AABA hosts a monthly webinar series to bring out community together in a time of social-distancing. On this web page, you'll find a list of our past scientifically-oriented webinars. We also hosted three professional development webinars addressing how the covid-19 pandemic affects our professional lives.
For future webinars, please visit our main webinar page!
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The field of biological anthropology encompasses a range of fascinating but often socially contested concepts and issues such as human origins and evolution, genetics, race and racism, sex, gender and sexuality, and other dimensions of human difference. Some elements of the discipline, including common practices of fieldwork and local collaboration (or lack thereof), continue to reinforce harmful patterns of behavior grounded in colonialism, racism, and Eurocentrism. The US and the world at large face a social climate of growing polarization and distrust of science and scientists, and (in some cases) active political censorship and sanction. Given these challenges, how can biological anthropologists engage with their students and diverse communities about the work of our discipline in ways that are inclusive, equitable, just, and impactful?
This webinar will highlight examples of impactful education and public engagement activities by AABA members as well as voices from beyond our discipline. The session will include an open discussion as well as a breakout session for attendees to share and learn with other members. We will also invite attendees to share resources and reflections on a shared “Miro” board. This webinar is co-organized with the AABA Education Committee.
Date/time: January 30, 2024, 1:00 pm EST
Webinar panelists:
Post-webinar resources:
Resources on community-centered research
Article on teaching undergraduate biology to undermine racial essentialism (Guevara et al., 2023)
Teaching resources related to the article linked above
The AABA Task Force for Ethical Study of Human Remains is focused on developing a roadmap for determining what constitutes ethical study and disposition of human remains and biological samples with consent when research is warranted. This roadmap is to be based on the desires and attitudes of descendant communities and feedback from members of the AABA. The Task Force will also release a white paper with an overview of survey results from a survey focusing on how members of the AABA work with human remains. Survey data were collected in March during our conference. The white paper will be made available in advance of the webinar.
The webinar will expand on results from the survey. In addition, members of the Task Force will be available for dialog, questions, and discussion. The webinar will provide opportunities to discuss next steps and activities for future project phases. We encourage AABA members to respond to the ideas, perspectives, and insights presented during the webinar.
Task Force Co-Chairs: Drs. Fatimah Jackson (Howard University), Ben Auerbach (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Additional Panelists:
What can genetic ancestry tell us about our ancestors and disease risk? How might it influence the ways people identify themselves and communities? What are the promises and pitfalls of commercializing genetic ancestry technologies? This month, the American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) is partnering with the American Association of Anthropological Genetics (AAAG) to bring a panel of three experts working in industry and academia who will discuss the broader implications of genetic ancestry for researchers, society, individual health, and identity. Join us to discuss this fascinating topic and examine the meaning and nuances of the concept of genetic ancestry.
Organizer: C. Eduardo Guerra Amorim (California State University Northridge)
Panelists:
Co-Sponsored by AABA and AAAG
Supplemental information: Please view this work by Graham Coop, which covers the webinar topics and includes some additional details.
Does the academic career path seem like a mystery? An unsolvable puzzle? Maybe you could use some insider insight as to how to make it all work? AABA has the webinar series for you: #Hackademics
Building off of the series recently published in the American Journal of Human Biology by our sister organization the Human Biology Association, we bring you a series of discussions by those same authors. For details about these four conversations, be sure to check out the #Hackademics webpage.
View the video of this webinar on AABA's YouTube channel.
Join in for updates and a Q&A on the plans for the 2022 annual meeting scheduled for March 2022.
2021 Dialogues in Decoloniz(s)ation Series
This webinar series explores two questions:
What does decolonization entail?
What strategies might be employed to achieve a decolonized biological anthropology?
Our goal is to provide a space where participants can explore the impact that colonial practices have had on biological anthropology, including on our curricula, our practices, and our narratives. To facilitate grounding general topics (e.g. decolonizing curricula, fieldwork, authorship) within regional issues and concerns (e.g. decolonizing African palaeosciences), and with an eye towards incorporating diverse views and perspectives, these webinars will feature experts from around the world actively engaging in these issues in their home countries.
Co-sponsored by AABA COD-International and COD-TASK
Co-organizers: Dr. Lauren Schroeder and Dr. Rebecca Rogers Ackermann
Moderators:
Dr. Sheela Athreya, Texas A&M University-Qatar
Dr. Martin Porr, The University of Western Australia
Watch the video of this webinar on AABA's YouTube channel.
Description: Join us for a demo of the virtual platform AABA will be using for our annual conference scheduled for April 7-28, 2021. See all the cool features, get a sense of how the events will work, and learn how to upload your presentation. You can also learn more about the meeting on our 90th annual conference webpage.
Panelists:
Watch the video of this webinar on AABA's YouTube channel.
Description: This panel discussion explored Black scholars' experiences in biological anthropology as part of the #BlackinBioAnth week (February 1-7, 2021) created and organized by Black in BioAnthropology (BiBA). This live event was co-hosted by the AABA.
Panelists:
Watch the video of this webinar on AABA's YouTube channel.
Description: This keynote address by primatologist and conservation biologist Dr. Stephanie Poindexter (University of Buffalo) was part of the #BlackinBioAnth week (February 1-7, 2021) created and organized by Black in BioAnthropology (BiBA). This live event was co-hosted by the AABA.
Watch the video of this webinar on AABA's YouTube channel.
Many thanks to our sponsor for this webinar, The Royal Society. Follow them on twitter @theroyalsociety
Description: Over the last decade, computational genomics has brought a whirlwind of new insights to human evolution. We have so far witnessed a rapid emergence of genomics data and quantitative methods. This month, AABA brings you a panel of four experts to talk about their fascinating research in human demographic history, with a particular focus on the start-of-the-art analytical methods used in anthropological genomics nowadays, including their assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses.
Panelists:
Watch the video of this webinar on AABA's YouTube channel.
Panelists:
Co-sponsored by The Australasian Society for Human Biology (ASHB) www.australasianhumanbiology.com
Watch the video of the community discussion on AABA's YouTube channel.
Panelists:
Watch the video of the human diseases panel on AABA's YouTube channel.
Panelists:
Questions, comments, or webinar ideas? Please email AABA Vice President Leslea Hlusko.
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