In this episode of the AAA Annual Meeting podcast, Matt Artz talks with the Executive Programming Committee (EPC) co-chairs about the 2024 conference theme “Praxis: The Application/s of Anthropology in the Present and the Future.” The guests discuss how this theme reflects current challenges and opportunities in anthropology, particularly in light of the conference location in Tampa, Florida.

About Kamela Heyward-Rotimi

Kamela Heyward-Rotimi is the Executive Director of the Knowledge Exchange Research Group (KERG) and is affiliated with Duke University. A practicing anthropologist committed to actualizing ‘theory into practice,’ she consults with international NGOs and serves on local and national boards. She is the founder of KERG, an international research group that explores solutions to the growing crisis of inequitable access to information and knowledge production experienced by African-descended communities. One of the KERG projects, the West African Elibrary Collaborative (WAELC), researches infrastructural disparities that prevent the equitable exchange of African scholarship within the global scholarly community. Her scholarship addresses the intersection of race, science, and digital media/technology and examines racialized communities’ use of digitized communication mediums to negotiate transnational social, economic, and political injustice. A culture and policy strategist, her policy work and engaged research address, but are not limited to, equitable digital access, Black digitality, higher education, environmental injustice, and advocacy for LGBTQIA2+ rights.

About David Simmons

David Simmons is an associate professor of Anthropology and Health Promotion, Education and Behavior at the University of South Carolina. A cultural and medical anthropologist, his scholarship and practice focus on health disparities and epistemic and structural violence in international contexts. He works regularly with local populations in the Dominican Republic to identify and develop solutions to local health problems using a community-based participatory research approach.

About Rachel Watkins

Rachel Watkins’ work focuses on African American biohistory and social history, including: 1) skeletal biology; 2) Black feminist critiques of science; 3) the ethical treatment of human remains; and 4) descendant community engagement. She began her training in these areas at Howard University, studying the remains of people in the W. Montague Cobb anatomical collection, and ancestral remains unearthed from the New York African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. Beyond research and teaching, she consults with organizations and groups to support historic preservation and interpretation guided by descendant communities. This includes developing and implementing ethical practices for repatriation, reburial and protecting cemeteries and other heritage sites.

About the 2024 AAA Annual Meeting

The 2024 AAA Annual Meeting is being held November 20-23 in Tampa, Florida. The theme for this year is “Praxis: The Application/s of Anthropology in the Present and the Future.” This theme serves as an organizing principle for contemplating applications of anthropology, responding to systemic injustice, and reimagining the discipline now and in the future. For more information, visit annualmeeting.americananthro.org.

About the AAA

Founded in 1902, the American Anthropological Association is the world’s largest scholarly and professional organization of anthropologists. The Association is dedicated to advancing human understanding and applying this understanding to the world’s most pressing problems.

It publishes a portfolio of 22 journals, offer career planning and professional development services, support college and university departments, award numerous prizes and fellowships, sponsor a paid summer internship program, and stage research conferences in the Fall and Spring each year.

About Matt Artz

Matt Artz is an anthropologist, designer, and technologist specializing in AI product development. He is the founder of Azimuth Labs, host of the Anthropology in Business and Anthro to UX podcasts, and co-editor of EmTech Anthropology and the forthcoming Anthropology and AI. His work has been featured on TED, UNESCO, South by Southwest, and Apple’s Planet of the Apps.