The High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology Journal

I’m writing to share the latest issue of The Applied Anthropologist, the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology’s peer-reviewed journal. Our latest issue focuses on the theme of “Resistance and Response”, and features a number of timely articles that I believe might be of interest to you. 

The journal is available for free on our website: https://hpsfaa.wildapricot.org/TAA-2020-2

Some highlights from this issue:

“De-pioneering Higher Education and Land Acknowledgements” addresses the growing trend of land acknowledgements within institutions of higher education. This piece explores how acknowledgements can fit into extant institutional rhetoric of settler aggression, and offers a way forward: de-privileging the institution in collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, centered around Eve Tuck’s call to shift from harm-based theories of change to desire-based research methodologies.

“Native CDFIs and Continued Resilience: Short-Term Responses With Long-Term Impacts In Pandemic Times” calls attention to Indigenous responses to the economic challenges set in motion by the pandemic, through several case study examples of Native CDFIs at the forefront of the economic response to COVID-19. This article explores how these institutions utilize cultural values to do more than transactional lending.

“In the Wake of Two Storms: An Impact Assessment of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on the St. Croix and St. Thomas Fisheries, USVI” explores themes of “resiliency, struggle, and a love for the sea and family.” This article shares firsthand accounts from residents and fishermen, describing how they rebuilt and started anew following the immense destruction wrought by the hurricanes. 

“Reimagining Sanctuary as Spaces of Resistance” explores the U.S. Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s and the current New Sanctuary Movement. The authors demonstrate how the concept of “sanctuary” can create a foundation for cross-movement coalition building, in solidarity with undocumented people.

This journal issue also includes a poem, and two commentaries exploring extremely timely issues— one digging into the public health responses to measles outbreaks in a New York City Hassidic Jewish Community in 2019, and the other engaging confederate statues and monuments in the context of continued social pressure to disrupt the systemic racism and violence that they represent, as this issue has emerged into the mainstream consciousness.   

We hope that you’ll take a moment to check out this latest installment of our journal, and that the “Resistance and Response” theme can bring inspiration in these difficult times. 

With appreciation,

Melanie Matteliano
HPSfAA Publications Policy Committee