2010 Annual Meeting
The Southern Anthropological Society held its 45th annual meeting in beautiful Savannah, Georgia, at the Savannah Hilton DeSoto Hotel, February 18-21. The theme of the meeting was “Ports, Hubs and Bridges: Key Links in Anthropological Theory and Practice.”
Megaport projects, Internet hubs, misplaced bridges today there are many new and interesting uses of words relating to connections and connectors. As we meet in the historic port city of Savannah, the theme of this year’s meeting asks us to step back and consider our anthropological bridges and connections, be they links to people, places, ideas, narratives, or events.
Who are the key figures in anthropological theory and method who continue to serve as hubs connecting the past and the present generations? What, if any, are the key ideas and practices that link the subdisciplines? What are the sturdiest bridges between researcher and research subject? Finally, we might also take the opportunity to consider where our bridges and foundations seem most vulnerable. Might it not be that anthropology also has its own “bridges to nowhere?”
The keynote speaker for the conference was Dr Barbara J. King, of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Dr. King is a biological anthropologist with a research specialization in primatology. She spoke on “Anthropology and Apes: Can Apes Really Tell Us Anything (that Matters) about Humans?”
The Program Chair for the 2010 meeting was Robert Shanafelt; the Local Arrangements Chair was Heidi Altman; both of Georgia Southern University.