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Anthropologists and the Human Terrain System

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Joslyn O.

In March, the C4ISR Journal, a publication of Defense News, ran the cover story U.S. Army’s Human Terrain Experts May Help Defuse Future Conflicts. In the piece, journalist Jim Hodges wrote:

The HTS (Human Terrain System) also ran afoul of anthropological organizations that believed their scholars were becoming spies and that their work was being used to undermine the population rather than help it. The anthropologists also said their first ethic — “do no harm” — was being violated by the work of the HTS teams.

The American Anthropological Association condemned the program in 2007, and in a letter to Congress in 2010 the Network of Concerned Anthropologists questioned HTS’s effectiveness and called it “dangerous and reckless” and a “waste of taxpayers’ money.”

And went on to say:

The controversy has cooled. The HTS will have a recruiter at the American Anthropological Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco in November.

This misinformation was not taken lightly here at AAA. In working with C4ISR’s editor, we were able to run a two page commentary on sharing the anthropological side of the story. Thanks to members, Hugh Gusterson and Rob Albro, C4ISR readers not only understand that HTS recruiters will not be at AAA’s Annual Meeting this November, but also how HTS contravenes anthropological ethics:

The controversy has died down only insofar as the American Anthropological Association has completed a detailed investigation of HTS, with particular attention to the Human Terrain Teams deployed both in Iraq and Afghanistan to collect socio-cultural information for commanders to aid their decision making.

We want to reinforce that the American Anthropological Association stands by its 2009 conclusion that the U.S. Army-led Human Terrain System contravenes anthropological ethics and incites superficial “windshield ethnography” that falls short of professional standards. That conclusion is detailed in the association’s “Final Report on The Army’s Human Terrain System Proof of Concept Program.”

Sending social scientists to study local populations in the company of armed troops amid active hostilities will not produce scientifically reliable information. Just as important are the long-term consequences of this approach. Embedding anthropologists with combat brigades undermines their independence and duty not to harm populations — requirements that are the linchpins of anthropological ethics. Calling embedded anthropologists “social scientists” does not solve the problem.

Read the entire article and leave your comments on the issue.

Filed under: Anthro in the Media, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Archaeologists Rise Up Against “Heavy Metal”

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Joslyn O.

 Our contenders in the ring of Diggergate’12 are…

Susan Gillespie, an American academic anthropologist and archaeologist, noted for her contributions to archaeological and ethnohistorical research on pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, in particular the Aztec, Maya and Olmec.  This champion holds many titles: Associate Professor at the University of Florida, AAA Executive Board Member, 1990 Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Prize from the American Society for Ethnohistory and the 2002 Gordon R. Willey Prize.

Ric Savage, retired professional wrestler and history hobbyist, noted for his contributions in the independent wrestling circuits under the ring name “Heavy Metal”. Savage also hold titles: GAWF Southern Heavyweight Championship, two-time NCW World Tag Team Championship and two-time SWA World Heavyweight Champ.

The Play:
Savage’s new reality TV show, American Diggers, travels across the country digging up American treasure. In classic Heavy Metal fashion, Savage attempts to spike piledriver our nation’s history.

Bill Carter, journalist for The New York Times, interviews Gillespie as she speaks on behalf of her fellow members at AAA:

Our main issue is that these shows promote the destruction and selling of artifacts which are part of our cultural heritage and patrimony.

Savage’s Vice President for Development at Spike TV, Sharon Levy, replies with:

He has a right as an American citizen to do this…He’s not going anywhere he shouldn’t be. He’s not digging up the pyramids.

While Savage’s sunset flip might be one of his signature moves in wrestling, his unethical profiteering practices are not one for the books.

Read Carter’s article: TV Digs Will Harm Patrimony, Scholars Say

Special Note: *The great phrase DiggerGate’12 was started by our friends at The Wenner-Gren Foundation. Thanks!

Filed under: Anthro in the Media, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Last Call for Comment on AAA’s Posted Draft Code of Ethics

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Joslyn O.

Today is the last day to review the posted Code of Ethics and submit your comments to the subcommittee charged to review the draft code. E-mail ethicsfeedback@aaanet.org to share your comments.

Filed under: Association Business, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off

Please Review the Proposed Code of Ethics

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Joslyn O.

Just a reminder – you, the membership at large, are invited to review the posted draft Code of Ethics, and submit your comments by January 30, 2012 to ethicsfeedback@aaanet.org for the subcommittee to consider.  Your input is crucial to this process, and we thank you for your dedication to our association.

In the event you missed it, here’s the background of this revision process:

At the 2011 AAA Annual Meeting recently held in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, the AAA Executive Board (EB) voted to receive a draft revision of the AAA’s Code of Ethics as revised by the Task Force for Comprehensive Ethics Review. The EB also passed a resolution thanking the task force and its chair, Dena Plemmons, for all of their hard work. Beginning in early 2009, the Task Force was commissioned to review the Code of Ethics and consult extensively with relevant AAA committees and commissions, the Section Assembly, the membership at large and other interested parties. The Task Force finished its review in October 2011.

After receiving the draft, the EB appointed a subcommittee to review the draft code which is currently available for review on the AAA website. The subcommittee is chaired by Vice President and President-Elect Monica Heller, and members include Hugh Gusterson, Jean Schensul, Ida Susser, Vilma Santiago, Deb Martin, Sandra Lopez Varela and AAA President Leith Mullings (ex-officio). The subcommittee will present its recommendation to the Executive Board at its May meeting.

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Review of the Proposed Code of Ethics – Deadline Approaching

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Joslyn O.

The January 30th deadline to review the posted draft code of ethics and submit your comments is quickly approaching.

At the 2011 AAA Annual Meeting recently held in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, the AAA Executive Board (EB) voted to receive a draft revision of the AAA’s Code of Ethics as revised by the Task Force for Comprehensive Ethics Review. The EB also passed a resolution thanking the task force and its chair, Dena Plemmons, for all of their hard work. Beginning in early 2009, the Task Force was commissioned to review the Code of Ethics and consult extensively with relevant AAA committees and commissions, the Section Assembly, the membership at large and other interested parties. The Task Force finished its review in October 2011.

After receiving the draft, the EB appointed a subcommittee to review the draft code which is currently available for review on the AAA website. The subcommittee is chaired by Vice President and President-Elect Monica Heller, and members include Hugh Gusterson, Jean Schensul, Ida Susser, Vilma Santiago, Deb Martin, Sandra Lopez Varela and AAA President Leith Mullings (ex-officio). The subcommittee will present its recommendation to the Executive Board at its May meeting.

We invite you, the membership at large to review the posted code, and submit your comments by January 30, 2012 to ethicsfeedback@aaanet.org for the subcommittee to consider.  Your input is crucial to this process, and we thank you for your dedication to our association.

Filed under: Association Business, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off

Ethics Committee Announces Winners of Inaugural Small Grants Program

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Joslyn O.

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) Committee on Ethics recently presented cash awards to two separate teams of anthropologists who offered proposals centered on encouraging awareness of and innovation in ethics curricular materials used in introductory, undergraduate, and graduate classes.

The goal of the AAA Small Grants Program is to foster the development and use of curricular materials for the teaching and communication of ethics and ethical practice across the discipline of anthropology. Award applicants exhibited the ability to develop curricular materials in a variety of different ways, including texts, films, blogs, websites, exhibits, and other innovative media forms.

Samuel Gerald Collins and Matthew Slover Durington of Towson University were awarded $350 for their proposal “Multimedia Ethics for a Networked Anthropology,” which seeks to formulate and freely disseminate ethical guidelines for a public anthropology premised on the production and dissemination of multimedia. These would be used for an ethical component in the methodological classes they teach, in training seminars for anthropologists and other multimedia researchers, and would contribute to a general debate on how anthropology might enjoin a public sphere characterized more and more by shared, social media.

Lakshmi Fjord and Devva Kasnitz of AAA’s Society for Medical Anthropology, Disability Research Special Interest Group were awarded $650 for their proposal, “Disability and Bioethical Curriculum: Please Mind the Gaps.” Their project is designed to address the absence of the disability experience, expertise, and theory in anthropology and bioethics curricula. The primary product will be a 3-hour (one week) class module that contains clear learning objectives addressed in multimedia and cross-learning styles and includes new PowerPoints,  lectures, and discussion notes for instructors’ use, suggested assigned and supplementary readings, suggested short assignments and suggested use of existing documentary or film clip resources.

“The Committee on Ethics is please to make these awards to two teams of scholars who are dedicated to teaching ethics in new, innovative ways,” AAA Committee on Ethics Chair Roberto Gonzalez said in a statement issued today. “I look forward to the final results of both of these projects, and am optimistic that they will provide helpful to our students, our members and our discipline.”

Filed under: Association Business, Career/Funding/Awards, Ethics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Review of the Proposed Code of Ethics

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Joslyn O.

At the 2011 AAA Annual Meeting recently held in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, the AAA Executive Board (EB) voted to receive a draft revision of the AAA’s Code of Ethics as revised by the Task Force for Comprehensive Ethics Review. The EB also passed a resolution thanking the task force and its chair, Dena Plemmons, for all of their hard work. Beginning in early 2009, the Task Force was commissioned to review the Code of Ethics and consult extensively with relevant AAA committees and commissions, the Section Assembly, the membership at large and other interested parties. The Task Force finished its review in October 2011.

After receiving the draft, the EB appointed a subcommittee to review the draft code which is currently available for review on the AAA website. The subcommittee is chaired by Vice President and President-Elect Monica Heller, and members include Hugh Gusterson, Jean Schensul, Ida Susser, Vilma Santiago, Deb Martin, Sandra Lopez Varela and AAA President Leith Mullings (ex-officio). The subcommittee will present its recommendation to the Executive Board at its May meeting.

We invite you, the membership at large to review the posted code, and submit your comments by January 30, 2012 to ethicsfeedback@aaanet.org for the subcommittee to consider.  Your input is crucial to this process, and we thank you for your dedication to our association.

Filed under: Association Business, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

The Proposed Code of Ethics – Please Review

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Joslyn O.

At the 2011 AAA Annual Meeting recently held in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, the AAA Executive Board (EB) voted to receive a draft revision of the AAA’s Code of Ethics as revised by the Task Force for Comprehensive Ethics Review. The EB also passed a resolution thanking the task force and its chair, Dena Plemmons, for all of their hard work. Beginning in early 2009, the Task Force was commissioned to review the Code of Ethics and consult extensively with relevant AAA committees and commissions, the Section Assembly, the membership at large and other interested parties. The Task Force finished its review in October 2011.

After receiving the draft, the EB appointed a subcommittee to review the draft code which is currently available for review on the AAA website. The subcommittee is chaired by Vice President and President-Elect Monica Heller, and members include Hugh Gusterson, Jean Schensul, Ida Susser, Vilma Santiago, Deb Martin, Sandra Lopez Varela and AAA President Leith Mullings (ex-officio). The subcommittee will present its recommendation to the Executive Board at its May meeting.

We invite you, the membership at large to review the posted code, and submit your comments by January 30, 2012 to ethicsfeedback@aaanet.org for the subcommittee to consider.  Your input is crucial to this process, and we thank you for your dedication to our association.

Filed under: Association Business, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off

Ethically Impossible: STD Research in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Joslyn O.

Report released by the US Bioethics Committee on the Public Health Service’s supported research on STDs in Guatemala in the 1940′s -

Following the revelation last fall that the PHS supported research on sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948, President Obama asked the Bioethics Commission to oversee a thorough fact-finding investigation into the studies. Commission staff carefully reviewed more than 125,000 original pages of documents and approximately 550 secondary sources collected from public and private archives around the country. Commission staff also completed a fact finding trip to Guatemala and met with Guatemala’s own internal investigation committee.

The PHS research involved intentionally exposing and infecting vulnerable populations to sexually transmitted diseases without the subjects’ consent. “In the Commission’s view, the Guatemala experiments involved unconscionable basic violations of ethics, even as judged against the researchers’ own recognition of the requirements of the medical ethics of the day,” Commission Chair Amy Gutmann, Ph.D., said. “The individuals who approved, conducted, facilitated and funded these experiments are morally culpable to various degrees for these wrongs.”

The full report, Ethically Impossible: STD Research in Guatemala from 1946-1953, also includes the Commission’s ethical analysis of the case.

Read the entire press release here. How do you think this will impact future research on human subjects? Drop your comment below.

Filed under: Advocacy, Anthro in the Media, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

ANPRM – Human Subjects Research

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Joslyn O.

On Tuesday, July 26, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) for “Human Subjects Research: Enhancing Protections for Research Subjects and Reducing Burden, Delay and Ambiguity for Investigators.” The notice was published in the Federal Register (76 FR 44512).

The Chronicle reported this week that there would be a one month extension for universities to submit their pleas…

Universities knew they faced a complicated and far-reaching challenge when the federal government announced last month that it planned the first overhaul in three decades of regulations governing research on humans.

That realization was confirmed Wednesday with an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that it would accept university pleas for a one-month extension of the period for comments on the plan.

Read the entire article here: http://chronicle.com/article/Complexity-Slows-Drive-to/128852/

Want to know more about Protecting Human Subjects? Visit the AAA website: http://www.aaanet.org/issues/policy-advocacy/Protecting-Human-Subjects.cfm

Filed under: Advocacy, Anthro in the Media, Association Business, Commentary, Ethics | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off

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