Updates from WAPA

Bill Roberts
2023 Praxis Award Chair
 

Washington, D.C. has long held a special position in the history of U.S. American anthropology.  The national capital and its environs in Maryland and northern Virginia suburbs host what may be the densest concentration of professional anthropologists working in the country today.  Anthropologists have established niches at local colleges and universities, and with federal, state or even local government agencies, as well as for-profit or non-profit organizations working at regional, national or multinational scales.  Since 1976, when the late Conrad Reining (Catholic University) and several graduate students founded the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists (WAPA), it has become an exemplar among Local Practitioner Organizations (LPOs), that anthropologists have founded across the country over the past 40 plus years.  A challenge all voluntary organizations face over time is identifying committed and energetic leaders whose shared vision sustains the organization’s relevancy for its membership.

During the recent pandemic WAPA president Suzanne Heurtin-Roberts and program chair Martha Hare worked with other Board members and established regular meetings online that featured anthropologists working on a wide range of issues or projects (check out WAPA’s website for recordings that date to May 2020).  One benefit of the online format was that it enabled anthropologists anywhere in the country to register and attend substantive monthly programs between October – May for the past three years.  However, the pandemic disrupted all enjoyment of the usual face-to-face get togethers many WAPistAs loved, e.g., the annual picnic, happy hours, or salons.  And while people are getting out and meeting in larger numbers again, it’s likely the online format for monthly meetings will continue next year, so check it out and be sure to tell your students about WAPA.

Suzanne and Martha have been excellent leaders at WAPA and played important roles in keeping the organization together over these critical pandemic years, and will continue to provide support for their successors.  Stepping into the role of WAPA president is anthropologist Mark Edberg (George Washington U) who was the SfAA program chair for the 2021 annual meeting in Norfolk, VA.  Anthropologist Cortney Hughes-Rinker (George Mason University) is taking the lead with WAPA’s program committee.   I expect WAPA will be very visible at next year’s annual meeting in Santa Fe, so look for more news about the organization’s role in the next newsletter.