COUNCIL FOR MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGY
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Anthropology Newsletter/F&hmmj 1995 19 (2) "All children will learn at a high level" and other assumptions: Concep- tions of learning held by policymakers, teachers, families, communities and children (paper session)—organized by Ron Mertz, (314/231-3720 ext 437) Evaluation Research, St Louis Public Schools, 911 Locust Street, St Louis, MO 63101. (3) Issues in conducting ethnograph- ic evaluation research in American Indian student programs and schools (joint with NAPA)—special event panel discussion organized by Janet Goldenstein Abler (701/777-3158; 701/ 772-7449) PO Box 7189, U North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202. Committee #5: Transnational Issues in Education and Change (!) Visual images of community and schooling worldwide—organized by Phyllis M Ryan ([email protected]. mx; 814/234-0134) 927 W Whitehall Rd, Unit 3, State College, PA 16801. " (2) The new South Africa: Dimen- sions of change, impact and conflict in Southern Africa—organized by Diane L Brook (706/542-6506; 706/546- 5968; fax 706/542-6506; dlbrook@uga. cc.uga.edu) Dept of Social Science Education, U Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. . (3) Proposition 187: Education and the resurgence of racial nationalism worldwide (tentatively cosponsored with Committee #8)—organized by Jose Macias (801/581-7158; 801/277- 0638) Educational Studies 307 MBH, U Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. Committee #7; Blacks in Education (I) Recent research on the issues of African American Diasporic experi- ence as educators, academics and scholars—organized by Ruth Rose (212/772-5749) Hunter College, 695 Park Ave #1311 East, New York, NY I002L ' : ' Committee #8: Spanish-Speaking Concerns/Culture and Bilingual Education (1) Language, identity and the for- mation of Latino communities—orga- nized by Javier Tapia and Martha Allysath-Snider (215/898-1830; 215/ 722-2352) Graduate School of Educa- tion, U Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA. Committee #9: Women in Schools and Society (1) Breakfast Roundtables I and II (cosponsored with Committee #1)— organized by Kathleen Bennett deMar- rais (615/974-8555) 336 HPER, U Ten- nessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. (2) Social interactions in the Infor- mation Age: Women's ways of work- ing with technology—organized by Mihyune Smith (513/767-7331 ext 65681; 513/767-8429) Antioch Col- lege, 795 Livermore St, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. (3) Revitalizing conference presenta- tions—Preconference workshop for novice and experienced conference presenters with opportunities for feed- back prior to the AAA meetings— organized by Margot Eyrong (615/527- 9802; fax 615/524-4243) PO 11006, Knoxville, TN 37939. (4) What is violence against women?: Cultural perspectives—orga- nized by Ann Frankowski and Hazel Latsoff * (send inquiries ~ to Ann Frankowski, 410/455-3979; Dept of Soc/Anth, 819 Administration, U Maryland Baltimore County, 5401 Wilkens Ave, Baltimore, MD 21228). Committee #12: The Study of Cultural Transmission/Acquisition (1) Places and spaces: Cultural learn- ing outside school—organized by JoEllen Fishkeller (914/332-4989) 2 Grove St, Tarry town, NY, and Mary Anne Pitman (513/556-3610; 513/791- 0718) C of Education ML#2, U Cincin- nati, Cincinnati, OH 45221. (2) Learning in likely places: Apprenticeships and diversity in Japanese education—organized by John Singleton, Dept of Education, U Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA and Jacquet- ta Hill (217/351-2174; fax 217/359- 7451) 13105MST, Dept of Ed Psych, U; Illinois, Champaign, IL 61821. ' The above list reflects ideas present- ed at the December business meetings. Please remember to participate in these proposed sessions and also to plan and - submit other volunteered papers, sym- posia and special events. : Awards and Bates to Remember Members are encouraged to submit their nominations for our two awards to third year member-at-large, Olga Vasquez, by April 1. Jhe Spindler Award is made annually to a scholar who has demonstrated a genuine com- mitment to the field and whose exem- plary achievement in the execution of educational anthropology research or its application to instructional practice serves as an inspiration to the members of CAE. Any CAE member can make a nomination for this award. Nomina- tions should be accompanied by a vita, at least 3 letters of support from profes- sional peers and a letter from the per- son nominating the candidate summa- rizing the nominee's merits. The award for Outstanding Disserta- tion in Educational Anthropology is awarded annually and recognizes a dis- sertation completed within the past 3 years. Any member of CAE can nomi- nate a recent graduate for this award. The nomination should include a letter from the person nominating the candi- date summarizing the strengths of the dissertation and 3 copies of a 20-page abstract of the dissertation written be the nominee. The deadline for nomina- tions is April 1. Lastly, any CAE member interested in serving as a blind reviewer for the Dissertation Award competition should notify Olga Vasquez as soon as possi- ble. Olga can be reached as follows: Olga Vasquez, Dept of Communica- tions, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0070 (619/534-5271; 619/284- 6023; fax 619/534-7736; ovasquez® ucsd.edu). Reviewing the above list of accom- plishments and activities it is clear that CAE is a vibrant organization made tip of researchers and practitioners doing important work. As we begin our 25th anniversary year, I join you in looking forward to continued excellence in our scholarship and service to the profes- sion and community and to the contin- ued good company and colleagueship of our members. Members are wel- come to contact Susan Florio-Riiane at 1118 Southlawn St, East Lansing, MI 48823; 517/351-0693; susanfr@msu. edu: — -r COIMCILP0M MUSEUM AN3WWK&0GY ^ Museums and Material Culture at the 1994 Annual Meeting At the recent annual meeting, both a steady increase in the number of panels focusing on museums and material cul- ture (5 in 1994 as opposed to 2 in 1983) and a concomitant increase in panel attendance (at the 1994 meeting, for example, "Indigenous Curation" played to a packed house) suggest a renewed appreciation among anthropologists of the key role museums and objects play in interpreting past and present cultures. A summary of events of interest to CMA members at the 1994 meeting gives an indication this burgeoning awareness: ,Wine and'Cheese'Kpundtables At 6 tables, "Reexamining Museum Studies" (Julie Broyles, organizer) stimulated lively conversationi Some 30 participants engaged in discussions that ranged in animation (and decibels) from polite formality to spirited debate. They spanned topics as diverse as building museum studies programs, the merits of academic (versus on-the-job) training for museum professionals, collaboration between academic institutions and museums, NEH funding considerations for university anthropology museums and the value of utilizing small museum collections for exhibitions and research. Invited Session Response to "Indigenous Curation; Alternative Perspectives on Preserva- tion, Collecting and Presentation" (Christina Kreps and Phillip E Minthorn, organizers; Margaret Ann Hardin, discussant) was gratifying. In addition to Kreps and Minthorn, 7 pan- elists spoke to an overflow crowd about the role of indigenous peoples in inter- preting their own material cultures. Par- ticipants took various approaches to this escalating trend; their research was undertaken in Africa and Oceania as well as North America (regrettably, no indigenous peoples of South America were represented). Speakers focused on 3 broad themes: the museum in indige- nous homelands (Homer, Kreps, Lee, Miller), indigenous people as curators (Graburn) and the participation of indigenous curators in mainstream anthropology museums (McHale, Skelly and Tafoya; Mibach; Minthorn; Rosoff). Other panels of interest "Digging Museums: Museum Col- lections as Sources for Interpreting and Reinterpreting the Past" (Barbara Mills and Laurie Webster, organizers; Cather- ine and Don Fowler, Clara Sue Kidwell, discussants) considered trie value of existing museum collections in enrich- ing the analysis of newly excavated or newly discovered materials. The papers presented a set of case studies in which materials from localities such as Iran and the American Southwest were com- pared with documented collections in university anthropology museums. In some cases the'comparison allowed researchers to identify the media and contexts of their assemblages that might otherwise have remained unknown. Among the examples were iron materi- als from Iran, basketry from Native California and pottery and lithic arti- facts from the American Southwest. "Museums .and Cross-Cultural Edu- cation" (Diana Baird N'diaye, Marietta Saravia-Shore, organizers; Linda Levine discussant) considered museum strategies in exhibitions and related pro- grams for fostering the general public's awareness and understanding of cultural diversity in America at the torn of the 21st century. Papers considered projects such as the controversial exhibition "Bridges and Boundaries: African Americans''-and American Jews" and its resonance in the ethnically mixed com- munity of Crown Heights (New York). "Culture at Large: Aesthetics and Anti-aesthetics" (Debbora Battaglia and Fred Myers, organizers; Tricia Rose and Fred Myers, discussants). Arguably the most intellectually stimulating of the panels about museums and objects "Culture at Large," though dampened by some no-shows, largely fulfilled its promise. The intent of the organizers was to question the utility of the catego- ry of aesthetics in cross-cultural com- parisons given the hegemony implicit in such value-laden, Western-based con- cepts. Papers drew on various aesthetic systems including music and drama as well as the visual arts. Of particular interest to CMA members were those by Ruth Phillips and Nicholas Thomas. Phillips contrasted the tensions brought about by the conflicting meanings of Iroijuois False Face masks to their mak- ers, for whom their sacredness requires concealment, on one hand, and to their Western patrons, for whom their value as commodities is increased by public display, on the other. Thomas's paper contrasted the meaning of a basic ele- ment of Maori design to the Maori painters who invented it and a success- ful White Australian artist who has appropriated it and considered the ethi- cal dilemmas posed by the question of the design's ownership. To request copies of the papers write directly to the authors. For full names, affiliations and addresses consult the 93rd Annual Meeting Abstracts and the 1994-95 AAA Guide. I want to thank Gretchen Chesley Lang for agreeing to joint Contributing Editor responsibilities during my research leave to Cameroon from Jan- uary to August 1995. Please send your column contributions" directly to" her." Gretchen Chesley Lang, Box 8254, University Station, Grand Forks, ND 58202; 701/777-4618; glang@bad- Iands.nodak.edu. Gretchen*s poster ses- sion in Atlanta was a visual treat, with striking photographs "fromhrerTecent
Transcript of COUNCIL FOR MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology Newsletter/F&hmmj 1995 19
(2) "All children will learn at a highlevel" and other assumptions: Concep-tions of learning held by policymakers,teachers, families, communities andchildren (paper session)—organized byRon Mertz, (314/231-3720 ext 437)Evaluation Research, St Louis PublicSchools, 911 Locust Street, St Louis,MO 63101.
(3) Issues in conducting ethnograph-ic evaluation research in AmericanIndian student programs and schools(joint with NAPA)—special eventpanel discussion organized by JanetGoldenstein Abler (701/777-3158; 701/772-7449) PO Box 7189, U NorthDakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202.
Committee #5: Transnational Issues inEducation and Change
(!) Visual images of community andschooling worldwide—organized byPhyllis M Ryan ([email protected]; 814/234-0134) 927 W WhitehallRd, Unit 3, State College, PA 16801. "
(2) The new South Africa: Dimen-sions of change, impact and conflict inSouthern Africa—organized by DianeL Brook (706/542-6506; 706/546-5968; fax 706/542-6506; [email protected]) Dept of Social ScienceEducation, U Georgia, Athens, GA30602. .
(3) Proposition 187: Education andthe resurgence of racial nationalismworldwide (tentatively cosponsoredwith Committee #8)—organized byJose Macias (801/581-7158; 801/277-0638) Educational Studies 307 MBH,U Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
Committee #7; Blacks in Education
(I) Recent research on the issues ofAfrican American Diasporic experi-ence as educators, academics andscholars—organized by Ruth Rose(212/772-5749) Hunter College, 695Park Ave #1311 East, New York, NYI002L ' : '
Committee #8: Spanish-SpeakingConcerns/Culture and BilingualEducation
(1) Language, identity and the for-mation of Latino communities—orga-nized by Javier Tapia and MarthaAllysath-Snider (215/898-1830; 215/722-2352) Graduate School of Educa-tion, U Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA.
Committee #9: Women in Schools andSociety
(1) Breakfast Roundtables I and II(cosponsored with Committee #1)—organized by Kathleen Bennett deMar-rais (615/974-8555) 336 HPER, U Ten-nessee, Knoxville, TN 37996.
(2) Social interactions in the Infor-mation Age: Women's ways of work-ing with technology—organized byMihyune Smith (513/767-7331 ext65681; 513/767-8429) Antioch Col-lege, 795 Livermore St, YellowSprings, OH 45387.
(3) Revitalizing conference presenta-tions—Preconference workshop fornovice and experienced conferencepresenters with opportunities for feed-back prior to the AAA meetings—organized by Margot Eyrong (615/527-9802; fax 615/524-4243) PO 11006,Knoxville, TN 37939.
(4) What is violence againstwomen?: Cultural perspectives—orga-nized by Ann Frankowski and HazelLatsoff * (send inquiries ~ to Ann
Frankowski, 410/455-3979; Dept ofSoc/Anth, 819 Administration, UMaryland Baltimore County, 5401Wilkens Ave, Baltimore, MD 21228).
Committee #12: The Study of CulturalTransmission/Acquisition
(1) Places and spaces: Cultural learn-ing outside school—organized byJoEllen Fishkeller (914/332-4989) 2Grove St, Tarry town, NY, and MaryAnne Pitman (513/556-3610; 513/791-0718) C of Education ML#2, U Cincin-nati, Cincinnati, OH 45221.
(2) Learning in likely places:Apprenticeships and diversity inJapanese education—organized byJohn Singleton, Dept of Education, UPittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA and Jacquet-ta Hill (217/351-2174; fax 217/359-7451) 13105MST, Dept of Ed Psych, U;Illinois, Champaign, IL 61821. '
The above list reflects ideas present-ed at the December business meetings.Please remember to participate in theseproposed sessions and also to plan and -submit other volunteered papers, sym-posia and special events. :
Awards and Bates to Remember
Members are encouraged to submittheir nominations for our two awards tothird year member-at-large, OlgaVasquez, by April 1. Jhe SpindlerAward is made annually to a scholarwho has demonstrated a genuine com-mitment to the field and whose exem-plary achievement in the execution ofeducational anthropology research orits application to instructional practiceserves as an inspiration to the membersof CAE. Any CAE member can make anomination for this award. Nomina-tions should be accompanied by a vita,at least 3 letters of support from profes-sional peers and a letter from the per-son nominating the candidate summa-rizing the nominee's merits.
The award for Outstanding Disserta-tion in Educational Anthropology isawarded annually and recognizes a dis-sertation completed within the past 3years. Any member of CAE can nomi-nate a recent graduate for this award.The nomination should include a letterfrom the person nominating the candi-date summarizing the strengths of thedissertation and 3 copies of a 20-pageabstract of the dissertation written bethe nominee. The deadline for nomina-tions is April 1.
Lastly, any CAE member interestedin serving as a blind reviewer for theDissertation Award competition shouldnotify Olga Vasquez as soon as possi-ble. Olga can be reached as follows:Olga Vasquez, Dept of Communica-tions, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093-0070 (619/534-5271; 619/284-6023; fax 619/534-7736; ovasquez®ucsd.edu).
Reviewing the above list of accom-plishments and activities it is clear thatCAE is a vibrant organization made tipof researchers and practitioners doingimportant work. As we begin our 25thanniversary year, I join you in lookingforward to continued excellence in ourscholarship and service to the profes-sion and community and to the contin-ued good company and colleagueshipof our members. Members are wel-come to contact Susan Florio-Riiane at1118 Southlawn St, East Lansing, MI48823; 517/351-0693; [email protected]: — -r
COIMCILP0M MUSEUM AN3WWK&0GY ^
Museums and Material Culture atthe 1994 Annual Meeting
At the recent annual meeting, both asteady increase in the number of panelsfocusing on museums and material cul-ture (5 in 1994 as opposed to 2 in 1983)and a concomitant increase in panelattendance (at the 1994 meeting, forexample, "Indigenous Curation" playedto a packed house) suggest a renewedappreciation among anthropologists ofthe key role museums and objects playin interpreting past and present cultures.A summary of events of interest toCMA members at the 1994 meetinggives an indication this burgeoningawareness:
,Wine and'Cheese'KpundtablesAt 6 tables, "Reexamining Museum
Studies" (Julie Broyles, organizer)stimulated lively conversationi Some 30participants engaged in discussions thatranged in animation (and decibels) frompolite formality to spirited debate. Theyspanned topics as diverse as buildingmuseum studies programs, the merits ofacademic (versus on-the-job) trainingfor museum professionals, collaborationbetween academic institutions andmuseums, NEH funding considerationsfor university anthropology museumsand the value of utilizing small museumcollections for exhibitions and research.
Invited SessionResponse to "Indigenous Curation;
Alternative Perspectives on Preserva-tion, Collecting and Presentation"(Christina Kreps and Phillip EMinthorn, organizers; Margaret AnnHardin, discussant) was gratifying. Inaddition to Kreps and Minthorn, 7 pan-elists spoke to an overflow crowd aboutthe role of indigenous peoples in inter-preting their own material cultures. Par-ticipants took various approaches to thisescalating trend; their research wasundertaken in Africa and Oceania aswell as North America (regrettably, noindigenous peoples of South Americawere represented). Speakers focused on3 broad themes: the museum in indige-nous homelands (Homer, Kreps, Lee,Miller), indigenous people as curators(Graburn) and the participation ofindigenous curators in mainstreamanthropology museums (McHale, Skellyand Tafoya; Mibach; Minthorn; Rosoff).
Other panels of interest"Digging Museums: Museum Col-
lections as Sources for Interpreting andReinterpreting the Past" (Barbara Millsand Laurie Webster, organizers; Cather-ine and Don Fowler, Clara Sue Kidwell,discussants) considered trie value of
existing museum collections in enrich-ing the analysis of newly excavated ornewly discovered materials. The paperspresented a set of case studies in whichmaterials from localities such as Iranand the American Southwest were com-pared with documented collections inuniversity anthropology museums. Insome cases the'comparison allowedresearchers to identify the media andcontexts of their assemblages that mightotherwise have remained unknown.Among the examples were iron materi-als from Iran, basketry from NativeCalifornia and pottery and lithic arti-facts from the American Southwest.
"Museums .and Cross-Cultural Edu-cation" (Diana Baird N'diaye, MariettaSaravia-Shore, organizers; LindaLevine discussant) considered museumstrategies in exhibitions and related pro-grams for fostering the general public'sawareness and understanding of culturaldiversity in America at the torn of the21st century. Papers considered projectssuch as the controversial exhibition"Bridges and Boundaries: AfricanAmericans''-and American Jews" and itsresonance in the ethnically mixed com-munity of Crown Heights (New York).
"Culture at Large: Aesthetics andAnti-aesthetics" (Debbora Battaglia andFred Myers, organizers; Tricia Roseand Fred Myers, discussants). Arguablythe most intellectually stimulating ofthe panels about museums and objects"Culture at Large," though dampenedby some no-shows, largely fulfilled itspromise. The intent of the organizerswas to question the utility of the catego-ry of aesthetics in cross-cultural com-parisons given the hegemony implicit insuch value-laden, Western-based con-cepts. Papers drew on various aestheticsystems including music and drama aswell as the visual arts. Of particularinterest to CMA members were thoseby Ruth Phillips and Nicholas Thomas.Phillips contrasted the tensions broughtabout by the conflicting meanings ofIroijuois False Face masks to their mak-ers, for whom their sacredness requiresconcealment, on one hand, and to theirWestern patrons, for whom their valueas commodities is increased by publicdisplay, on the other. Thomas's papercontrasted the meaning of a basic ele-ment of Maori design to the Maoripainters who invented it and a success-ful White Australian artist who hasappropriated it and considered the ethi-cal dilemmas posed by the question ofthe design's ownership.
To request copies of the papers writedirectly to the authors. For full names,affiliations and addresses consult the93rd Annual Meeting Abstracts and the1994-95 AAA Guide.
I want to thank Gretchen ChesleyLang for agreeing to joint ContributingEditor responsibilities during myresearch leave to Cameroon from Jan-uary to August 1995. Please send yourcolumn contributions" directly to" her."
Gretchen Chesley Lang, Box 8254,University Station, Grand Forks, ND58202; 701/777-4618; [email protected]. Gretchen*s poster ses-sion in Atlanta was a visual treat, withstriking photographs "fromhrerTecent
