American Association of Biological Anthropologists

Last updated
American Association of Biological Anthropologists
Founded1928
FocusAdvancing the science of biological/physical anthropology
Location
  • 950 Herndon Parkway, Suite 450
    Herndon, VA 20170
Members
2,200 (March 2019)
Key people
 Leslie Aiello, President [1] Anne L. Grauer, President-elect [1]
Website physanth.org

The American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) is an international group based in the United States which affirms itself as a professional society of biological anthropologists. The organization publishes the American Journal of Biological Anthropology , a peer-reviewed science journal. It was formerly the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA), but changed its name after a series of votes between 2018 and 2020.

Contents

History

The AAPA was first formed following a proposal by Czech-American anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička at the December 1928 New York meeting of Section H (Anthropology) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). [2] Twenty anthropologists and anatomists voted in favor of the creation of an American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and an organizational committee of eight was formed (Fay Cooper Cole, Charles H. Danforth, George A. Dorsey, William K. Gregory, Earnest A. Hooton, Aleš Hrdlička, and Robert J. Terry). The first annual meeting of the AAPA was held in 1930 at the University of Virginia.

Name Change

In 2018, at the 87th meeting of the AAPA in Austin, Texas, the Executive Committee stated its intention to hold a survey of AAPA members to assess their opinions on whether the AAPA should change its name, and what potential names could replace it. There were several motivations for the survey, including the fact that most academic departments, courses, and textbooks today use the term biological anthropology rather than physical anthropology, which evokes antiquated focuses of the discipline, such as racial typology. Moreover, most members of the AAPA self-identify as biological anthropologists, rather than physical anthropologists. The survey was administered online to AAPA members, and a majority voted in favor of changing the name, with the most popular name choice being American Association of Biological Anthropologists. [3] A formal vote among Regular members with take place at the 2019 meeting, with a final vote at the 2020 meeting.

Membership

There are over 2,200 members of the AABA. There are three categories of membership: Regular, Student, and Special (persons with a professional interest in biological anthropology who do not meet the requirements of regular membership). Members of the AABA can attend the annual meeting at a rate determined by their membership category, receive full access to AABA publications and electronic communications, and submit nominations for elected positions. Regular members may vote and serve in elected positions. [4]

Annual meeting

The AABA holds an annual meeting that is attended by scientists from around the world. The 2019 meeting was held in Cleveland, Ohio. [5]

Position Statements

Statements on Race & Racism

A 2019 statement on race and racism by the AAPA declared, in part:

Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation. It was never accurate in the past, and it remains inaccurate when referencing contemporary human populations. Humans are not divided biologically into distinct continental types or racial genetic clusters. Instead, the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from, and in support of, European colonialism, oppression, and discrimination. [6]

This statement further emphasized that "No group of people is, or ever has been, biologically homogeneous or 'pure.' Furthermore, human populations are not — and never have been — biologically discrete, truly isolated, or fixed." [6]

Previously, the AAPA had published an official position on biological aspects of race, based on evidence from anthropological (as well as biological, genetic, and social scientific) research in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 101, pp 569–570, 1996. That statement emphasized that all humans belong to a single species and share common descent, that biological traits are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, and genetic diversity exists within all human populations. This position was first drafted as a revision of the 1964 UNESCO statement on race, which itself was first created in 1950 in response to World War II and Nazism.

Scientific Creationism and the National Center for Science Education (NCSE)

As written in 1982, in agreement with the AAAS, the AAPA condemns the teaching of scientific creationism at public expense. [7]

AABA Code of Ethics

The AABA has an official code of ethics emphasizing the importance of the well-being of the people and animals with which members work; informed consent; conservation of fossil, archaeological, and historical records; making data accessible and disseminating findings; teaching in a non-discriminatory fashion, and giving appropriate credit to all collaborators including students and trainees. [8] The AAPA also issued an official statement on sexual harassment, outlining the definition, prevention, and reporting of sexual harassment and assault within the professional community as well as expectations for behavior among members.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthropology</span> Scientific study of humans, human behavior, and societies

Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavior, while cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. A portmanteau term sociocultural anthropology is commonly used today. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological anthropology</span> Branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species

Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an evolutionary perspective. This subfield of anthropology systematically studies human beings from a biological perspective.

Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of various kinds, including those characterized by close kinship relations. By the 17th century, the term began to refer to physical (phenotypical) traits, and then later to national affiliations. Modern science regards race as a social construct, an identity which is assigned based on rules made by society. While partly based on physical similarities within groups, race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning. The concept of race is foundational to racism, the belief that humans can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another.

Australo-Melanesians is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia and South Asia were also sometimes included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Anthropological Association</span> Learned society in Virginia, U.S.

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic anthropologists, linguists, medical anthropologists and applied anthropologists in universities and colleges, research institutions, government agencies, museums, corporations and non-profits throughout the world. The AAA publishes more than 20 peer-reviewed scholarly journals, available in print and online through AnthroSource. The AAA was founded in 1902.

The concept of race as a categorization of anatomically modern humans has an extensive history in Europe and the Americas. The contemporary word race itself is modern; historically it was used in the sense of "nation, ethnic group" during the 16th to 19th centuries. Race acquired its modern meaning in the field of physical anthropology through scientific racism starting in the 19th century. With the rise of modern genetics, the concept of distinct human races in a biological sense has become obsolete. In 2019, the American Association of Biological Anthropologists stated: "The belief in 'races' as natural aspects of human biology, and the structures of inequality (racism) that emerge from such beliefs, are among the most damaging elements in the human experience both today and in the past."

The Nordic race was a racial concept which originated in 19th century anthropology. It was considered a race or one of the putative sub-races into which some late-19th to mid-20th century anthropologists divided the Caucasian race, claiming that its ancestral homelands were Northwestern and Northern Europe, particularly to populations such as Anglo-Saxons, Germanic peoples, Balts, Baltic Finns, Northern French, and certain Celts and Slavs. The supposed physical traits of the Nordics included light eyes, light skin, tall stature, and dolichocephalic skull; their psychological traits were deemed to be truthfulness, equitability, a competitive spirit, naivete, reservedness, and individualism. In the early 20th century, the belief that the Nordic race constituted the superior branch of the Caucasian race gave rise to the ideology of Nordicism.

The Mediterranean race is an obsolete racial classification of humans based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. According to writers of the late 19th to mid-20th centuries it was a sub-race of the Caucasian race. According to various definitions, it was said to be prevalent in the Mediterranean Basin and areas near the Mediterranean, especially in Southern Europe, North Africa, most of Western Asia, the Middle East or Near East; western Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and parts of the Horn of Africa. To a lesser extent, certain populations of people in Ireland, western parts of Great Britain, and Southern Germany, despite living far from the Mediterranean, were thought to have some minority Mediterranean elements in their population, such as Bavaria, Wales, and Cornwall.

Jonathan M. Marks is a professor of biological anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is a significant figure in anthropology, especially on the topic of race. Marks is skeptical of genetic explanations of human behavior, of "race" as a biological category, and of science as a rationalistic endeavor. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopid race</span> Outdated grouping of human beings

Ethiopid is an outdated racial classification of humans indigenous to Northeast Africa, who were typically classified as part of the Caucasian race – the Hamitic sub-branch, or in rare instances the Negroid race. The racial classification was generally made up of mostly Afroasiatic-speaking populations of the Horn of Africa, but to an extent also includes several Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations of the Nile Valley and African Great Lakes region.

The Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology/ L'Association Canadienne D'Anthropologie Physique (CAPA/ACAP) is a learned society of international scholars and students of Physical Anthropology in Canada. The Associations's mission is to promote and increase awareness and understanding of physical (biological) anthropology among its membership and to support institutions, agencies, and the public at large. The Association is guided by a constitution and code of ethics, holds annual meetings, distributes biannual newsletters to its membership, and offers funding opportunities for student members. The current president in 2017 is Dr. Ian Colquhoun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irano-Afghan race</span> Obsolete racial classification term

The Irano-Afghan race or Iranid race is an obsolete racial classification of human beings based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. Some anthopologists of the 20th century classified the populations native to the Iranian plateau as belonging to this race, which was usually seen as a subrace of the Caucasian race or the Mediterranean racial subtype of that race, depending on the authority consulted.

"Arabid race" was a historical term used by ethnologists during the late 19th century and early 20th century in an attempt to categorize a historically perceived racial division between peoples of Semitic ethnicities and peoples of other ethnicities. The term "Arabid race" was used in the late nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. Its proponents saw it as part of the so called Caucasian race or even of a subspecies labelled Homo sapiens europaeus. It has been considered significantly outdated in the years since. Modern scientific consensus based on genetics rejects the concept of distinct human races in a biological sense.

Race Life of the Aryan Peoples is a two-volume book written by Joseph Pomeroy Widney, at the time chancellor of the University of Southern California, published in New York by Funk & Wagnalls in 1907.

Frank B. Livingstone was an American biological anthropologist.

The American Journal of Biological Anthropology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official journal of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. It was established in 1918 by Aleš Hrdlička.

Alice Mossie Brues was a physical anthropologist.

John Paul Wright is an American criminologist and proponent of biosocial criminology. He is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. He is also the director of the graduate program in criminal justice there. Among the students whose Ph.D. theses he has overseen is Kevin Beaver, a professor at Florida State University.

Proto-Mongoloid is an outdated racial classification of human beings based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. In anthropological theories of the 19th and 20th centuries, proto-Mongoloids were seen as the ancestors of the Mongoloid race.

Lucile Eleanor St. Hoyme was an American biological anthropologist who conducted research related to human variation, bioarcheology, and paleopathology. St. Hoyme served as an Assistant Curator in the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History. St. Hoyme analyzed human remains excavated from the John Kerr Reservoir Basin using a new bioarcheological approach combining data from other disciplines. Beyond her work with the Smithsonian collections, St. Hoyme also worked on FBI forensic cases in the 1960s with National Museum of Natural History Anthropology Curator J. Lawrence Angel.

References

  1. 1 2 "Executive Committee". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Alfonso, M.P.; Little, M.A. (2005). Juan Comas's Summary History of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (1928–1968).{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ "Results of Name Change Survey". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Membership". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Annual Meetings". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "AAPA Statement on Race & Racism". Archived from the original on 2019-04-21.
  7. ↑ "Teaching "scientific creationism" in public schools". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ "AAPA Code of Ethics, Sexual Harassment and Other Resources". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
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