The Praxis Award Competition At Forty Years:

Anthropologists Making a Difference

The Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists announces the opening of the 2021 Praxis competition.  The first Praxis award was given in 1981, and the most recent 2019 Praxis awardees will be honored from 12 – 1:45pm on Tuesday, March 23 during this year’s Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting.  More details forthcoming about this special event.

This prestigious award recognizes anthropologists who have made outstanding achievements in employing anthropological knowledge, skills, or methods to a specific endeavor or project.  See an overview on WAPA's website for more information about the award.  “Ideal award candidates are anthropologists who can demonstrate the value of anthropological knowledge, theory and methods to solve problems addressed through public and/or private sector efforts (e.g., government, industry, or non-profit). The competition is open to anyone holding an MA or PhD in any sub-field of anthropology. In exceptional cases, applicants with a BA in anthropology may be considered (for example, in countries where the anthropology BA is considered to be a final degree).”

Please encourage qualified colleagues to apply for the Praxis award or think about nominating yourself!  The guidelines and timeline or (https://wapadc.org/praxisguide) provide more details about how to apply.  You can also contact this year’s Praxis chair, Bill Roberts, wcroberts@smcm.edu, for clarification or encouragement.  This is a great opportunity for anthropologists to share with a broader public the anthropological difference their work has made.