May 7, 2013 event, 7pm, at Common Good Books. “Anthropology and narrative nonfiction come together in a fascinating look at life in West Africa. In a compelling mix of 
literary narrative and ethnography, anthropologist Alma Gottlieb and writer Philip Graham continue the long journey of cultural engagement with the Beng people of Côte d’Ivoire that they first recounted in their award-winning memoir Parallel Worlds. Their commitment over the span of several decades has lent them a rare insight. Weaving their own stories with those of the villagers of Asagbé and Kosangbé, Gottlieb and Graham take turns recounting a host of unexpected dramas with these West African villages, prompting serious questions about the fraught nature of cultural contact.” Read the full event announcement online at Common Good Books.
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From Science magazine online, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science — “Fieldwork is a rite of passage for anthropologists. It gives the initiate firsthand knowledge of a culture, along with a feeling of camaraderie with colleagues, often in remote and rugged locations. But for women there is also a dark side — a risk of sexual harassment and rape, according to a survey of fieldwork experiences released today. Anthropologist Kathryn Clancy, who authored the study, found a disturbingly high incidence of physical sexual harassment among respondents: More than 20% of female bioanthropologists who took part said that they had experienced ‘physical sexual harassment or unwanted sexual contact.’ Most of these victims are female, and most of the perpetrators were colleagues of superior professional status, sometimes the victim’s own fieldwork mentor.” Read the full article online (by John Bohannon, Science, April 13, 2013), and another article by the UIUC News Bureau, both with links to Prof. Clancy’s Context and Variation blog for Scientific American.
Prof. Helaine Silverman has worked with two other colleagues on campus to found a new UNESCO Center on campus!
UNESCO CENTER FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
The public is invited to the inaugural event of the new UNESCO Center for Global Citizenship
Please join us! Learn about the goals of the new Center, partnership ties with UNESCO associations across the world, upcoming activities including a guided visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cahokia Mounds in Illinois, museum tours, reading/discussion groups, guest speakers, school events, and traveling exhibitions.
Monday, April 15, 2013 5:00 – 7:00pm Champaign Public Library Robeson Rooms A&B
UNESCO and the Mission for Peace in a Troubled World
Mr. Guy Djoken
Executive Director, UNESCO Center for Peace Washington, D.C.
Introduction by Professor Barbara Ford, Director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois Library Member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO
Other events with Guy Djoken
Sunday, April 14, 2013
5:00-6:00pm
WILL-AM 580 radio interview on “Keepin’ the Faith” with host Steve Shoemaker Listeners are invited to call-in with questions.
Tuesday, April 16
12:00-1:00pm
Room 219 Davenport Hall, University of Illinois Community Activism and UNESCO’s Millennial Goals
Support for the events is provided by: University of Illinois Anthropology, African-American Studies, International Forum for U.S. Studies, Center for Advanced Studies, and Center for Global Studies. April 15th reception’s food is donated by World Harvest, Schnucks, and Strawberry Fields.
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
“Building Peace in the Minds of Men and Women”
For more information visit http://cgs.illinois.edu/ucgc and contact amani3@illinois.edu or bjford@illinois.edu
Check out all these upcoming campus events to celebrate the launch here: UNESCO Ctr at UIUC-Opening Events Flyer
In a new ranking published by the New York Times, the U of I ranked as #24 among the Top 100 Universities in the World!. Read the story and see the full ranking here:
We have a brand-new U of I chapter of Lambda Alpha, the National Anthropology Honors Society! ANTH Major, Jen Freeland, has taken the lead in coordinating many details to create the chapter. Kudos to Jen!
Membership in Lambda Alpha offers many advantages:
-opportunity to publish in the organization’s annual journal, which sets aside half its pages for undergraduate students’ essays (think: Capstone project/Honors Thesis!)–we’ll soon receive issues of the journal, which will be stored in the Undergrad Advisor’s office, where you’ll be welcome to browse through the journal
-opportunity to apply for grants: A $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior majoring in anthropology, and the society also sponsors a Graduate Overseas Research Grant competition ($1,000 – $4,000). Only members who belong to chartered chapters are eligible to compete for these awards and grants.
-opportunity to network with peers nationally
-opportunity to wear fancy regalia (stole + pin) at graduation to display your membership 
proudly
-opportunity to develop leadership skills in a national organization
-prestige on your résumé
-and all this for the bargain price of $25 for a LIFETIME membership!
Make sure to “friend” the group: Anthropology Club/Lambda Alpha UIUC.
Jen Freeland provides more details about our new chapter, how it’s merged with our Anthropology Club, and some upcoming activities for the joint group:
As of March, 2013, the newly established Mu of Illinois chapter of Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Anthropology Honors Society has 38 official members. Upon launching our new chapter, it was agreed by students and faculty that a unification between the preexisting Anthropology Club and the new Lambda Alpha chapter would be in the best interest of students and would allow for a closer community of anthropology students to grow.
MISSION STATEMENT:
It is the mission of the UIUC Anthropology Club/Lambda Alpha to create a community in which anthropology students can come together in order to share their passion for anthropos (“humanity” in Greek!) through linguistic, sociocultural, biological, and archaeological influences. We promise to offer students social activities through the Anthropology Club as well as academic opportunities through Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Anthropology Honors Society in order to aid students through their growth and development as anthropologists.
Here is a list of our official Exec Board members:
Jenny Winkler – Anthropology Club President
Jen Freeland – Lambda Alpha President
Rachel Ogden – Secretary (will write our annual report for the national Lambda Alpha newsletter)
Kristine Parker – Treasurer
Grace Hall & Anna Prior – Academic Activities (Lambda Alpha)
Cheyenne Phelps – Social Activities (Anth Club)
Everyone liked the idea of having a movie/snack/relaxation room before finals. We are definitely going to schedule one for this semester!
I posted a link to the Facebook page about the current Lascaux exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago with a lot of positive responses. I think we are also going to arrange a day trip up there right after finals.
Dr. Stanley Hyland will visit with us on Thursday, March 28, as a speaker in our 2012-2013 Colloquium on Engaged and Applied Anthropology. These colloquium events feature an afternoon keynote presentation to the Department and also small-group discussions among our graduate students and Dr. Hyland over lunch and dinner.
Thursday, March 28, 3:00pm, 109A Davenport Hall, Examining the Impact of Three Anthropological Figures in the Reformulation of Anthropology for the 21st Century: Developing New Approaches to Poverty Policy and Social Justice in Memphis and the Mid-South Region, keynote presentation by Prof. Hyland.
Dr. Hyland is Professor and Head of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy and a member of the Department of Anthropology faculty at the University of Memphis. He received his PhD in 1977 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and joined the faculty at the University of Memphis in 1976. Dr. Hyland has over 25 years of experience as an applied and urban anthropologist. He has focused his research on community building, particularly in its relation to grassroots economic activities. On a local level, his anthropological studies have included housing, neighborhood revitalization, new urbanism, evaluation, philanthropy, voluntary associations, and policy. On a national level, during 1989-1990, Dr. Hyland served as director of research for the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission, a federal commission to develop a strategic plan for economic development of the Delta for the year 2000. In addition to his research in community development, he has published numerous articles and monographs regarding neighborhood revitalization and public policy and has served on both local and national community-based advisory boards. Dr. Hyland received the 2012 Solon T. Kimball Award by the American Anthropological Association in recognition of his outstanding work in engaged and applied anthropology.
Marshall Sahlins Resigns from the National Academy of Sciences
Inside Higher Ed
The eminent University of Chicago anthropologist Marshall Sahlins resigned from the National Academy of Sciences on Friday, citing his objections to its military partnerships and to its electing as a member Napoleon Chagnon, a long-controversial anthropologist who is back in the news thanks to the publication of his new book, Noble Savages.
Anthropologist Paul Stoller Weighs in on the New Napoleon Chagnon Book
Read Paul Stoller’s thoughts on the controversy in his new Huffington Post piece here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stoller/the-real-news-of-anthropo_b_2744551.html
Cultural Anthropologist and Emeritus Professor David Plath has been selected to receive the 2013 Association for Asian Studies award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies. The presentation will be made at the annual AAS meeting in San Diego, March 21-24, 2013. The AAS web site states that the award “is intended to honor both outstanding scholarship and service to the field. It is the highest honor the AAS can bestow.”
How Napoleon Chagnon Became Our Most Controversial Anthropologist
New York Times
By EMILY EAKIN
Published: February 13, 2013
. . . Among the hazards Napoleon Chagnon encountered in the Venezuelan jungle were a jaguar that would have mauled him had it not become confused by his mosquito net and a 15-foot anaconda that lunged from a stream over which he bent to drink. There were also hairy black spiders, rats that clambered up and down his hammock ropes and a trio of Yanomami tribesmen who tried to smash his skull with an ax while he slept. (The men abandoned their plan when they realized that Chagnon, a light sleeper, kept a loaded shotgun within arm’s reach.) These are impressive adversaries — “Indiana Jones had nothing on me,” is how Chagnon puts it — but by far his most tenacious foes have been members of his own profession. . . He spent much of the past decade working on a memoir instead, “Noble Savages: My Life Among Two Dangerous Tribes — the Yanomamö and the Anthropologists” . . .
Read the rest of the article here! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magazine/napoleon-chagnon-americas-most-controversial-anthropologist.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1
