GW event: Prenatal sex selection — global patterns and a focus on South East Asia

The Global Gender Program will host “Prenatal sex selection: global patterns and a focus on South East Asia”.

In this seminar Christophe Z Guilmoto, demographer and director of research at the Center for Population and Development (CEPED), Institute of Research for Development (IRD), Paris, will discuss current global patterns and trends relating to pre-natal sex selection, as well as the relationship between the practice and kinship structures in Vietnam and Indonesia.

When: October 9, 2013, 2:00-3:30pm

Where: Lindner Family Commons
1957 E Street NW
The Elliott School of International Affairs
Washington, DC 20052

To RSVP for this event: go.gwu.edu/sexselection

DC conference: Student proposals sought on diversity in conflict/divided societies

The Georgetown University Conflict Resolution Program is calling for student papers, art, and videography for their conference, “Managing Diversity in Divided Societies.” Submissions should address the following questions:

What tools and mechanisms best promote diversity? How is diversity best approached in conflict societies? How can the arts be used to engage diversity and enhance societal well being?

Cash prizes will be awared to the top three finalists in the categories of diversity, conflict, and peace-building. Submissions are open to third and fourth year undergraduate students and graduate students.

Abstracts will be accepted until October 15th. Submissions are due on December 1st. The conference will be held on January 30-31st.

Send questions and submissions to: diversityconference@georgetown.edu

GW event: Jim Yong Kim speaking on the state of poverty throughout the world

Just days before the start of the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, will speak about the state of poverty around the world and the World Bank Group’s efforts to lift millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people to higher incomes and opportunities. Six months ago, President Kim unveiled global goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost incomes for the poorest 40% of the world’s people. In his address, he will discuss the World Bank Group’s new strategy to reach these ambitious goals and how each of us can be a part of this historic quest to end poverty and create shared prosperity in our lifetime.

A physician and anthropologist, Dr. Kim has dedicated himself to international development for more than two decades, helping to improve the lives of under-served populations worldwide. Dr. Kim previously served as president of Dartmouth College and is a co-founder of Partners in Health (PIH) as well as a former director of the HIV/AIDS Department at the World Health Organization (WHO).

RSVPs are no longer being taken, but the event will be webcast at. http://media.elliott.gwu.edu/live

Date and time: Tuesday, October 1, 2013, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Where: The George Washington University. Sponsored by the Elliott School of International Affairs and the Institute for International Economic Policy.

Anthro in the news 9/30/13

El Paso, Texas by Robin Kanouse — El Paso, Texas. Flickr/Robin Kanouse

• Heavy toll at the U.S.-Mexico border

The Washington Post reported in the rising number of deaths of people attempting to enter the U.S. at the Mexican border. It mentioned the work of cultural anthropologist Lori Baker, a professor at Baylor University, who has lead a team to excavate unidentified immigrants’ graves.

• In South Africa, women burning to braai

September 24 is South Africa’s Heritage Day, a national holiday and a time when all people are supposed to come together and feel as one. A colloquial term for the day is National Braai Day, marking a connection to traditional meat grilling. Claudia Forster-Towne, lecturer at the University of Johannesburg in the Development Studies and Anthropology Department, published an opinion piece in Gender Links, asking for disruption of male dominance of the braai. She points to a spatial divide and the re-enactment of unequal gender roles. She demands the tongs!

Blogger’s note: here are links to two amusing videos on YouTube spoofing braai gender rules and practices:
Continue reading “Anthro in the news 9/30/13” →

Call for submissions: Gendered Perspectives on International Development Working Papers

Michigan State University invites the submission of article-length manuscripts (6,000-9,000 words) for peer review and publication in our Gendered Perspectives on International Development (GPID) Working Papers series. We seek materials at a late stage of formulation that contribute new understandings of women and men’s roles and relations amidst social, economic, and political change in the developing world.

The goals of GPID are: (1) to promote research that contributes to gendered analysis of social change; (2) to highlight the effects of international development policy and globalization on gender roles and gender relations; and (3) to encourage new approaches to international development policy and
programming.

GPID cross-cuts disciplines, bringing together research, critical analyses, and proposals for change. Individual papers in the series address a range of topics, such as gender, violence, and human rights; gender and agriculture; reproductive health and healthcare; gender and social movements; masculinities and development; and the gendered division of labor. We particularly encourage manuscripts that bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice.

The GPID series is an open access publication. Further information and previously published papers can be viewed at: http://gencen.isp.msu.edu/publications/call.htm

If you are interested in submitting a manuscript to the series, please send a 150 word abstract summarizing the paper’s essential points and findings to Dr. Anne Ferguson, Editor, or Rowenn Kalman, Managing Editor, at papers@msu.edu. If the abstract suggests your paper is suitable for the GPID Working Papers, the full paper will be invited for peer review and publication consideration.

Washington, D.C. event: Crisis in the Central African Republic

You are invited to a Great Lakes Policy Forum on the crisis in the Central African Republic, co-sponsored with the National Endowment for Democracy.

On March 24, 2013, the Seleka rebels seized control of the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee. Current President Michel Djotodia faces the difficult task of restoring order and organizing elections once the 18-month transition period expires. Please join us for a discussion with Central African legislature and civil society members on the latest crisis situation in the Central African Republic, affecting the Great Lakes region as a whole.

When: Friday September 27, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Where: Main Conference Room, National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:

Emilie Beatrice Epaye, Member of the National Transitional Council

Nicolas Guerekoyama Gbangou, Member of the National Transitional Council

The Right Reverend Nestor Nongo Aziagbia, Bishop of Bossangoa

Mathias Morouba, Attorney and head of Observatoire Centrafricain des Droits de l’Homme Dave Peterson, Senior Director, Africa, National Endowment for Democracy

Moderator:

Ambassador Laurence D. Wohlers

Former U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic

RSVP Here

Call for: Panel and paper proposals, conference on anthropology and photography

The Royal Anthropological Institute is pleased to announce that a conference, Anthropology and Photography, will take place at the British Museum, Clore Centre, in conjunction with the museum’s Anthropology Library and Research Centre. The aim of the Conference is to stimulate an international discussion on the place, role and future of photography. Panel proposals are therefore welcome from any branch of anthropology.

We welcome contributions from researchers and practitioners working in museums, academia, media, the arts and anyone who is engaged with historical or contemporary production and use of images.

Panels can draw upon (but are not limited to) the following themes:

The use of photography across anthropological disciplines

The changing place of photography in museums and exhibitions

Photography and globalisation

Photography, film and fine art

Revisiting and re-contextualising archival images

Photography and public engagement

Ethics, copyright, access and distribution of images

Technological innovation and its impact

Regional photography practices

Visual method and photo theory

The call for panels opens on 1 August 2013 and closes on 31 October 2013.

The call for papers opens on 27 November 2013 and closes on 8 January 2014.

Anthro in the news 9/23/13

• Happy birthday to the Occupy movement

This past week marked the two-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. On September 17, 2011, a small band of activists took over Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park until Mayor Michael Bloomberg cleared them out. An article in Businessweek notes that, in contrast to the thousands who packed the park in 2011, only around 100 people showed up for Tuesday’s anniversary at Zuccotti Park. Perhaps the movement is defunct. Businessweek reports that, recently David Graeber, professor of cultural anthropology at the London School of Economics, said that he is “taking a little time off” from the movement.

• Hearing voices and sometimes killing people

In an opinion piece for The New York Times, cultural anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann of Stanford University writes about the rising “specter of violence caused by mental illness.” She emphasizes that the vast majority of people with schizophrenia never commit violent acts. In fact, they are far more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators of it.

The risk of violence from people with schizophrenia, she says, increases sharply when people have disturbing hallucinations and use street drugs. We also know that many people with schizophrenia hear voices only they can hear, and “They are often mean and violent.”

She asks “whether the violent commands from these voices reflect our culture as much as they result from the disease process of the illness.” The cultural construction of the messages of voices appears to be demonstrated by a comparative study Luhrmann is conducting with colleagues at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation in Chennai, India, to compare the voice-hearing experience of 20 people with schizophrenia in San Mateo, California, and 20 people in Chennai. While both groups of patients have much in common, the voices heard by patients in Chennai are considerably less violent than those heard by patients in San Mateo.

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 9/23/13” →

Grant opportunity for primate conservation research

The Great Ape Conservation Fund is soliciting project proposals for the conservation of apes [gorillas (Gorilla gorilla); chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes); bonobos (Pan paniscus); orangutans (Pongo spp.); and gibbons (family Hylobatidae)] throughout their ranges. The U.S. Government enacted the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000 in response to the decline of ape populations in Africa and Asia. The Act provides for the conservation and protection of apes by supporting conservation programs of countries within the range of apes, and the projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of apes. The Great Ape Conservation Fund supports projects that promote conservation through:

• Applied research on ape populations and their habitats, including surveys and monitoring; • Reducing trade in and consumer demand for bushmeat, pets and other illegal products derived from apes;

• Development and execution of ape conservation management plans; • Compliance with applicable treaties and laws that prohibit or regulate the taking or trade of ape or regulate the use and management of ape habitat;

• Conservation education and community outreach;

• Enhanced protection of at-risk ape populations;

• Efforts to decrease human-ape conflicts;

• Habitat conservation and management;

• Protected area/reserve management in important ape range;

• Strengthening local capacity to implement conservation programs;

• Transfrontier ape conservation; and

• Wildlife inspection, law enforcement, and forensics skills.

Proposed project work should occur within the ape range, or, if work is to be conducted outside of the range, the proposal should show a clear relevance to ape conservation. Applied research projects should address specific management needs and actions, and threats from emerging issues such as disease and climate change that affect the species and their habitats.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

Deadline: December 2, 2013

In DC: WAPA networking/happy hour

The Washington Association of Practicing Anthropologists announces its September networking/happy hour on September 17, 6:30 pm at the Beacon Bar & Grill.

The group can usually be found at the tables next to the large windows, near the servers’ station. In good weather, we may be outside. Registration is helpful for planning purposes, but is not required.

Note: The Beacon has happy hour specials on food and drink until 7:00 pm, so arriving early is strongly encouraged. Also, some servers at the Beacon won’t do separate checks, so paying with cash is much appreciated. Apologies for the inconvenience.

How to get there: The Beacon Bar & Grill is in the Beacon Hotel located at 1615 Rhode Island Ave NW (corner of Rhode Island and 17th St). From Metro Red Line Farragut North station, take either L St exit, walk one block east to 17th St, turn left and walk 3 blocks north to the Beacon (one block past the Sumner School where the monthly WAPA meetings are held).