The Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) is inviting SVA members to consider applying to the program, which focuses on ethnographic objects in museums. According to SIMA director Candace Greene, “We would love to see more applications from students trained in visual anthropology. It would be exciting to see how methods developed for the analysis of film or photographs could be extended to the study of three-dimensional objects. Interested students who have questions about the program or aren’t sure just how to develop an object-based proposal should get in touch with me at sima@si.edu. I’d be glad to talk.”

The Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) is accepting applications for the summer 2012 program until March 1. SIMA is an intensive four-week training program that teaches graduate students in anthropology and related disciplines how to use museum collections in research, incorporating Smithsonian collections as an integral part of their training. It is based at the Smithsonian Department of Anthropology and includes both classroom training and guided work on individual collection-based research projects. Support from the Cultural Anthropology Program at NSF covers full tuition and living expenses for 12 students each summer. Full information, including application instructions, eligibility, and program dates, is available at: http://anthropology.si.edu/summerinstitute.

If you would like a print copy of the attached poster image to display in your department, please send a mailing address to sima@si.edu and we will be glad to send one.

We encourage those who are attending the AAA annual meeting in Montreal to check out the sessions, roundtables, workshops, films, exhibitions, and meetings that are sponsored by SVA.

There’s a lot to be discussed, debated, and discovered about visual anthropology and visual research, and hopefully these sessions and events during the AAA meeting will provide opportunities for us to share thoughts and consider new perspectives.

All SVA sponsored, and invited, panels are listed here.

Everyone, and anyone, interested in visual anthropology and the SVA is welcome to attend our Business Meeting on Friday, November 18 at 1215, which will be immediately followed by a roundtable discussion on visual ethics.

We are also running two workshops on photography and fieldwork, which you can read about and register for here.

Finally, we have put together a general guide to SVA events during the AAA meeting, which can be picked up during the week at the convention center.

SIMA: Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology

Supported by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation

June 27 - July 22, 2011

Application deadline: MARCH 1 2011

SIMA is a graduate student training program in museum research methods offered through the Dept. of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.  Students participate in seminars and hands-on workshops at the museum and at an off-site collections facility, learning to navigate museum systems and select methods for examination and analysis of museum specimens while collecting data for a project of their choice.

WHO: Graduate students interested in using museum collections as data

DATES: Applications are due MARCH 1, 2011; SIMA 2011 dates are June 27 - July 22, 2011

COST : The program covers tuition and housing (provided at a local university). A small stipend will be provided to assist with the cost of food and other local expenses. Participants are individually responsible for the cost of travel.

For more information and to apply, please visit: http://anthropology.si.edu/summerinstitute/

A major grant from the National Science Foundation  is funding the creation of the Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Chico.  Researchers in the new facility will use Red Digital Still Motion Picture Cameras to create documentaries spanning the breadth of the discipline of anthropology.  This technology is in use in major Hollywood productions, but so far has not been adopted by anthropologists. 

We are seeking graduate students to form the first cohort to use this revolutionary new equipment.  Students will receive a four-fields MA in Anthropology, but will make a film in lieu of a thesis.  Please visit the Department of Anthropology website at http://www.csuchico.edu/anth/programs/index.shtml for more information and to apply.  For further inquiries please contact Professor Brian Brazeal at bcbrazeal@csuchico.edu or 530-898-6192.

The purpose of the Rachel Tanur Memorial Prize for Visual Sociology is to encourage students to incorporate visual analysis in their study and understanding of social phenomena. The contest is open to undergraduate and graduate students (majoring in any social science). Students must be currently enrolled or have received their degrees no earlier than the end of the term finishing just before the meeting of the International Sociological Association (ISA) at which the prize is to be awarded. Entries for the second round of the contest (prizes to be awarded at the World Congress of Sociology, July 2010) must be received by May 1, 2010. Up to three cash prizes will be awarded, with the winners being chosen by May 15, 2010. The first prize will be $2500 (USD), the second $1500, and the third $500. It is anticipated that the prize will be awarded biennially.

Entries consist of: 1) a social science commentary (up to one page in length, in English) on one of the photos by Rachel Tanur displayed at http://racheltanurmemorialprize.com to be posted on the website; 2) an original photo taken by the entrant and an accompanying social science commentary (up to one page in length, in English), both to be posted at http://racheltanurmemorialprize.com; and 3) a letter (which can be sent via a contact form on the website) from the student’s advisor or other official from the contestant’s department attesting to his/her student status.

For full information and to submit material for the contest, please go to http://racheltanurmemorialprize.com.

The Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia invites applications for up to 15 Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows, to begin 1 July 2010. These positions enable innovative and collaborative teaching between Fellows and outstanding UBC professors.  The program will help to launch the careers of new scholars showing early promise as excellent university teachers and researchers. Each Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow will have opportunities to interact with UBC colleagues on teaching and research, as well as to be part of a cohort of early-career scholars sharing methods and exchanging ideas for excellent teaching.

One of the new Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow positions has been allocated to the UBC Department of Anthropology, which has strengths in a broad range of areas in anthropological archaeology; sociocultural anthropology (including medical and linguistic anthropology); and museum and visual anthropology (see http://www.anth.ubc.ca ). We invite applications from outstanding candidates in the areas of museum and/or visual anthropology. Depending on their area of specialization, the successful candidate will have access to the collections and research facilities of the new Centre for Cultural Research at the Museum of Anthropology (http://www.moa.ubc.ca ) and/or the Ethnographic Film Unit within the Department of Anthropology ( http://anthfilm.anth.ubc.ca/ ). (more…)

The AAA is seeking volunteers to record sessions at the upcoming annual meeting in Philadelphia.  The AAA was originally hoping to videotape all of the presidential/executive sessions, but was unable to procure the necessary funds to do so.  Instead, we are recruiting volunteers with access to A/V equipment.  All recordings will be posted to the AAA blog (http://aaanet.wordpress.com/), provided written consent is given by panelists. The AAA can offer volunteers a one-year student membership as compensation for their time. Interested persons should contact:

Brian Estes
Public Policy Associate
American Anthropological Association
2200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22201-3357
Phone:  (703) 528-1902, Ext. 1165
Fax:  (703) 528-3546
Email: bestes@aaanet.org

Visit the new AAA blog: http://blog.aaanet.org

Application Deadline: 15 Dec. 2009

The Bard Graduate Center and the American Museum of Natural History
announce a Research Fellowship in Museum Anthropology. The fellowship provides
support to a postdoctoral investigator to carry out a specific project over
a two-year period. The program is designed to advance the training of the
participant by having her/him pursue a project in association with a curator
in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History
(AMNH). The Fellow will also be expected to teach one graduate-level course
per year at the Bard Graduate Center (BGC). The Fellow will thus be in joint
residence at BGC and AMNH, beginning in September 2010 and continuing
through June 2012. The fellowship includes free housing.

A major purpose of the BGC-AMNH Research Fellowship in Museum Anthropology
is to promote mutual scholarly interest and interaction among fellows, BGC
faculty and students, and AMNH staff members. Candidates for Research Fellow
are judged primarily on their research abilities and experience, and on the
merits and scope of the proposed research.
(more…)

Full details can be found online at http://www.usc.edu/dept/elab/anth/mav.html

The Center for Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles is happy to announce a new one-year MA in Visual Anthropology. Continuing the tradition of ethnographic documentary production that the Center has had for 25 years (with over 60 documentaries produced by students, and over 20 by faculty), this new program updates its format by moving into the digital age.

The new Masters Program is open to USC undergraduates majoring in Visual Anthropology and to students coming from any other institution who have a background in Visual Anthropology, ethnographic documentary production or cross-cultural visual studies.  (more…)