Not to mention babies, rainforest preservation, alternative medicine, and Internet discussions about sheep cheese. These are just a few of the topics included among 2700 papers to be presented at the 97th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, December 2-6, at the Philadelphia Marriott. The AAA is the largest professional associaton of anthropologists in the world.
Selected Sessions
Why do people kill their neighbors? The 20th century has seen a bumper crop of killings, from the Jews and Gypsies in Germany to the Hutus and Tutsis of Africa. In THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF GENOCIDE, December 3, 8:00 to 11:45 am, in Salon E, Level 5, anthropologists consider specific examples of genocide, and processes that aid and abet killing.
What do poverty, nutrition, gender, violence, the New York African Burial Ground, and tourism have in common? They are all topics for biological anthropologists! From the link between poverty and malnutrition in contemporary Appalachia, to gender and violence in prehistory, biological anthropology gets to the heart of complicated human issues. SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND HUMAN BIOLOGY: POLITICAL-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES IN BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, December 4, 4:00 to 5:45 pm, in Salon I, Level 5 brings together a panel of distinguished anthropologists working in nutrition, health, development, and skeletal biology.
AAA presents a panel so controversial the American Association for the Advancement of Science twice rejected it, saying AYou may not ask that question.@ IS THE HUMAN SPECIES A CANCER ON THE PLANET?, December 2, 12 to 1:45 pm, in Salon C, Level 5, looks at the environmental results of human societies. Global environmental changes are linked to human actions. What can we change? What will happen if we do nothing?
Language is used to think about people, and even to control them. Shared languages help us think of people as a group. Linguists describe how we think about and use language in LANGUAGES, DISCOURSES, AND POPULATIONS, December 5, 8 to 11:45 am, in Salon F, Level 5.
At the intersection of technology and human lives there are many decisions to be made. How do we feel about life, death, and all the choices in between? In a special session, QUESTING FOR PERFECTION: THE NEW EUGENICS?, anthropologists discuss the human body, and questions that trouble us, December 4, 1:45 to 5:30 pm in Salon E, Level 5.
In the 19th century, anthropologists created the modern study of Araces.@ Yet, because they have virtually ignored the issue in recent decades, their silence has aided racist theorists. Anthropologists explain how their contributions can be used to help anti-racism efforts in SUBVERTING RACISM: IS THERE AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONSENSUS?, December 5, 10:15 am to 2 pm in Salon H, Level 5.
AAA Media Relations
The meeting press room, located on Level 3, Room 308 of the Philadelphia Marriott will be open Wednesday, December 2 from 11:30 am to 6:00 pm and Thursday, December 3 through Saturday, December 5, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Show press credentials at the press room, and we=ll provide a press pass, a Program and a complete list of Abstracts. You can check out the 1998 program in advance on our website http://www.ameranthassn.org.
The AAA Press Office can also help you with story ideas and put you in touch with the experts. We have a database of specialists in the latest topics in cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistics, and applied anthropology from corporations to the government.