Memphis Set to Host the 2008 SfAA Annual Meeting

On July 4th , 2006, Dr. Satish Kedia was informed by the President of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA), Dr. Don Stull, that the SfAA Board of Directors “overwhelmingly” approved his proposal to select Memphis as the site for the 2008 SfAA annual meeting. Dr. Kedia will be the program chair for the event and Tom May, Executive Director of the SfAA, is negotiating arrangements with the Memphis Visitor’s Bureau and area hotels to ensure that the annual meeting is a grand success. The theme for the Memphis conference will be “The Public Sphere and Engaged Scholarship: Challenges and Opportunities for Applied Anthropology” to highlight the specific contributions of applied anthropologists in the public sphere at local, national, and international levels. Anthropologists will be invited to explore innovative ways in which they can participate more prominently in public discourse while addressing pressing human issues in contemporary local and global communities. Topics will examine working in collaborative and interdisciplinary settings to shape public policy and improve people’s lives through direct action and community advocacy.

The theme is relevant to a wide range of professional areas: community development, housing, criminal justice, medicine, education, agriculture, environment, business, and government. It also pertains to research on gender, border issues, racial equity, economic disparity, cultural heritage, and museums. The local program committee will provide logistical support in the planning and implementation of special events as well as assist in the review of sessions and abstracts. This will be a massive undertaking but will be well worth the effort! Those wishing to get involved should contact Dr. Kedia at skkedia@memphis.edu. Back To Top

Memphis Welcomes the New Applied Anthropologist in Town - Anthony Paredes

When academic colleagues seemed surprised that I retired and left Florida State University to work full time for the National Park Service in 1998, my only slightly tongue-in-cheek retort was that I was RETURNING to my career as a public service anthropologist after a 30+ year hiatus in academia. And, indeed, my early career – soon after completing my MA but before the PhD—was in, first, a community mental health center and, then, with agricultural extension in northern Minnesota. Even during all my years in academia, I was always active in applied pursuits—under various contracts, grants, and consultancies with such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council, the National Park Service, the Florida Sea Grant Program, and several others.

My primary research has been with North American Indians—first Chippewa (Ojibwe) and, for the last 35 years, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama. The professional accomplishment of which I am most proud is the role my research played in the federal recognition of the Poarch Creeks as an American Indian tribe, and all that meant to those people for self-governance, tribal sovereignty, and economic development.

Anthony Paredes

In my Park Service role (from which I retired in March 2006), I worked closely with Southeast Region parks and tribes for compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation and worked with parks for better understanding and appreciation of the contemporary and traditional cultures of all peoples associated with the region’s parks, not just American Indians. In that connection, I was very pleased when several years ago Antoinette Jackson of the University of Florida (now on the faculty of University of South Florida) won the Southern Anthropological Society graduate student paper competition for her work based on one of the Southeast Region’s NPS applied ethnography projects with an African-American community.

Over the years, I have served as president of SAS and SfAA. I currently serve on the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association, serve on the editorial boards of the American Anthropologist and the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, and serve as general series editor for Contemporary American Indian Studies published by the University of Alabama Press.

Now that my wife, Alleen Deutsch (who is the Development Director for Cecil C. Humphrey School of Law at UM), and I have moved to Memphis, I look forward to working closely with old friends and new colleagues in the University of Memphis anthropology department (right now I’m up to my ears working with Linda Bennett in completing the final report of the American Anthropological Association’s “Practicing Advisory Work Group,” which is chaired by Dr. Bennett).

Parting plug: My most recent significant work is Anthropologists and Indians in the New South (2001, U of Ala. Press) co-edited with Rachel Bonney of UNC-Charlotte. Be on the lookout, also, for the December, 2006 “In Focus” section of American Anthropologist that I just completed guest editing and which deals with the Gulf of Mexico hurricanes of 2005. Back To Top

Margaret Craddock Receives the 2006 Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award

The department of anthropology would like to heartily congratulate alumna Margaret Craddock on receiving the 2006 Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award. Given annually, this award benefits the work of a local Mid-South organization and recognizes an individual whose creativity, effort, commitment, professionalism and exceptional initiative have enabled the organization to excel in its special mission. Metropolitan InterFaith Association (MIFA) executive director Craddock, who graduated from the master’s program in urban anthropology in 1983, received the award on October 30 at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens.

MIFA is the biggest provider of social services in Memphis today. Craddock became its Executive Director in 1997, after ten years with the organization, first as a VISTA volunteer at the Center for Neighborhoods; later as the director of housing, in-house counsel, and associate executive director. When she assumed her leadership position, MIFA had seven service areas with a total of twenty-seven programs. Over the next several years, those seven service areas were consolidated into two – Kids & Families and Seniors – with twelve time-proven programs. MIFA’s focus was sharpened, and its services strengthened and expanded.

Margaret Craddock receiving the 2001 College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumna Award

As MIFA executive director, Craddock has been instrumental in addressing the needs of homeless families through the development of transitional housing and MIFA’s Life Skills Institute, which provides clients with education aimed at equipping them to live independently.

Craddock also received a College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004, and the College’s Outstanding Alumna Award in 2001. She is a shining example of an applied anthropologist who has made a real impact in improving the lives of those in real need in the community. We salute her achievements and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. Back To Top

Alumni News

Frank Mannix, MA 2002

I finished my M.A. in 2002, and then moved south to Tulane to work on an M.P.H in International Health, with my main interest being the study of dengue fever. The community-based nature of this specialization ensured that I could bring my anthropological skills and methods to bear in the field of public health. I began volunteering in a mosquito lab in the department of tropical medicine , and there my educational path took a new turn. New Orleans had been in the nation’s top three for cases of West Nile infections that year, which led to Tulane’s receiving training fellowships from the Center for Disease Control. Dr. Dawn Wesson, the entomology professor heading the mosquito lab, became the Principal Investigator for those fellowships, and through her, with my M.A. in anthropology from the University of Memphis serving as my necessary pre-requisite, I entered the PhD program in parasitology the following semester. I will thus eventually be an anthropologist with a doctorate in parasitology.

So far, I am on course to receive my M.P.H. this December. I am now preparing my dissertation research, which will be carried out in the Philippines in collaboration with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). I started working in the Philippines for Memphis Capstone, through a friend of Dr. Kedia’s from the University of Kentucky. I ended up working with RITM through an Australian anthropologist I met through Dr. Finerman. So I would advise Students to get friendly with their professors – they’re a great resource (as well as being good people).

Beth Jacob-Files

I spent this summer volunteering and traveling in Peru. During this time I spent a month in Iquitos, a city of 500,000 people that enjoys the distinction of being the world’s largest settlement that cannot be reached by road. Every aspect of life in Iquitos is fundamentally shaped by its remote jungle location on the banks of the Amazon River. The residents of Iquitos have access to most modern amenities, but only a short distance along the Amazon villagers rely completely on what they can gather from the jungle. Most villagers do not have the resources to travel to Iquitos for healthcare, supplies, or work, and therefore must rely on their natural surroundings for all the necessities of their lives. In recent years this way of life has been seriously disturbed by rapid deforestation being carried out in the area by multinational companies, and there are currently thousands of small villages along the Amazon that are losing their ability to secure the resources they need. This inability to provide adequate food, shelter, and other essentials, is leading to an increase in the prevalence of malnutrition, malaria, parasite infestations, and other health problems.

Beth Jacob-Files visits with an elderly Yagua woman

While we were in Iquitos, my husband and I spent a week working with CAAAP, the “Center for the Application of Anthropology in the Amazon.” CAAAP is currently working in partnership with a government infant and maternal health program within three indigenous Amazonian communities. We helped with stage one of the latest project, a longitudinal study of infant and maternal health; I translated for my husband while he provided free medical care. This work involved house visits, questionnaires, and the gathering of anthropometric data. The project intends to use this data as evidence of the villages’ lack of access to necessary healthcare. The project’s workers also undertake preventive health care, distributing anti-parasite medications, giving immunizations, and basic medicines to the villagers.

After working with CAAAP I became resolved to help promote awareness of their work in the US, so if you would like to learn more about CAAAP, or donate a few dollars to a project (a little goes a long way down there), then visit their website at www.caaap.org.pe, or contact the director, Adda Chuecas Cabrera, at caaapdirec@caaap.org.pe Back To Top

Faculty News

Linda Bennett, Professor & Associate Dean, College Of Arts and Sciences

Ruthbeth Finerman, Associate Professor

As Department Chair, I continue to collaborate close­ly with colleagues across the campus to strengthen our undergraduate and graduate programs and to partner on new initiatives, including a new MPH program and proposed doctoral program in Urban Affairs and Public Policy. I also convinced the ad­ministration to award our department a new facul­ty line, in biological anthropology with a focus on applied health issues. As Chair I must teach fewer courses, but I still offer undergraduate and graduate classes including our methods seminar and medical anthropology courses for our thriving medical an­thropology track.

My own research is expanding. This summer I re ­turned to Ecuador with Ross Sackett and Anthro­pology major Chris Cosby, to update longitudinal research on health change and to begin work on pesticide exposure among indigenous families, a significant new health risk linked to globalization and cash cropping. Our team will present prelimi­nary findings at the spring 2007 SfAA meeting, and a publication should follow. I also expanded my re­search on medical interpreters in Memphis, discov­ering that the act of translating illness narratives can draw medical interpreters into the patient’s world and engage them emotionally and behaviorally in the healing dynamic.

Studying Medicinal Plants in Ecuador

Graduate student John Barrie and I will present a paper at the SfAAs on other findings regarding the impact of interpreter training and certification. I also have new projects planned. The first is a com­munity-based effort to reduce infant mortality, led by partners at UT. The goal is to understand infant health from the perspective of at-risk families, and to partner with mothers on prevention. I am also assist­ing health department colleagues, who are develop­ing an asset inventory of infant mortality prevention resources. Both projects should produce graduate internships. And, I have been invited to collaborate with colleagues at St. Jude’s International Outreach Program on health programs in El Salvador, including community health worker training for HIV prevention. Back To Top

Jane Henrici, Assistant Professor

I have been busy during the past year working on issues of gender and ethnicity within both Peru and the US. June 2006 saw the release of a book I co-authored entitled Poor Families in America’s Health Care Crisis: How the Other Half Pays (Cambridge). The book is based on survey and eth­nographic information collected over a four-year period in Chicago, Boston, and San Antonio. It focuses on the relative lack of health coverage that we uncovered among low-income women and their children, and the differences associated with race and ethnicity that are clear among those families across cities and neighborhoods.

I also edited and contributed three chapters to Doing Without: Women and Work after Welfare Reform (Arizona), which came out in September 2006. Doing Without focuses on the ethnographic material of the three-city study that provided the basis for Poor Families, but continues beyond the issue of health coverage to analyze the multiple obstacles, compounded by current policy and its implementation, that are faced by poorer women and their families in the US. The book presents the point of view not only of the low-wage workers and welfare recipients, but also of the government and nonprofit agency service providers who try to help.

Pisac Performers in Peru

I took a similarly dual approach in Peru, observing and interviewing both poorer women and their families, and the government and nongovernmental (NGO) agency workers who work with them. From March through mid-July 2006, I held a Fulbright Scholar Award in Peru. I worked in the capital city of Lima, the smaller cities of Cusco and Puno, and in relatively isolated villages outside all of those cities. I found that free trade agreements are affecting poorer women, but that export of their wares is now less significant than in the past, and that tourism in a range of relatively new forms has once again become important as an income source. My doctoral research concentrated on tourism and handicraft production in Peru, but subsequent post-doctoral work looked at small-scale export related to tourism instead. While in the past I observed that low-profit export disproportionately involved women while tourism disproportionately favored men, this time I found that this ratio seems to have changed so that women appear to participate more than men in both activities. At the same time, relatively more men remain at levels of leadership in the cooperatives, NGOs, and government agencies involved.

I arrived in Peru this past March in the middle of the Peruvian presidential campaigns. This go-around these included overt discussions about class, gender, and ethnicity, and on top of that involved large-scale protests and daily debates about the signing of a free trade agreement between Peru and the US by the incumbent president—needless to say, it was an extremely exciting moment to be back in Peru and, thanks to invitations from research centers and the university with which I was affiliated, I was able to explore what was happening in a compressed period of time. I was even interviewed on a very popular live Lima radio show one morning, and to my relief was able to express what the cooperative and NGO workers, and handicraft-tourism producers, were telling me despite a little nervousness.

While in Peru, I completed two new articles now accepted for publication, one in a journal and another in a book. In addition, I updated an earlier article on gender and tourism-export and had that text translated into Spanish; the article will appear in the next issue of the journal Revista Antropológica.

I learned many new things during this fantastic opportunity provided by the Fulbright award. Although I had been in Peru a number of times previously, having an affiliation at one of the most highly-ranked universities in South America as a Fulbright Scholar sharpened my awareness of certain aspects of life there as never before. Further, because Peru has changed enormously politically and economically since my last visit, I needed to study and explore a great deal even in places and with people I had known in the past.

Community Meeting near Puno, Peru

In Peru, a US academic press also confirmed their interest in my proposal to combine my past research with my more recent findings into a future book on the rewards and challenges for low-income women and their families of international trade and tourism. Next, I will formalize an agreement with an academic press in Peru to publish that book in Spanish.

Finally, I am working on another project on gender and poverty, in Memphis, funded by a University of Memphis Faculty Research Grant for 2006-2007. Here, I also study both low-income women as they struggle to change their economic circumstances and agency workers who deal with their issues. University of Memphis anthropology graduate students Jason Hodges (who also continues to help with NARAN), Crystal Ton, Mary Fryman, and Laurie Chow assist me in this project, which will be pulled into a larger collaborative study on workforce development and women that the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy’s Dr. Phyllis Betts, the Center for Research on Women’s Deborah Clubb, and I plan to use to affect policy and economic change for poorer women in Memphis through our connection with the Memphis Workforce Action Collaborative. Back To Top

Stan Hyland,
Associate Professor & Head, School of Urban Affairs And Public Policy

Most of my efforts over the past year have centered on strengthening neighborhoods through engaging students and community residents in collaborative initiatives. The conceptual framework that was articulated in my edited book Building Communities in the Twenty-First Century (School of American Research Press) emphasizes four critical areas: 1) focusing on community assets and not deficiencies; 2) attending to building relationships and not programs; 3) revitalizing meaning and identity in community; and 4) working with community stakeholders.

During this past year I have been involved in four community building initiatives. The first initiative, entitled Creating Healthy Community is designed to develop a health information dissemination method based on community and health professional knowledge. Cynthia Sadler, project coordinator, and several graduate and undergraduate anthropology students have been working over the past year with sixth grade students at Humes Middle School in North Memphis. The Humes students identified health issues that impact their lives, members of their families, and their community. Working through a non-profit organization in the neighborhood, the Neighborhood Christian Center, and a minority media company (Optimal Studios) we produced a twenty minute video documentary (available on the web) and a large story board that is a call for community action.

The video and story board will be shown throughout the neighborhood and our graduate anthropology students will be working with the Humas students to capture the range of community responses through more video documentation. As part of this health outreach effort the anthropology students go to the Neighborhood Christian Center to mentor Humes students on a daily basis. Claire Haik, a dedicated senior anthropology major has distinguished herself through her creative approaches in working with the Humes Students. The stories generated from the Creating Healthy Community initiatives will be put on a web page and linked to a statewide effort with Tennessee Humanities through their We the People of Tennessee—Stories of Land and Place program. The digital video interviewing will be linked to electronic maps and made accessible to the larger public.

For two years I have chaired the University of Memphis’ Communities Initiatives Committee. This is one of the five focus areas that are established by the University under the leadership of the Provost, Dr. Ralph Faudree. Our mission is to foster learning and advance knowledge about building strong healthy communities through reciprocal engagement of the teaching, research and outreach resources of the University of Memphis with its surrounding neighborhoods (the University District). Over the past year some fifty faculty from every College of the University have collaborated with the President’s Office, the Office of Business and Finance, the Office of Student Affairs, and representatives from the Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development and the Office of Planning and Development and community-based organizations. To date we (largely through the efforts of alumna Cindy Martin) have created a web page with eight categories including maps and data sets to be used by students as reference material as they complete their projects. Next semester we anticipate eight University classes will be involved in engaged research projects.

Joy Clay, Susan Schmidt and I have been involved in evaluating the lead abatement program for the Shelby County Department of Housing. The Shelby County Program has been exemplary in its outreach record by leveraging funds and working with a variety of community-based organizations.

Laura Harris, Phyllis Betts and I are continuing our efforts to evaluate HOPE VI programs in Memphis. HOPE VI is an innovative federal program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to tear down dilapidated public housing and replace it with mixed income neighborhoods. The program also works with public housing residents on job training and placement. Last year we finished our evaluation of the Uptown HOPE VI project and have begun work on University Place (Lemar Terrace). In January we will begin building baseline data on the latest HOPE VI project, Dixie Homes. Back To Top

Satish Kedia,
Associate Professor & Director, Institute for Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluation (I-SATE)

The Professional Development Assignment (PDA) I received for the academic year of 2005-06 has been very enriching, allowing me to publish and initiate several manuscripts, and to establish some new research projects, including the Tennessee Access to Recovery (TN-ATR) Evaluation Project. One of the writing projects I was able to finalize was Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application, (Praeger) the edited volume that John van Willigen and I saw published in December 2005. To that volume I contributed two chapters: (with John van Willigen,) “Applied anthropology: Context for domains of application” and (with John van Willigen) “Emerging trends in applied anthropology.” We were honored to have endorsements for the text from such notable anthropologists as, Michael M. Cernea, Erve Chambers, and Thomas A. Arcury; and the success the volume has achieved is in large part thanks to the contributions of many well-known scholars in our field.

Additionally, I was pleased to have two chapters published in the Encyclopedia of Anthropology, entitled “Careers in anthropology” and “Practicing anthropology.” I also completed two book reviews. The first, reviewed Gray Areas: Ethnographic Encounters with Nursing Home Culture was published in American Anthropologist. The second (with Sunil Khanna) reviewed Tribal Health and Medicines for Medical Anthropologist Quarterly.

During the course of my PDA, I was also able to dedicate more time to pursuing my collaborative and international research interests. A journal article based on my collaborative research on cerebral palsy caregiving and compliance issues with Dr. Mario Petersen (formerly associated with the University of Tennessee, Memphis), was published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. My work on smoking cessation programs with Dr. Ken Ward of the Center for Community Health resulted in the presentation of three posters at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) in February in Orlando, Florida. I also continued over the past year with my collaborative research on the health impacts of pesticide use and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by revisiting field sites in the Philippines and drafting prospective journal articles. While in the Philippines, I started a new project on the Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUDS), or Bangungot, which I look forward to exploring more thoroughly in the coming year.

My previous work on the health impacts of Garhwali resettlers in India served as a topic for a paper I presented last year at the School of American Research, and will soon appear as a chapter in the volume representing the week-long advanced seminar. I also served as an evaluator and member of the program committee for the very successful 10th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration in June, in Toronto, Canada, where I also presented a paper on integrating health impact assessments in development projects that was inspired by my resettlement work in India. I presented another paper at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) in Vancouver, British Columbia, this past spring that covered the forced displacement and accompanying embodied distress I had observed among the Garhwali in India.

During all this, I continued to work through I-SATE on three ongoing addiction treatment evaluation projects, Tennessee Outcomes for Alcohol and Drug Services (TOADS), Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment - Driving Under Influence (ADAT-DUI), and Gambling Addiction Treatment Evaluation (GATE). Because of the PDA, my focus over the last academic year mostly consisted of research pursuits; however, I did maintain involvement in campus academics, directing individual student research, teaching a few independent studies, and working with graduate advisees. I have also continued to provide assistantships and supervise research opportunities for anthropology students and students from other departments, including Psychology and English. Between rewarding work with students and heavy engagement with research projects and conferences, the 2005-2006 academic year was very fulfilling and I expect nothing less in 2006-2007 as I help prepare for the 2008 SfAA annual meeting in Memphis.

In addition to the publications metioned, I completed two evaluations, Treatment effectiveness for repeat DUI offenders in Tennessee 2004-2005. Memphis, TN: Institute for Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluation, The University of Memphis and Substance abuse treatment effectiveness in Tennessee 2004-2005: Statewide treatment outcome evaluation. Memphis, TN: Institute for Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluation, The University of Memphis.

I also published the following journal articles and book chapters:

• 2006 with Mario Petersen, Pam Davis, Lisa Newman, and Carrie Temple. Eating and feeding are not the same: Caregivers’ perceptions on gastrostomy feeding for children with cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 48 (9): 713-717.

• 2006 Facilitating group communication in empowerment evaluation: A case study of substance abuse treatment effectiveness. In Vol. 2 of Facilitating group communication in context: Innovations and applications with natural groups, edited by L. Frey. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

• 2005 with Linda A. Bennett. Applied anthropology. In Anthropology, from Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Developed under the auspices of the UNESCO. Oxford, UK: Eolss Publishers. Published online at http://www.eolss.net.

• 2005 with W. Perry. Factors associated with client-collateral agreement in substance abuse post-treatment self-reports. Addictive Behaviors 30 (6, July): 1086-1099. Back To Top

Charles Williams,
Associate Professor & Director, Tennessee Alcohol and Drug Prevention Outcome Longitudinal Evaluation (TADPOLE)

I continue to have an active teaching, advising, research, and community services agenda. This summer, graduate assistant Naketa Edney and I worked with Drew Buchner (former anthropology graduate) of Panamerican Consultants Inc. of Memphis to complete and publish research on the Scotland Plantation in Vidalia, Louisiana.

During the Fall Semester 2006, I am teaching one of my favorite courses entitled: Africa’s New World Communities, a course focusing specifically on the dispersion of enslaved Africans throughout the Atlantic World. For Spring 2007, I will teach again for the University College’s Master’s of Liberal Studies Program, a course designed specifically for graduate students of University College entitled: Diaspora, Displacement and Culture: Understanding Contemporary Patterns in Human Mobility and Transnational Processes in the Post-Modern World.

I continue my grants-funded research in the area of program evaluation of alcohol and drug prevention with the Tennessee Department of Health, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, and the Office of Minority Health. Additionally, I am serving my second year as Process Evaluator of a five-year federally-funded initiative entitled: Tennessee Strategic Prevention Framework – State Incentive Grant (TNSPF-SIG). In this capacity, I continue to work directly with the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, and serve as a consultant for the Tennessee Department of Health in its contractual relationship with Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE).

In March 2006, I presented two papers at the National Society of Allied Health Conference in Charlotte, NC entitled: Tennessee HIV/STD Condom Study (with M. Kanu, N. Hepler, E. A. Williams, R. Theriot, R. Jackman, R. Enwefa, and S. Enwefa), and The Role of Church Sermons in Addressing Health-Related Topics among African American and Caucasian Respondents (with M. Kanu).

In April 2006, I received the Igniting Excitement for Academic Excellence Award from the Black Scholars Unlimited of the University of Memphis. This award is granted annually to a faculty member of the University community who has demonstrated excellence in teaching and working directly with the University’s leading African American academic scholars. Also, a key component of Black Scholars activities is the induction of new academic scholars. For the induction ceremony, my presentation was entitled: The African Diaspora: Genesis of Black Scholarship.

My other research related and community services activities during the Spring and Summer of 2006 involved my cooperative efforts with the Office of Minority Health and Tennessee Department of Health in sponsoring Tennessee’s Annual Minority Health Summit. This year, along with my colleagues, Drs. Jebose Okwumabua and Seok P. Wong of the University of Memphis’ Alcohol and Drug Prevention Research Center, Mohamed Kanu and Rosemary Theriot of Tennessee State University, and Elizabeth A. Williams, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center hosted the 5th Annual Research and Evaluation Forum at the 11th Annual Health Summit of Minority Communities in Knoxville, Tennessee, August 16-20, 2006. The Research and Evaluation Forum continues to serve as an important vehicle for research scholars at the national and local level to present empirical research related to Health Disparities to the general public.

ver the past year, I published the following reports and articles:

• 2006. “Cultural Anthropology of the Scotland Plantation Cemetery (16C035),” Multi-disciplinary Cultural Resources Survey and Site Evaluations, Mississippi River Levees, Items 357-R and 361-R, Vidalia to Morville, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. PanAmerican Consultants, Inc., Memphis, Tennessee. (With Naketa Edney)

• 2006. Tennessee Alcohol and Drug Prevention Outcome Longitudinal Evaluation (TADPOLE) Annual Report of Outcomes: Fiscal 2005/06, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Tennessee Department of Health

• 2006. Tennessee Alcohol and Drug Prevention Outcome Longitudinal Evaluation (TADPOLE) Annual Reports to Agencies, Fiscal 2005/06, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Tennessee Department of Health.

• 2006. Office of Minority Health Black Health Initiatives Program Outcomes: Annual Report of Outcomes for Minority Health-2005-06, Office of Minority Health, Tennessee Department of Health.

• 2006. Office of Minority Health Black Health Initiatives Program Outcomes: Annual Report to Agencies-2005-06, Office of Minority Health, Tennessee Department of Health. Back To Top

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Administrative Secretary

Paulette Wilkerson,

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Chucalissa News by Dr. Dan Swan

The museum sponsored a range of educational programs this past summer to serve a variety of student and public audiences. The Chucalissa Summer Day Camp continued to build attendance and program diversity as we hosted children from Memphis area Day Cares and other organizations In July Chucalissa collaborated with the Lausanne Academy to co-sponsor an Archeology Camp. Fourteen students participated in a research project to document the loss of cultural midden through natural erosion on the northeastern face of the bluff. Under the leadership of a professional archaeologist the students completed a controlled surface collection, systematic shovel testing and excavation of two test units. The results of the project will be published in a report to the State Archaeologist.

Scene from the Choctaw Festival

In August the museum sponsored the annual Choctaw Festival. This year, we had over two hundred Native Americans attending including the Tucker community of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation and the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. These groups presented a variety of social dances, musical repertoires, and craft demonstrations to a broad public. Amon Lewis, from Standing Pine, Mississippi, was the undisputed champion of the reinstated World Champion Blow Gun competition. In the much-anticipated stickball games the Choctaw of Western Tennessee beat Mississippi on both days. Federal Express Corporation and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians sponsored the Festival, and I would like to extend a warm thank you to Diann Sanderson and Chief Philip Martin for their continued support.

Chucalissa was well represented at the annual meeting of the International Congress of Museums, University Museums and Collections Committee meetings in Mexico City on September 24-

30, 2006. Wendy Bartlo (Anthropology), Josh Gorman (History) and I each presented a paper at the addressing the history of interpretation at the site (Gorman), Native American participation in public programs (Bartlo) and recent efforts to reinvigorate public visitation and reengagement in University research and teaching programs (Swan).

We hosted the 2006 Native American Heritage Days October 17 – 20. Over 3,000 Memphis area students experienced a variety of cultural performances, art activities, games, and natural history demonstrations.

A Scene from Native American Heritage Day

The museum continues to work with colleagues from the Center for Multi-media Arts at the Fed Ex Institute to develop digital based programming for both kiosk and hand held delivery architectures. Testing of this programming will begin at the museum this fall.

Through the generous support of the Friends of Chucalissa, the museum affected an enhanced marketing campaign that includes a new rack card, expanded distribution services, newspaper advertising, and promotional services in conjunction with the annual Elvis Week celebration.

Members of the Southwinds Garden Club are working to gain recognition of Chucalissa as a Level 1 Arboretum, identifying 30 different species of trees along our nature trail. In addition to labels identifying common and scientific names for each species, the group will also produce an educational brochure to support the visitor experience at Chucalissa. The support of the club and its members continues to improve and interpret the natural environment of Chucalissa. Back To Top

Applied Anthropology Abroad Reflections from Uganda By Dr. Mohammed Kanu

The Department of Anthropology directly, or indirectly, continues to be involved in research abroad. Some students are active participants in international research, through the Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) grant. The grant (with Dr Malinda Fitzgerald of Christian Brothers University as its Principal Investigator) provides a great opportunity for students in the United Students to conduct and acquire research experience abroad. This summer, trough the recommendation of Drs. Charles Williams and Ruthbeth Finerman, I joined Dr. Fitzgerald and her research team to help students with research methodology while working in Uganda.

As in previous years, the research focused on understanding the psychological impact of the war on children in northern Uganda, as well as on malaria prevention among the local people. I left the U.S. on the 2nd of July to join Crystal Ton and other students who were already in Uganda at the time.

Through the efforts of people like Teri Mason and Manny Patel during the past few years, the MHIRT project has established a lasting relationship with some of the most deprived children in Uganda. This relationship is epitomized by the establishment of a village known as “Hope North.” The village provides accommodation to many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially children, whose villages have been ravaged by the more than 20 years of fighting in northern Uganda. The village also houses a school for the children. I spent a few days in the village with Mechelle Elosiebo (one of the students) collecting data. While it was good to be present in a data collection site, and to get a first-hand account of what the children were going through, the experience itself was sometimes challenging because a lot needs to be done to change the condition of the people.

In another part of Uganda, Crystal Ton and Julia Hanebrink were involved in malaria sensitization at a distant location that is six hours drive from the capital city of Kampala. The name of the place is

Ishaka. I later visited the town and the stories of need were ubiquitous. While the people were appreciative of the mosquito bednets that they received as part of the sensitization effort, it was very clear that even the discounted rate of about $3 per bednet was too much for some to afford.

While experiencing some of these problems was challenging, the research process itself was worth my time. At all times, the friendly and hospitable local people were willing to support the research by donating their time. Of course, they sometimes inquired how they could benefit form the research.

In spite of the lack of electricity in some of the places I visited and the often visible scars of the war, the experience of eating local delicacies like “Matoke,” and riding in crowded minivans most popularly known as “Matatos” was great fun. The research went well and lots of data were collected. Students must continue to take advantage of opportunities like this!

I currently work at Tennessee State University in the Dept. of Health Administration and Health Sciences, but working with the Anthropology Department, where I received my MA, always feels like home-coming. It makes me feel happy like a fish returning to its native waters. Back To Top

Applied Graduate Research in Uganda By Crystal Ton

Adventurous students wanting to immerse themselves in applied research for the summer can work with Christian Brothers University’s program in Uganda. Funded by the National Institute of Health, the project focuses on malaria prevention. This summer was my third trip to Uganda, and my work as a project coordinator became part of my practicum agreement. Our goal in Uganda this time was two-fold. First, we inventoried non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governmental agencies, and for-profit organizations that dealt with issues relating to malaria and malaria prevention. The inventories led to one organization, Malaria Consortium, which generously agreed to partner with us and supply subsidized mosquito nets or long lasting nets (LLN) in the Bushenyi district of Uganda.

Crystal Ton and Project Trainees in Uganda

Second, we worked extensively on a pamphlet and guide for training community leaders, so that the program could become self-sustaining.

A concurrent project assessed child mental health facilities in Gulu and Lira districts of Uganda, focusing on the needs of children affected by the 20 year long war in Northern Uganda between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Acholi people. Project participants conducted interviews in Internally Displaced People camps and NGOs that house recent escapees from the LRA. This information will be compiled into a document for the Ugandan Government, with the hope that it will produce an effective mental health treatment plan for people affected by this war.

The Africa program is open to any graduate student, preferably with some experience in social science research or education. A Brazil program is also open to undergraduate students. See www.cbu.edu/~aross/biodept/MIRT-CBU.html for additional information. Back To Top

The Charles H. McNutt Lecture Series

welcomed

Dr. Nigel C. Strudwick, speaking on:

The Theban Tomb of Senneferi: Aspects of Burial, and Ancient and Modern Robbery in Luxor, Egypt

December 2006

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University of Memphis at the 2006 SfAA

John Barrie presented the paper Violence in Scotland: Just Part of the Culture?

Linda Bennett chaired and participated in “Tenure and Promotion for Applied Anthropologists: Preparation for and Documentation of Scholarship”

Brigitte Billeaudeaux presented the paper Ethnic Diversity at Calvary Cemetery in Memphis Tennessee

Ruthbeth Finerman chaired and participated in “Perspectives on Ethnomedicine and Healing in South America (SMA)”, presenting the paper How Does Your Garden Grow? Medicinal Plant Cultivation In Andean Ecuador.

Stan Hyland chaired “Community Building for the Twenty-First Century: Roundtable Discussion.” He also participated in “Tenure and Promotion for Applied Anthropologists:Preparation for and Documentation of Scholarship.”

Elizabeth Jacob presented the paper Developing Bilingual Programs At Girls Inc. Of Memphis

Satish Kedia presented the paper Forced Displacement and Embodied Distress.

Rachel Martin presented the paper Contributions of Anthropologists to Sex Offender Research.

Kyle Olin presented the University of Memphis Anthropology Department poster.

Stasa Plecas presented the poster Comparative Risk Assessment In A Midsouth Superfund Site.

Rebecca Puckett presented the paper Expanding the Role of Internships for Modern Museums.

Crystal Ton and Beth DeBlanc presented the poster A Malaria Prevention Strategy in Uganda. Back To Top

What we did this Summer

Graduate Student News

JOHN BARRIE:

I continued to volunteer with the Community HIV Network this summer, helping with outreach and HIV testing in various places. At the end of the summer I began volunteering at Friends For Life, which quickly turned into a part-time job as HIV Testing Administrator. I also continued to work on a project involving medical interpreters in Memphis that will form part of a paper to be presented at the 2007 SfAA Conference.

Wendy Bartlo and Dan Swan at Teotihuacan in Mexico

WENDY BARTLO:

My summer was divided between two museums. The first part of the summer I worked at Chucalissa for summer day camp, then spent July and August as an intern in the education department of the Denver Art Museum. In September I presented a poster paper entitled A Timeline of the Living History at Chucalissa at an International Council of Museums conference in Mexico City.

BRIDGETTE COLLIER:

This summer I volunteered for the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, The Shelby County Breastfeeding Coalition, and HIV Community Network. I participated in National HIV Testing Day event doing outreach testing in North Memphis. I am currently continuing the work I began this summer for the Breastfeeding Coalition organizing a resource list for grassroots breastfeeding associations in Shelby County and will use that information to develop a website for the Coalition.

WILLIAM HANLEY:

This summer I had the opportunity of working with Bridging the Gap Ministries, of Blytheville, AR. I assisted the church to develop a resource manual listing currently-available services offered by other Mississippi County-based religious organizations, and in completing a needs assessment for underserved populations in the county. I also served as contributing editor on two handbooks that were published: Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Disorders of Sex Development in Childhood and the Handbook for Parents, copyrighted by Intersex Society of North America (www.isna.org), an organisation which I now serve as president.

JASON HODGES:

This summer provided several opportunities to work in the Memphis community. I began the summer at South Memphis Alliance working on community outreach issues. Since July I have interned at Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice working on workers’ rights issues, and the Memphis Living Wage Campaign. I have also been working on the Health Initiative Project with children from Humes Middle School.

VALERIE SYLAR:

ver the summer I continued working with the Center for Community Health to recruit participants and enter data for their QuitLine program, which encourages substance abusers in treatment to quit smoking. In July, I attended the Choctaw Indian Fair in Choctaw, Mississippi and hope to set up a practicum working with the Health Center on the reservation there.

LIZ PULVER:

I spent my summer working with Katrina evacuees in Memphis on a project of United Way and 2-1-1. 2-1-1 is a non-emergency telephone service which provides information and referral to community services. My duties included gathering data to evaluate 2-1-1’s role in disaster relief as well as maintaining and disseminating information on available services to evacuees, case managers, and local agencies. Currently, there are approximately 5,000 Katrina evacuees living in the Memphis area. This experience has been enlightening and rewarding. Back To Top

Congratulations to Our Graduates!

Master’s Level

May 2006

Beth M. DeBlanc

Elizabeth Anna Jacob

Stephanie Leigh Lebel

Rachel Rooks Martin

Kyle Marcus Olin

Stasa Plecas

Rebecca Catherine Puckett

Amy Colleen Williams

Undergraduate

May 2006

Aziza A. Aziz

Rebekah Boyland

Stephanie N. Harrison

Jenifer Griffin Meeks

Katherine E. Pritchard

Kipling K. Turner

August 2006

Kathy E. Dean

Patricia E. Hutchins

Congratulations and All The Very Best For the Future!!!

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Practicing Advisory Work Group (PAWG) by Linda Bennett

Since 2004 I have chaired the Practicing Advisory Work Group (PAWG), an American Anthropological Association committee. PAWG was established to address the professional needs of practicing anthropologists who are employed outside of academic positions, and the organizations that employ them. Given that less than half of all anthropologists today are employed as university or college faculty members--either full-time or part-time--it is critical that the AAA develop programs and provide services and benefits that more directly meet the professional needs of non-academically based anthropologists.

Committee members T. J. Ferguson, J. Anthony Paredes, Susan Squires, Judy Tso, and Dennis Wiedman have worked closely with AAA staff members—especially Kathleen Terry-Sharp, Richard Thomas, and Jona Pounds--over the past two years. Since January 2005, the committee has met at least monthly through teleconference. The PAWG members decided early on that while each committee member had good ideas based upon their experience and their conversations with practicing anthropologists about the needs of colleagues working outside of academia, the committee needed to collect some targeted information from a broad array of practicing anthropologists before they felt confident about making recommendations to the AAA Executive Board.

As a result, PAWG conducted two telephone-based interview projects. The first set of interviews was carried out by committee members with 23 individual practitioners working in a broad array of organizations, including government agencies, NGOs, for-profit businesses, and museums. Analysis of these interviews was carried out with the assistance of University of Memphis graduate student Crystal Ton.

The second set of interviews was conducted by anthropology students from the University of Memphis and Florida International University (Anne Brasby, Bridgette Collier, Christine Labriola, and Elizabeth Pulver) regarding 23 organizations from the perspective of practicing anthropologists working primarily in the non-governmental sector. Analysis was completed with the assistance of University of Memphis graduate student Elizabeth Pulver. Reports from both data sets were presented to the Executive Board of the AAA in November 2005 and May 2006. Based on these data, the PAWG committee developed draft recommendations regarding proposed new AAA programs, services, and benefits oriented toward practitioner anthropologists and the organizations that employ them.

A third step was accomplished with the cooperation of an Expert Panel of 19 practicing anthropologists from both the private and public sectors (e.g., U. S. government, local government, U. S. military, small and large research firms, private industry, museums, international organization, contract archaeology firms, sole proprietorship, small and large consulting firms). During summer 2006, the Expert Panel reviewed the two reports, proposed recommendations, and provided valuable and extensive feedback to PAWG. With the input from the Expert Panelists and the results of the two telephone interview projects, committee members organized detailed recommendations into categories and prioritized recommendations.

The Final Report stresses inclusion and the need to shift the culture of the AAA and its activities in such a way that all anthropologists -- academic, practitioner, and those who have careers in both arenas -- are served equally by the organization.

The Final Report concludes by quoting committee member, T. J. Ferguson: “The AAA needs to provide a home for all anthropologists, and a means for anthropologists employed outside of universities to continue to interact socially and intellectually with other anthropologists. The AAA meeting should combine the goals of disseminating knowledge with the need for continual education of anthropologists after they obtain their undergraduate and graduate degrees.”

Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the Final Report and Executive Summary may contact me at lbennett@memphis.edu. Back To Top

Dr. Satish Kedia Named co-Editor of the NAPA Bulletin

Dr. Satish Kedia has recently been elected the new co-editor of the National Association for Practicing Anthropology’s seminal biannual publication: NAPA Bulletin Series. He will be taking responsibility for the upcoming NAPA Bulletins along with Dr. Tim Wallace of North Carolina State University. Dr. Kedia would like to see the Bulletin have a more direct impact on program effectiveness and policymaking in diverse domains of application. His vision for the NAPA Bulletin includes an increased international presence that encourages collaborative and participatory work among colleagues in the United States and abroad. It is his hope that the Bulletin will continue to assist practitioners in honing their applied skills by presenting innovative methodologies, exemplary case studies, and debates on contemporary issues of the utmost concern to practicing anthropologists. Congratulations to Dr. Kedia on this accomplishment! Back To Top

Thank You!

to

our fantastic student workers
Liz DiMaggio

Michelle Plymel

Miracle Smith

Kudos

to

Dr. Charles Williams

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Paige Beverly: Letter to Alumni

Ever wonder what happened to that guy who shared an office with you when you were a GA? Or maybe you’re looking for a new job and can’t seem to get a break? Maybe it’s time you joined in on the alumni monthly luncheons!

About a year ago after an anthropology department party, several of us decided it was ridiculous that we rarely saw each other and made plans to meet for lunch. What started out as a small group has now grown to 10-15 alumni who meet regularly to network, share some gossip, and explore some of Memphis’ unique dining establishments!

As alumni we are particularly lucky to have a strong network of anthropologists who call Memphis and the Midsouth home. This network is comprised of friends and professionals who have gone through the same experiences, and who understand the value of the resources the Department of Anthropology has to offer our community and current students.

As an alumnus, I encourage you to support the Department of Anthropology in any way you can. Encourage your employer to offer internships to graduate students, share research opportunities, or designate a gift to the department through the U of M philanthropy program. Get back in the fold; come join us for lunch and catch up on what is going on with your fellow alumni and rebuild some networks! To be added to the contact list email pebeverly@uhinc.org

Anthropology Alumni Club

The University of Memphis Alumni Association is increasing the number of its affiliate clubs by leaps and bounds. Anthropology can’t be left out! To qualify as an affiliate club, we need to have six members. Club status would get us an annual operating budget to support club activities (parties!). Membership dues support scholarships, faculty awards, and special events (more parties!). Let’s renew old friendships and make new connections. Everyone interested in starting an Anthropology Alumni Club, please contact Melissa Buchner at 678-2251 or mmbuchnr@memphis.edu for details. Back To Top

News from the Anthropology Club by Wendy Bartlo

The Anthropology Club enjoyed an active spring semester. We kicked off the spring semester with a pizza party that included a screening of “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.” In March, the club provided an opportunity for students participating in the annual Society for Applied Anthropology Meeting to practice their presentations prior to the conference in Vancouver. In April the club sponsored the Careers in Anthropology Seminar. We were fortunate to have speakers from a variety of local organizations present on the opportunities available in our discipline. We closed out the year with a happy hour celebration at the Young Avenue Deli.

Food comes first at the Anthropology Club Picnic

The fall semester has been off to a great start. The club hosted a picnic at the Chucalissa Museum. Club members, family, and friends enjoyed cooking out, a fierce game of croquet, and a hike on the nature trail. Several club members returned to Chucalissa to volunteer at the annual Native American Heritage Days. These fantastic helpers created art projects with the over 3,000 children that attended.

Thanks to everyone who participated in club events and we look forward to seeing you in the future!

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The Anthropology Club

also welcomed

Dr Katherine Mickelson,

Assistant Professor, Rhodes College speaking on Paleobotany

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We need your help

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Yes, I want to join other alumni and friends of the Department in making a gift in support of the Anthropology Enrichment Fund.

Enclosed is my gift in the amount of $______ made payable to “The University of Memphis Foundation” in support of the following Anthropology program(s):

Graduate Student Support

• Travels to Regional and National Conferences
• Presentations at Regional and National Conferences
• Other Urgent Department Needs
• McNutt Lecture/Scholarly Speakers Series

___________________________________________________________________
Name Degree/Year

___________________________________________________________________
Address City/State/Zip

___________________________________________________________________
Home Phone Business Phone Email

I understand that all gifts are deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Consider our Matching Gift Program to double, or even triple, the size of your gift through your compa­ny’s matching gift program. Some companies will match the charitable donations of retirees and, in some cases, gifts by an employee’s spouse. The human resources department of your company can supply with the appropriate forms, which should be returned along with your gift.

For credit card gifts, please call Lendon Ellis at 901-678-1332.

• Yes, I want to be more involved in the activities of the Department of Anthropology and
  am interested in participating in the following:
• Joining the Anthropology Alumni Chapter
• Mentoring Undergraduate or Graduate Students
• Speaking in Classes or Department Seminars
• Volunteering with Department Projects

Please return this form to: The College of Arts & Sciences, The University of Memphis, 107 Scates Hall, Memphis, TN 38152-3450. The Department of Anthropology appreciates the generous contributions of time and resources from its many alumni and friends.

Web address:http://anthropology.memphis.edu

The University of Memphis
316 Manning Hall
Memphis, TN 38152
901-678-2080 / 901-678-2069 (fax)
http://anthropology.memphis.edu

A Tennessee Board of Regents Institution

An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action University

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