Proposal to Eliminate the SBE Directorate at NSF

A proposal has surfaced to eliminate the social, behaviorial, and economic sciences directorate at the National Science Foundation. The impact for anthropology would be profound.

Anthropologists in the U.S. should consider writing to their House Representatives and US Senators, ideally before the CJS Subcommittee meeting on 7 July, or before the full House Appropriations Committee meeting on 13 July, and at least before the floor discussion scheduled for the week of 25 July.

They could copy Subcommittee Chair Frank Wolf R-VA and Ranking Member Chakah Fattah D-PA and perhaps other members of the Subcommittee (http://www.appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/Subcommittee/?IssueID=34794) and Appropriations Committee Chair Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Norm Dicks (D-WA) (http://www.appropriations.house.gov).

You can find contact information for their representative using the “Write Your Representative” feature at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml, and you will find a list of Senators, sortable by state, at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

CMA Student Travel Awards

The CMA Travel Awards are designed to support student travel to the annual AAA meeting to present papers and/or posters. Students and recent PhDs (those who have defended within the year of the award) are eligible to apply. CMA will award two prizes of $500 each. Prize-winners will be announced at the AAA Annual Meeting and presented with a certificate of the award.

Applications:
• Deadline: September 1, 2011
• A brief letter of application must indicate the applicant’s status as a student or recent PhD holder, and explain how this paper/poster relates to their ongoing graduate work or current work as a recent PhD.
• Applicants must include a copy of the abstract for the paper or poster, the name and abstract for the session in which they will be presenting, and proof of acceptance for presentation at AAA.
• All applicants must also submit a letter of endorsement from a present or former academic advisor at their most recent institution of study.

Evaluation Criteria:
• Creativity: Is the paper or poster a unique and novel contribution to museum anthropology?
• Commitment: Does the student demonstrate a commitment to the field of museum anthropology?
• Impact: Does the paper or poster have the potential to develop into a work that could more broadly impact the field of museum anthropology?

Process and Rules:
• A three-person prize committee of CMA members, headed by a committee chair, will be constituted by the current CMA President at the annual AAA Board of Directors meeting each year.
• The committee will be formally announced by January 15 annually, with the addresses of each committee member publicized.
• Applicants will hear from the committee by October 1 as to the committee’s decision.

Instructions:
To enter work in the 2011 competition, send an electronic copy (PDF) by the deadline of September 1, 2011, to each of the following Student Travel Prize

Committee members:
Trudy Nicks
Senior Curator
Department of World Cultures
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
trudyn@rom.on.ca

Joshua Bell
Curator of Ethnology- Globalization
Dept. of Anthropology – MRC 112
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
bellja@si.edu

Morgan B. Perkins
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
State University of New York at Potsdam
44 Pierrepont Avenue
Potsdam, NY 13676
perkinmb@potsdam.edu

Any questions should be directed to the prize committee chair at trudyn@rom.on.ca

Opening: Developmental Officer

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum

Description:

Research funding opportunities at the local, state, federal and private sector levels for the purposes of securing funding for Museum. Prepare required grant applications for available funding opportunities and successfully administer grants awarded. Explore and introduce alternative revenue streams to enhance and expand Museum operations such as Endowment Fund, Annual Giving, Capital Campaign and Corporate Level Sponsorship. Manage staff and operations of the Development Department and directly oversee the Member Services Program and the Retail operations. Devise strategies to increase Membership and ensure the delivery of quality Member services by providing ideas and methods for actively engaging Members through special events and interactive programs. Oversee production and distribution of quarterly Museum News newsletter (“AQ”). Bachelor’s degree required. Minimum five (5) years resource development experience, Museum Industry preferred. Proven successful grant writing is a must. Strong planning and organizational skills are imperative. English written and verbal communication skills essential. Knowledge of Past Perfect museum software helpful. Excellent computer skills utilizing Microsoft programs and add-ins. Ability to work a flexible work schedule including evenings, weekends and Holidays. Ability to travel as necessary.

Outstanding Benefits
Our current employee benefits include medical, pharmacy, vision, dental, life, accident and disability insurances, 401(k) plan, generous paid time off plan and much more.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is a drug free workplace, drug screening is a requirement of employment. We exercise Native American preference.

Download application in Adobe Acrobat to fax it to Human Resources (954) 967-3477.
Applications & Resumés will only be accepted for currently posted positions.
Please list position(s) of interest when faxing an application.

Recent Heritage and Society Published

Heritage & Society volume 4, number 1
Elizabeth Chilton and Neil A. Silberman

From the Editors

Articles
Our Heritage, Our Future - Archaeology and the Interessment of Desires Jean Dennison
Documenting Pastoral Landscapes - Connecting Archaeology, History, and Communities Steve Brown
Civil Society Action in the Field of Cultural Heritage - A European Perspective Sigrid Van der Auwera and Annick Schramme
Treasure Bearers - Personal Foundations for Effective Leadership in Northern Coast Salish Heritage Stewardship John R. Welch , Dana Lepofsky, Megan Caldwell , Georgia Combes, and Craig Rust

Forum
Intangible Heritage and Sustainable Development - Realistic Outcome or Wishful Thinking? Sophia Labadi, Forum Editor
Challenges to Sustaining Intangible Cultural Heritage Rosabelle Boswell
Peopling Places, Storying Spaces - Heritage Sustaining Human Development? Marilyn C. Truscott
A Gandhi Turning Point for ICH
Rahul Goswami

Resources
From the Editors donald F. Craib and susan forbes
ICOMOS — Tolerance for Change Initiative
UNESCO Recommendation — Historic Urban Landscape (HUL)
U.S. Ratifies Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples
China Considers Law to Protect Intangible Cultural Heritage

GAO Smithsonian Report

The Smithsonian Institution's process to repatriate thousands of Native American human remains and funerary objects in its collections is lengthy and resource intensive and it may take several more decades to return items to tribes under its current system, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). [Read more here]

Summary of GAO's findings here and the report here.

Association of Critical Heritage Studies Inaugural Conference

Gothenburg, Sweden, June 5-8, 2012

The inaugural conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies will be held at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in June 2012. The Association of Critical Heritage Studies, to be launched at this conference, will establish in association with IJHS an extensive network of heritage scholars across the globe in order to debate and discuss cutting-edge research in the field of heritage studies. We see Heritage Studies as a synthesis emerging from diverse disciplinary fields, in particular public history, memory studies, museology, cultural heritage, tourism studies, architecture and planning, conservation, as well as cultural geography, sociology, cultural studies and policy, anthropology, archaeology and ethnomusicology, and encourage people working in those areas to submit papers or propose sessions/workshops that address the inter-disciplinary nature of Heritage Studies.

The theme of the conference is ‘The Re/theorisation of Heritage Studies’. This conference will develop current theoretical debates to make sense of the nature and meaning of heritage. As such, we invite submissions from people working within the ‘broad church’ of the current flowering of contemporary heritage studies.

Papers should encourage cross cutting thinking and should not be afraid to try to theorise what heritage studies is and where it should go. They should be underpinned by an active move away from site- and artefact-based definitions of heritage in a traditional sense and should pursue instead a range of methodologies and questions aiming at interdisciplinarity stemming from social science, scholarly traditions, natural science, and also creative sciences such as art and the performing arts.

Preliminary key note speakers are (to be expanded):
• Sharon MacDonald, University of Manchester (tbc)
• Laurajane Smith, Australian National University

Examples on conference subthemes are:

• Critical heritage theory;
• Issues of representation;
• Heritage and non-representational theory;
• The politics of affect and a consideration of emotion and the senses;
• Memory and identity work of communities, nations and other interests in relation to heritage;
• The utilisation of heritage discourses in debates over multiculturalism/nationalism/globalisation;
• Heritage, power and recognition;
• Heritage and human rights;
• The exploration of methodologies for mapping and exploring the social and cultural consequences of heritage;
• Intangible heritage and its implications for re-theorising heritage;
• Non-Western challenges to dominant Western heritage concepts and characterisation of non-Western appreciations of heritage;
• Work on digital heritage that goes beyond technical treatments of archiving and embraces a range of social media and other forms of interactivity.
• The performative nature of heritage – theorising craft, art, and creativity as discourses in heritage;
• Theorising and redefining heritage practices – the merging of discourses;
• Re-thinking conservation science – the blending of creative discourse into social and natural sciences
• The performative nature of heritage – artistic practices, artistic research and theorizing perspectives in dialogue.

Submissions are encouraged for sessions and individual papers (20 minute duration). Submissions are also encouraged for workshops, panel discussions and performances.
The deadline for abstracts on sessions, workshops and panel discussions is November 30 2011.
The deadline for individual papers or performances is December 31 2011.

Selected papers and/or sessions will be published in IJHS

Abstracts should be sent to:
Bosse Lagerqvist (Organisation committee)
Email: bosse.lagerqvist@conservation.gu.se
Fax: +46 31 786 4703
Mail: University of Gothenburg, Conservation
P.O. Box 130
SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden

Organisation committee
Bosse Lagerqvist, Department of Conservation, bosse.lagerqvist@conservation.gu.se
Christer Ahlberger, Department of Historical studies, christer.ahlberger@history.gu.se
Johan Öberg, Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts, johan.oberg@konst.gu.se
Mikela Lundahl, Department of Global studies, mikela.lundahl@globalstudies.gu.se

Scientific committee (to be expanded)
Annie Clarke (Australia), Rodney Harrison (UK), David Harvey (UK), Emma Waterton, (Australia), Steve Watson (UK), Ola Wetterberg (Sweden), Rohit Jigyasu (Tokyo).

Fees
Registration fee 315 USD / 220 Euro per person. Students and participants from non-OECD countries 150 Euro per person, including lunch, coffee breaks and conference documentation.

Conference dinner 30 Euro (Preliminary)
Post-conference excursions – to be announced

Venue
Info Gothenburg. (To be completed)

Opening: Director of UMass Archaeological Services

The University of Massachusetts Amherst seeks to hire a Director of UMass Archaeological Services (UMAS) and Lecturer under a faculty, non-tenure track appointment. Under the general direction of the Chair of the Department of Anthropology, the Director of UMAS serves as the Principal Investigator for contracts and grants awarded by outside sponsors in the area of cultural resource management and historic preservation. The Director’s leadership responsibilities include articulating and implementing a vision for the organization within the department, maintaining a high profile for UMAS on the campus, and articulating the mission of UMAS with external clients and state agencies. The Director also oversees the finances, grants and contracts, and personnel actions within the organization, and supervises a staff that develops, implements, and administers the daily operations. The Director will work closely with the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Heritage and Society to develop and promote a Professional Master’s Degree program in Heritage Management. We are accepting applications online at: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/713. Please include a letter describing interests and qualifications, a CV, and list of 3 referees. Alternatively, paper submissions should be sent to Tracy Tudryn, Dean's Assistant, Dean's Office, 230 Draper Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. Application screening commences on June 29, 2011. No applications will be accepted after July 11, 2011.

Requirements
A PhD in anthropology, archaeology, or closely related field is required by time of appointment. A minimum of five years of supervisory and administrative experience in the field of Cultural Resource Management is required. We seek candidates with (1) demonstrated leadership abilities in a larger organization, (2) demonstrated experience in conducting and managing large-scale archaeological surveys and excavations, and in producing timely reports, (3) a record of research and publication, (4) demonstrated experience in sponsor and regulatory agency negotiation and outreach to stakeholders, and (5) a knowledge of state and federal cultural resources legislation. A specialization in Northeast U.S. archaeology is preferred. We also prefer experience in computer applications applied to archaeological research projects, including GIS, database development, and data management. Knowledge of architectural history is beneficial, but not required. Salary: Starting at 70,000.00.

Annual Archaeology Prize

Consortium of Southwest Research Centers
Annual Archaeology Prize

The Center for Desert Archaeology has joined in a Consortium of Southwest Research Centers (CSRC) to offer an annual prize for an outstanding public education or outreach program that brings archaeological knowledge about the past to inform issues and problems of the present. The award seeks to stimulate innovative archaeological and historical scholarship that is relevant to issues of contemporary concern, such as sustainability, immigration, human responses to climate change, ethnic relations, war and peace, technological change, and other issues facing contemporary societies. The prize carries a cash award of $5,000 and will be announced each year at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This competition is open to all Society for American Archaeology members and organizations that support the work of SAA members. Members may submit their own project or nominate other deserving organizations or SAA members. A panel of researchers and educators will judge the appropriateness, quality, and significance of applications, and select an annual winner. Evaluations will be based on the project’s scholarly and educational merits as well as the delivery systems that are employed to maximize audience reach.

How to Apply:
Submissions and nominations must be made by letter that is postmarked on or before December 31. Letters should not exceed 1000 words in length. Each submission or nomination should address how the project fulfills the selection criteria enumerated below. Submissions and nominations should be mailed to:

Consortium of Southwest Research Centers
Archaeology Prize
P.O. Box 400
Dragoon, AZ 85609

Criteria:
Projects submitted or nominated for the CSRC annual archaeology prize will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. rigorous and innovative research on topics relating deep history to contemporary issues and concerns
2. superior integration of interdisciplinary research
3. innovative and effective use of educational materials and delivery techniques
4. demonstrated impact on diverse audiences

Questions: amerind@amerind.org (put “Archaeology Prize” in the subject field)

Funeral for a Friend

The Save America's Treasures program has been a huge help in the world of museum anthropology -- and now it is gone ...

Dear Friends and Fans of Save America's Treasures:

We write with great regret and a heavy heart to update you on Save America’s Treasures. As you will see from the memo below from Stephanie Meeks, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, we were informed late last week that Save America’s Treasures will officially close as a program of the National Trust on June 30th. With the program's termination, our positions also will be eliminated.

For the past year and a half, since February 1, 2010 when we first learned of the Administration's puzzling decision to end the federal Save America's Treasures program, we have worked tirelessly with our Trust colleagues, federal partners and countless friends on Capitol Hill and across the country to ensure the program's survival. Throughout these challenging times, the hundreds of letters of support and offers of assistance we received from you boosted our spirits and strengthened our resolve. You should feel proud that this joint effort was a success and our voices were heard. With SAT's broad bi-partisan support, the House voted last August to re-instate SAT for 2011, and the Senate was poised to follow suit.

Unfortunately, as you know, a 2011 budget was not passed last year, and our federal funding fell victim to a new Congress and the ensuing budget battles. Because the President's budget did not include SAT for two years in a row, and Congress has decided against reinstating any programs the Administration has eliminated, Save America's Treasures will not be funded in 2012, either. Although we presented a variety of creative solutions to develop a fully-private program, the National Trust decided it could not maintain SAT without federal support.

This decision is disappointing and sad on many levels-- the end of a bright era in preservation, and for us personally. It has been an enormously rewarding 12+ years and a true pleasure and privilege to work with you, helping facilitate your incredible efforts to save our nation's rich heritage. We count our long-standing partnership and friendship with each of you as a highlight of our tenure at the Trust, and we hope our paths will cross again before too long. Our personal contact information is below, along with that of key representatives from our federal partner agencies for any ongoing SAT-related business.

In the coming months, the National Trust may invite you to participate in some of their other programs and activities. This is a challenging time for those of us concerned about the protection of our country’s precious cultural resources, but with the steadfast commitment you and so many others have shown over more than a decade, we are confident that better days lie ahead.

While the National Trust’s SAT program soon will be a memory, we share with you a proud legacy of treasured places we helped save. Keep up the great work, keep in touch, and thank you again for all you continue to do to ensure a brighter future for our past.

With warmest regards,

Bobbie Greene McCarthy, Director and Fiona M. Lawless, Program Manager
Save America’s Treasures at the National Trust for Historic Preservation

P.S. We will be at our usual posts until June 30th, so please don’t hesitate to call if you have questions or would like to discuss this further. After June 30th we can be reached as follows:

Bobbie Greene McCarthy- cell: (301) 938-9931
Fiona M. Lawless- (301) 523-2724 or fionalawless@comcast.net or look me up on Facebook!

Federal agency contacts for ongoing SAT-related questions:

Hampton Tucker, Chief, Historic Preservation Grants Division
National Park Service
(202) 354-2067
Hampton_Tucker@nps.gov

Kimber D. Craine, Director of Program Initiatives
President's Committee on the Arts & the Humanities
(202) 682-5661
kcraine@pcah.gov

Connie Bodner, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer
Institute of Museum and Library Services
1800 M St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 653-4636
cbodner@imls.gov

Michael McLaughlin, Leadership Initiatives Coordinator
National Endowment for the Arts
(202) 682-5457
mclaughm@arts.gov

Mary Downs, Senior Program Officer
National Endowment for the Humanities
(202) 606-8456
mdowns@neh.gov