Anthro notes

liil/iroXotes Volume 22 So. 2 Winter2001

THE ANTHROPOLOGY EDUCATION COMMISSION

The ^American

Anthropological Association

(AAA),

like

many

^oftheprofessionalsocial science

and

science associations, has

committed

itself to increasing the public's understanding ofitsdiscipline.

As

onerecent step the

AAA Long Range

Planning

Committee

established the

Anthropology Education Commission (AEC)

todevelop anactionplanforthe Association,

which would

result in "significant progresstowardstheintegrationof anthropological concepts, methods, andissuesinto pre-Kthrough

community

collegeandadulteducationasa

means

of increasingpublicunderstanding of anthropology."

AtaFebruarymeetingin Washington,the

AAA

President,LouiseLamphere,asked the

Commission

tobrain stormideas thatthe

AAA

could develop into largerscalefundedprogramssincethe

AAA

has hired its first development officer. Before the brainstormingsession,

Commission members

heard apresentation

from Ruth

^Seligcomparingthe

work

of various social science associations to

promote

theirdisciplinesinK-12education.

The AEC

^iscomprisedofanthropologistsand educators

who

have been actively

working

in university, school, and

museum

settings.

Commission members

include: Chair

Rosemary Henze (ARC

Associates),

Meg Conkey (UC

Berkeley),PaulErickson(St.Mary'sUniv.),

Norma

Gonzales

(U

Arizona,Tucson),

Dorothy

Krass(S

AA

Public Education Committee),

Margy McClain

(Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater),

Ann Kaupp

(Smithsonian/AnthroNotes),

Mari Lyn

Salvador (Univ. of

New

Mexico), and

Ruth

Selig (Smithsonian/AnthroNotes)^.Initsfirstyear(2000)

,

the

Commission

initiatedthreeactivities:

1

.

A

$2500seedgrant

program

tosupport

new

efforts -that incorporate anthropology into PreK-12

education

and community

collegeteaching.

2.

A

Websiteforschoolpractitioners designedto increaseawareness of schoolprograms

and

activities thatincorporateanthropology.

Expanded

sections will include anthropology resources for the classroom.

3. Posting ofexemplary education programs

and

activities

on

^{thewebsite. .}

To

learn

more

about the Commission's activities,

consult

its

Website

at http://www.aaanet.org/committees/commissions /aec

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