Sub-Section Mini-Meetings

Is your sub-section planning on hosting a mini meeting in Oakland or San Jose during the originally planned weekend in November? Let us know! I will update the list as we get more announcements.

The list so far:

• Laura Miller of SEAA reports that SEAA "will have their meeting in Berkeley on November 20, and perhaps other dates, we are still planning "


• Catherine Emihovich of CAE reports: "it is looking increasingly likely that we will hold some kind of mini-conference in either SF or Oakland. We may do it at SF State or the Chavez Institute in SF, or at UC-Berkeley. Depending on space needs, we may also consider a hotel that is not involved in the strike. One of our activities will be to hold an open forum to discuss CAE’s position on this whole affair, and then a delegation will go to Atlanta to meet with AAA leadership to express our concerns. I do not anticipate that we will hold any formal meetings in Atlanta, and most of our members will not present there. Instead, they plan to present at this mini-conference. We welcome the involvement of other sections, and we want to stay posted on their plans."
  
  More from CAE here.
  Latest is here.


• A message sent out by Peter Biella to SVA members states: "As of this writing, the Visual Research Conference is still peopled and will still take place. Most of the original eleven panels and three poster sessions will take place. (Presenters are in the process of communicating among themselves.) The Film and Video Festival will be screened . The Board and Business meetings will take place." This will all happen in Atlanta, but "they are advising us not to eat at the hotel and to stay off site." Stay tuned for a second announcement from the Graduate Association of Visual Anthropologists by Tuesday night.


• The AES issued an official statement: "Collectively, as a board, we have significant reservations about the Executive Board's decision to move the 2004 meeting to a non-union Hilton property in Atlanta, and we will be issuing a formal response to this decision in the near future. Individually, many of us have already decided we will not attend the meeting rescheduled and relocated at the Atlanta Hilton. However, even as we will be working to formulate an official position on what to do with the AES-sponsored sessions scheduled for the meeting, we believe it has become a matter of urgent importance that fair labor practice must now become a priority consideration for the planning of all future Association and section meetings. We hold ourselves and the Association accountable for having neglected this issue in the past."


• The Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists (ALLA) says in an e-mail dated 10/26: "In the face of the continued lockout and in consultation with UNITE HERE organizers, I and the other members of the ALLA Board believe San Jose to be the next best option as moving the AAA Meetings to that city better ensures that the greatest number of AAA members can still participate.
  
  ... If at this time the AAA leadership is NOT considering San Jose as our alternate location, ALLA respectfully requests a verifiable clarification of your reasons.
  
  Moving to Atlanta will most likely decimate our ALLA sessions and prevent us from conducting necessary section business at a time when we are needing to fortify our Section. ALLA has long worked in coalition with other Sections (and our members are members of other sections as well) and we have been stronger for these relationships. As many Sections have stated their intentions of holding meetings in different locations or canceling altogether, we are further weakened if the AAA Board decides again to move our Meetings to Atlanta."


• The Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) says: "the SMA board has decided to withdraw formally from the AAA meetings; that is, Executive Board and Business Meetings will not be held in Atlanta. However, SMA sponsored & invited sessions, as well as individual special interest group meetings, may go forward according to the wishes of organizers and participants. This is a decision that must be left to the individuals involved.
  
  The SMA Board will meet in San Francisco on November 19 in order to conduct its business.
  
  The SMA Board has several other matters and options before it. These include holding a public, "alternative" meeting in San Francisco, working with the Society for Applied Anthropology to move sessions which might otherwise be cancelled to their annual meeting in Santa Fe, April 5-10, and pressing the AAA to move its 2004 meetings to San Jose.
  
  Before we reach decisions on these various matters, and in order to craft a statement to the AAA that is reflective of SMA members' sentiments, it is critical that we hear from you. I'm writing to ask that you complete a very short survey found at the following website. Please respond ASAP; we would like to move forward as quickly as possible."


• The Society for the Anthropology of Work (SAW) says: " On behalf of the three hundred members of the Society for the Anthropology of Work, the Executive Board hereby resolves:
  
  1. To boycott the Hilton in event of a lock-out or strike. This includes use of the hotel for any purpose whatsoever.
  
  2. To seek alternative accommodations for society-sponsored meetings in San Francisco hotels and venues.
  
  3. To authorize the President to spend additional funds necessary to cover the cost of alternative facilities for society-sponsored events."


• The Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA) says: " SCA Board recommends that AAA Meetings be moved to San Jose to recognize ongoing workers' strike against Hilton in San Francisco. See 'Meetings' for details."


• The Anthropology and Environment (A&E) section issued an e-mail stating: "Based upon a poll of our members, the Anthropology & Environment Section of the AAA (539 members) has decided to hold its preliminary board and business meetings somewhere in the Bay area on Saturday, November 20, followed by email/virtual meetings in early December for members who won't be able to join us."
  
  Read their full announcement.


• The Society for Linguistic Anthropology (SLA) will go to Atlanta to hold its official meetings and sessions; however, SLA is also helping make arrangements for those sessions who wish to meet in Berkeley to do so. "However, there are some sections and some symposia who have already made the decision to meet in the Bay Area, and I would be willing to help any of those that are from SLA or otherwise language-related to gather here at Berkeley. It would not be possible to keep the sessions at their original times the whole week through; but I have tentatively reserved the Dwinelle Hall conference room for the times I could get it for, which are: Friday Nov 19 1-9 pm, and Sunday Nov 21st 8am-12pm; and we expect to have a lecture hall Saturday Nov 20. We might also be able to coordinate with some of the other sections that will meet at Berkeley to make a reasonably rich set of offerings."


• The Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists (SOLGA) issued an e-mail with the following statement: "1) SOLGA will hold its next board and business meetings at the AAA meetings in Washington DC in November 2005.
  
  2) Christa Craven is elected as continuing Co-Chair until November 2005.
  
  3) SOLGA will announce the winners of this year's Benedict and Payne Prizes on November 20, 2004 (the date of our original business meeting), and have an award ceremony for these prize winners as part of our November 2005 business meeting. [The idea here is that people can put the prizes on their CVs right away, and will still have an official award ceremony with a big audience later.]
  
  4) SOLGA will install Rudi Gaudio as Co-Chair on November 20, 2004, on which date Tom Boellstorff will cease being Co-Chair and will take up his position as board member.
  
  5) SOLGA hereby announces that SOLGA will not be holding board or business meetings at the Dec 2004 Atlanta meetings, and that the decision as to whether SOLGA panels or individual papers take place in Atlanta be up to the participants themselves. [We can all work together with the program co-chairs to gather information about what panels will still be happening, and advertise them to the SOLGA membership.]
  
  6) SOLGA hereby announces that SOLGA takes no stance for or against any counter-meetings or conferences in the Bay Area in November 2004, but will not be holding a business or board meeting at any such counter-meeting or conference. [As with Atlanta, we can all work together with the program co-chairs to gather information about events that will take place in the Bay Area, and advertise them to the SOLGA membership]"


• The NAPA (National Assoc. for the Practice of Anthropology) announcement is posted here.