States Army, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) support program employing personnel from the social science disciplines – such as anthropology, sociology, political science, regional studies, and ...
(HTS) project. Following a number of national news articles on the project, anthropologists began to debate the project and related ethical issues. Proponents of the program argued that anthropologists were providing much-needed cultural knowledge about local populations and helping to decrease violence in their areas of operation. Critics, however, argued that HTS anthropologists could not receive informed consent
Informed consent is a principle in medical ethics and medical law, that a patient must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about their medical care. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatme ...
from their research subjects in a war zone and that information provided by anthropologists might put populations in danger.
To address these issues, the Association's Executive Board released a statement on 31 October 2007. It cited "sufficiently troubling and urgent ethical issues" raised by the project, including the difficulties for HTS anthropologists to receive informed consent without coercion from their research subjects and to uphold their ethical mandate to "do no harm" to those they study. The AAA urged members to adhere to its code of ethics, which outlines principles and guidelines for ethical behavior. However, the association does not adjudicate cases involving charges of unethical behavior or bar members from participating in the HTS program.
In addition, the Association's Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with US Security and Intelligence Communities (CEAUSSIC) issued a final report released during the AAA's 2007 annual meeting, based on over a year of work. It neither endorsed nor condemned anthropological work with military, intelligence and security organizations, but instead outlined the opportunities and challenges of working in these sectors. Opposition to military cooperation was evident during that meeting. Some critics of the HTS program have suggested that scholars who perform classified work with the military be expelled from the organization. During an event organized by the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, a graduate student who had recently been expelled from the HTS program spoke out about her experiences. She argued that the program was poorly run but was doing positive work in helping military officers with "nation-building
Nation-building is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. Nation-building aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run. According to ...
" activities.
AnthroSource
''AnthroSource'' is the online repository of the journals of the American Anthropological Association. Launched in 2004, it contains current issues for fifteen of the Association's peer-reviewed publications, as well as an archive of the journals, newsletters, and bulletins published by the Association and its member sections. Members of the association receive access to AnthroSource as a benefit of membership, and institutions may receive access via paid subscription.
Until August 2007, AnthroSource was a collaboration between the University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
and the Association. It, along with all their journals, has since been removed from the University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
by the AAA Board and transferred to Wiley-Blackwell. Commencing 2008, AnthroSource was to be hosted and managed by Wiley-Blackwell as part of the five-year publishing contract awarded.
In 2013, the Association announced that it would experiment with making ''Cultural Anthropology'' an open-access journal
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
; Brad Weiss, the society's president, said in a statement posted on the group's Web site, that "Starting with the first issue of 2014, CA will provide worldwide, instant, free (to the user), and permanent access to all of our content (as well as 10 years of our back catalog)," and that "Cultural Anthropology will be the first major, established, high-impact journal in anthropology to offer open access to all of its research" [Jennifer Howard, "American Anthropological Assn. Will Experiment With Open Access
" ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' March 11, 201]
/ref>
Presidents
AAA presidents have been drawn from all of the four subdisciplines of American anthropology: Until 2003 the presidents counted 46 socio-cultural anthropologists, 19 archeologists, six physical anthropologists and six linguists.[AAA Past Presidents]
Retrieved 2015-09-18
* William John McGee, William J McGee (1902–1904)
* F W Putnam (1905–1906)
* Franz Boas
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...
(1907–1908)
* W H Holmes (1909–1910)
* J Walter Fewkes (1911–1912)
* Roland B Dixon (1913–1914)
* F W Hodge (1915–1916)
* Alfred L. Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the first ...
(1917–1918)
* Clark Wissler
Clark David Wissler (September 18, 1870 – August 25, 1947) was an American anthropologist, ethnologist, and archaeologist.
Early life
Clark David Wissler was born in Cambridge City, Indiana on September 18, 1870 to Sylvania (née Needler) and ...
(1919–1920)
* W. C. Farabee
William C. Farabee (1865–1925), the second individual to obtain a doctorate in physical anthropology from Harvard University, engaged in a wide range of anthropological work during his time as a professor at Harvard and then as a researcher at ...
(1921–1922)
* Walter Hough (1923–1924)
* Ales Hrdlicka Ales may refer to:
Places
* Alès, a town and commune in southern France
* Ales, Sardinia, a small town in the province of Oristano on Sardinia in Italy
People with the surname
* Alexander Ales (1500–1565), Scottish theologian
* Mikoláš AleŠ...
(1925–1926)
* Marshall H. Saville (1927–1928)
* Alfred M. Tozzer (1929–1930)
* George G. MacCurdy (1931)
* John R. Swanton
John Reed Swanton (February 19, 1873 – May 2, 1958) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and et ...
(1932)
* Fay-Cooper Cole
Fay-Cooper Cole (8 August 1881 – 3 September 1961) was a professor of anthropology and founder of the anthropology department at the University of Chicago; he was a student of Franz Boas. Most famously, he was a witness for the defense for John ...
(1933–1934)
* Robert H. Lowie (1935)
* Herbert J. Spinden (1936)
* Nels C. Nelson
Nels Christian Nelson (April 9, 1875 – March 5, 1964) was a Danish-American archaeologist.
Biography
Nelson was born near Fredericia, in the Fredericia municipality in the eastern part of Jutland, Denmark. He was the eldest child in a poor ...
(1937)
* Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir (; January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American Jewish anthropologist-linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States.
Sa ...
(1938)
* Diamond Jenness
Diamond Jenness, (February 10, 1886, Wellington, New Zealand – November 29, 1969, Chelsea, Quebec, Canada) was one of Canada's greatest early scientists and a pioneer of Canadian anthropology.
Early life (1886–1910)
Family and childhoo ...
(1939)
* John M. Cooper (1940)
* Elsie Clews Parsons
Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexi ...
(1941)
* A.V. Kidder
Alfred Vincent Kidder (October 29, 1885 – June 11, 1963) was an American archaeologist considered the foremost of the southwestern United States and Mesoamerica during the first half of the 20th century. He saw a disciplined system of archaeolog ...
(1942)
* Leslie Spier
Leslie Spier (December 13, 1893 – December 3, 1961) was an American anthropologist best known for his ethnographic studies of American Indians. He spent a great deal of his professional life as a teacher; he retired in 1955 and died in 1961.Rob ...
(1943)
* Robert Redfield
Robert Redfield (December 4, 1897 – October 16, 1958) was an American anthropologist and ethnolinguist, whose ethnographic work in Tepoztlán, Mexico, is considered a landmark of Latin American ethnography. He was associated with the University ...
(1944)
* Neil M Judd (1945)
* Ralph Linton
Ralph Linton (27 February 1893 – 24 December 1953) was an American anthropologist of the mid-20th century, particularly remembered for his texts ''The Study of Man'' (1936) and ''The Tree of Culture'' (1955). One of Linton's major contributio ...
(1946)
* Ruth Benedict
Ruth Fulton Benedict (June 5, 1887 – September 17, 1948) was an American anthropologist and folklorist.
She was born in New York City, attended Vassar College, and graduated in 1909. After studying anthropology at the New School of Social Re ...
(Jan-May 1947)
* Clyde Kluckhohn
Clyde Kluckhohn (; January 11, 1905 in Le Mars, Iowa – July 28, 1960 near Santa Fe, New Mexico), was an American anthropologist and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo and his contributions to the de ...
(May-Dec 1947)
* Harry L. Shapiro (1948)
* A. Irving Hallowell
Alfred Irving "Pete" Hallowell (; 1892–1974) was an award-winning American anthropologist, archaeologist and businessman.
Early life and education
Hallowell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended the Wharton School of the Univ ...
(1949)
* Ralph L. Beals (1950)
* William W. Howells (1951)
* Wendell C. Bennett (1952)
* Fred R. Eggan
Frederick Russell Eggan (September 12, 1906 in Seattle, Washington – May 7, 1991) was an American anthropologist best known for his innovative application of the principles of British Social Anthropology, social anthropology to the study of Nati ...
(1953)
* John Otis Brew
John Otis Brew (March 28, 1906 – March 19, 1988), was an American archaeologist of the American Southwest and director at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Peabody Museum at Harvard University. Many of his publications are still u ...
(1954)
* George P. Murdock
George Peter ("Pete") Murdock (May 11, 1897 – March 29, 1985), also known as G. P. Murdock, was an American anthropologist who was professor at Yale University and University of Pittsburgh. He is remembered for his empirical approach to ethn ...
(1955)
* Emil W. Haury (1956)
* E. Adamson Hoebel
E. Adamson Hoebel (1906–1993) was Regents Professor Emeritus of anthropology at the University of Minnesota. Having studied under Franz Boas, he held a PhD in anthropology from Columbia University. There he also attended the seminars of Karl N. ...
(1957)
* Harry Hoijer
Harry Hoijer (September 6, 1904 – March 11, 1976) was a linguist and anthropologist who worked on primarily Athabaskan languages and culture. He additionally documented the Tonkawa language, which is now extinct. Hoijer's few works make up the ...
(1958)
* Sol Tax
Sol Tax (30 October 1907 – 4 January 1995) was an American anthropologist. He is best known for creating action anthropology and his studies of the Meskwaki, or Fox, Indians, for "action-anthropological" research titled the Fox Project, and for ...
(1959)
* Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...
(1960)
* Gordon R Willey (1961)
* Sherwood L. Washburn
Sherwood Larned Washburn ( – ), nicknamed "Sherry", was an American physical anthropologist, and "a legend in the field." He was pioneer in the field of primatology, opening it to the study of primates in their natural habitats. His research ...
(1962)
* Morris E. Opler
Morris Edward Opler (May 3, 1907 – May 13, 1996), American anthropologist and advocate of Japanese American civil rights, was born in Buffalo, New York. He was the brother of Marvin Opler, an anthropologist and social psychiatrist.
Morris Ople ...
(1963)
* Leslie A. White
Leslie Alvin White (January 19, 1900, Salida, Colorado – March 31, 1975, Lone Pine, California) was an American anthropologist known for his advocacy of the theories on cultural evolution, sociocultural evolution, and especially neoevoluti ...
(1964)
* Alexander Spoehr
Alexander Spoehr (August 23, 1913 – June 11, 1992) was an American anthropologist who served as president of the American Anthropological Association in 1965.
Spoehr was born in Tucson, Arizona on August 23, 1913, to parents Herman Augustus S ...
(1965)
* John P. Gillin
John Philip GIllin (1907–1973) was an American anthropologist and scholar who made substantial contributions to the field of anthropology. He exhibited a great interest in Latin American culture and took many trips to South America.
John P. G ...
(1966)
* Frederica de Laguna
Frederica ("Freddy") Annis Lopez de Leo de Laguna (October 3, 1906 – October 6, 2004) was an American ethnologist, anthropologist, and archaeologist influential for her work on Paleoindian and Alaska Native art and archaeology in the American ...
(1967)
* Irving Rouse
Benjamin Irving Rouse (August 29, 1913 – February 24, 2006) was an American archaeologist on the faculty of Yale University best known for his work in the Greater and Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, especially in Haiti. He also conducted field ...
(1968)
* Cora DuBois
Cora Alice Du Bois (October 26, 1903 – April 7, 1991) was an American cultural anthropologist and a key figure in culture and personality studies and in psychological anthropology more generally. She was Samuel Zemurray Jr. and Doris Zemurray ...
(1969)
* George M. Foster Jr.
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
(1970)
* Charles Wagley
Charles Wagley (1913 – November 25, 1991) was an American anthropologist and leading pioneer in the development of Brazilian anthropology. Wagley began graduate work in the 1930s at Columbia University, where he fell under the spell of Fran ...
(1971)
* Anthony F. C. Wallace
Anthony Francis Clarke Wallace (April 15, 1923 – October 5, 2015) was a Canadian-American anthropologist who specialized in Native American cultures, especially the Iroquois. His research expressed an interest in the intersection of cultural a ...
(1972)
* Joseph B. Casagrande
Joseph Bartholomew Casagrande (February 14, 1915 – June 2, 1982) was an American anthropologist.
Early life and education
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, born on February 14, 1915, Casagrande moved with his parents, Louis Bartholomew Casagrande an ...
(1973)
* Edward H. Spicer (1974)
* Ernestine Friedl
Ernestine Friedl (August 13, 1920 – October 12, 2015) was an American anthropologist, author, and professor. She served as the president of both the American Ethnological Society (1967) and the American Anthropological Association (1974–1975). ...
(1975)
* Walter Goldschmidt
Walter Rochs Goldschmidt (February 24, 1913 – September 1, 2010) was an American anthropologist.
Goldschmidt was of German descent, born in San Antonio, Texas, on February 24, 1913, to Hermann and Gretchen Goldschmidt. He earned a bachelor's deg ...
(1976)
* Richard Newbold Adams (1977)
* Francis L. K. Hsu (1978)
* Paul J. Bohannan
Paul James Bohannan (March 5, 1920 – July 13, 2007) was an American anthropologist known for his research on the Tiv people of Nigeria, spheres of exchange and divorce in the United States.
Early life and education
Bohannan was born in Linco ...
(1979)
* Conrad M. Arensberg (1980)
* William C Sturtevant (1981)
* M. Margaret Clark (1982)
* Dell Hathaway Hymes
Dell Hathaway Hymes (June 7, 1927 in Portland, Oregon – November 13, 2009 in Charlottesville, Virginia) was a linguist, Sociolinguistics, sociolinguist, anthropologist, and folkloristics, folklorist who established disciplinary foundations for ...
(1983)
* Nancy O. Lurie
Nancy Oestreich Lurie (January 29, 1924May 13, 2017) was an American anthropologist who specialized in the study of North American Indian history and culture. Lurie's research specialties were ethnohistory, action anthropology and museology; her a ...
(1984–1985)
* June Helm
June Helm (September 13, 1924 – February 5, 2004) was an American anthropologist, primarily known for her work with the Dene people in the Mackenzie River drainage.
Early life and education
Helm was born in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1924, to Willi ...
(1986–1987)
* Roy Rappaport
Roy A. Rappaport (1926–1997) was an American anthropologist known for his contributions to the anthropological study of ritual and to ecological anthropology.
Biography
Rappaport received his Ph.D. at Columbia University and held a tenured posi ...
(1988–1989)
* Jane Buikstra
Jane Ellen Buikstra (born 1945) is an American anthropologist and bioarchaeologist. Her 1977 article on the biological dimensions of archaeology coined and defined the field of bioarchaeology in the US as the application of biological anthropol ...
(1989–1991)
* Annette Weiner
Annette Barbara Weiner née Cohen (February 14, 1933 - 7 December 1997) was an American anthropologist, Kriser Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, chair of the Anthropology Department, dean of the social sciences, and dean of the Graduate Sch ...
(1991–1993)
* James Peacock (1993–1995)
* Yolanda T. Moses
Yolanda Theresa Moses (born 1946) is an anthropologist and college administrator who served as the 10th president of City College of New York (1993–1999) and president of the American Association for Higher Education (2000–2003).
Early life
...
(1995–1997)
* Jane Hill
Jane Amanda Hill (born 10 June 1969 in Eastbourne, Sussex) is an English newsreader working for the BBC. She is one of the main presenters for BBC News, and is the main presenter on the '' BBC News at One'' and the '' BBC News at Five'', as w ...
(1997–1999)
* Louise Lamphere
Louise Lamphere (born 1940) is an American anthropologist who has been distinguished professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico since 2001. She was a faculty member at UNM from 1976–1979 and again from 1986–2009, when she became ...
(1999–2001)
* Don Brenneis
Donald Lawrence Brenneis (born February 2, 1946) is an American anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Brenneis served as president of the American Anthropological Association (2002–2003). He ...
(2001–2003)
* Elizabeth M. Brumfiel
Elizabeth M. Brumfiel (born Elizabeth Stern; March 10, 1945 – January 1, 2012) was an American Archaeology, archaeologist who taught at Northwestern University and Albion College. She had been a president of the American Anthropological Associ ...
(2003–2005)
* Alan H. Goodman (2005–2007)
* Setha Low
Setha M. Low (born March 14, 1948) is a former president of the American Anthropological Association, a professor in environmental psychology, and the director of the Public Space Research Group at the City University of New York. Low also serve ...
(2007–2009)
* Virginia R. DomÃnguez
Virginia Dominguez (born 1952) is a political and legal anthropologist. She is currently the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Early life
Virginia Dominguez was ...
(2009–2011)
* Leith Mullings
Leith Patricia Mullings (April 8, 1945 – December 13, 2020) was a Jamaican-born author, anthropologist and professor. She was president of the American Anthropological Association from 2011–2013, and was a Distinguished Professor of Anthropol ...
(2011–2013)
* Monica Heller
Monica Heller (born June 1955) is a Canadian linguistic anthropologist and Professor at the University of Toronto. She was the president of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) from 2013 to 2015. (2013–2015)
* Alisse Waterston (2015–2017)
* Alex Barker (2017–2019)
Notes
References
*
*
External links
American Anthropological Association
RACE: Are We So Different?
Register to the Papers of American Anthropological Association
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
''History of the American Anthropological Associations Annual Meetings''
{{Authority control
Professional associations based in the United States
American anthropologists
Anthropology-related professional associations
Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies