Position Announcement: NAGPRA Coordinator, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), invites applications for a NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) Coordinator position.  

The NAGPRA Coordinator will report to the Director of Repatriation and will assist with work under the purview of NAGPRA. This is a full-time, exempt position with a salary range of $45,000 - $50,000 per year, depending on experience. The NAGPRA Coordinator will ideally be a good listener, culturally-aware, willing to learn, and highly organized. 

Duties and responsibilities of the NAGPRA Coordinator include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Helps with consultation efforts with Native American Tribes and establishes strong collaborative relationships with Tribal and campus partners;

  • Prepares summary reports and edits NAGPRA reports generated by the project archaeologist and bioarchaeologist;

  • Conducts in-depth cultural affiliation research and writes cultural affiliation reports;

  • Aids the Director of Repatriation in drafting Notices for submission to the Federal Register;

  • Maintains a strong records management schedule with frequent database updates;

  • Helps rehouse ancestral human remains and NAGPRA objects in culturally sensitive ways and materials and prepares for transportation as directed;

  • Collaborates with the Director to develop and maintain the budget;

  • Creates orders for, coordinates deliveries, and manages supplies;

  • Schedules travel and meeting opportunities;

  • Manages updates to the website;

  • Provides clerical support for the Director and the UTK NAGPRA Committee;

  • May develop, prepare, and coordinate grant applications and grant-related activities to obtain funding for NAGPRA projects and related work;

  • Other duties as assigned.

More here.

Call for Abstracts: Spring 2022 Council for Museum Anthropology Virtual Symposium for Students and Emerging Professionals

The Future is Now: Emerging Perspectives in Museology and Museum Anthropology–A Council for Museum Anthropology Virtual Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant pressures on students and early career museum professionals, as well as limited opportunities to connect with fellow scholars at conferences. The Council for Museum Anthropology (CMA) will be delaying its own in-person conference until 2023. With this in mind, the CMA will be hosting a virtual symposium in Spring 2022 focused on the ongoing work of students and emerging professionals.

 Understanding the roles that students and emerging professionals play in helping to change the landscape of the museum field, the CMA seeks proposals from undergraduates, graduate students, and early career professionals for its 2022 Spring Symposium, The Future is Now: Emerging Perspectives in Museology and Museum Anthropology. The virtual symposium will take place March 25-26, 2022, and will provide opportunities for participants to share their research in a supportive environment with fellow scholars and professionals.

The symposium will be held virtually on Zoom. Papers can be submitted individually or as organized panels. Individually submitted papers will be organized into thematic panels. Each paper should be no longer than 15 minutes long; organized panels are provided a total of 75 minutes (4 papers + Q&A). Two papers selected for excellence by the CMA board will be awarded prizes of $500 each.

 To submit: Please submit proposals with the following information to council.museumanth@gmail.com by December 31, 2021.

Name

Email address

Bio (100 words or less, including institutional affiliation if applicable, job title/student status)

Paper title

Abstract (250 words or less)  

Position Announcement: IMLS Curatorial and Community Partnerships Liaison, Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum has been awarded a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for a paid, full-time fellowship for 18-months. The fellow will serve as the Curatorial and Community Partnerships Fellow slated to begin in January 2022. 

This collaborative position jointly works in the Curatorial and Learning and Community Partnerships Departments. We are currently seeking candidates who have a strong interest in Native American art, contemporary art, building community partnerships, and working on project teams. Through their work at the Museum, the Fellow will meaningfully develop broader community outreach and involvement with the Museum’s upcoming exhibitions Dakota Modern:The Art of Oscar Howe, a retrospective, and They Came from Fire, a site specific installation by Jeffrey Gibson. The fellow’s primary focus will be developing programming for these exhibitions, including assisting with the organization of a symposium. In addition, responsibilities pertaining to Native American collections will provide additional professional opportunities.

The position is a dual report to the Curator of Native American Art and Director of Learning and Community Partnerships, and will work closely with staff in Curatorial, Learning and Community Partnerships, and other departments across the Museum.

More here.

Position Announcement: Curator, African Art, Brooklyn Museum

We seek an exceptional communicator and scholar to oversee our curatorial program in the Arts of Africa. The successful candidate will be an engaged curator/scholar with a commitment to our mission and have a proven ability to conceptualize original, canon-expanding, and timely collection and loan exhibitions.

The Curator, African Art plays a key leadership role on our curatorial team and serves as an institutional ambassador, actively engaging with collectors and patrons, professional colleagues, partner institutions, and communities in Africa and in Brooklyn. This is an exceptional and timely opportunity: we are currently in the planning stages to establish a new, permanent gallery dedicated to our renowned collection of African artworks, and have already raised significant support for this project.

The Brooklyn Museum has one of the largest collections of African art in the United States, numbering over 5,000 objects and works of art. The collection focuses primarily on historic works from Western and Central Africa, with additions from Southern and Eastern Africa, and includes some contemporary art from across the continent. The Museum's groundbreaking 1923 display of 1,500 works remains one of the largest exhibition of African art ever mounted. The collection offers many opportunities for scholarship, reinterpretation, and innovative display.

More here.

Position Announcement: NAGPRA Assistant, Pick Museum of Anthropology

The NAPGRA assistant will be responsible for conducting a full review of the collection objects and accession group potentially connected to Native American tribes and subject to the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). As part of this review, they will conduct collections-based research including archival research, close examination of objects, and consultation with academic and community experts. They will produce detailed reports for their research and identify which objects or collections require further consultation to determine cultural affiliation. The NAGPRA assistant will use this review to assess the museum’s history of communications with Tribes and will be responsible for reaching out to Tribal representatives to reopen or initiate consultations as needed. Working with the museum director, they will draft updated or new NAGPRA summaries, respond to requisitions for additional information, provide images or videos of collections, and assist with in-person collection visits as needed. The NAGPRA assistant may also assist with review of repatriation requests and drafting of Notice of Intent to Repatriate.

Successful applicants must demonstrate knowledge of NAGPRA regulations and have experience working in museum collections. Experience investigating museum collection histories and addressing NAGPRA compliance issues preferred. Applicants will be assessed by their ability to manage projects, demonstration of skills conducting collection-based research, ability to work with databases and efficiently and accurately manage data, and demonstration of ability to communicate clearly through writing. Applicants are expected to demonstrate academic integrity and comply with professional ethical guidelines. Preference will be given to candidates with documented experience working with contemporary Native American tribes and who demonstrate an understanding of the history and ongoing legacy of the relation between museums and Native American communities.

More here.

Event Opportunity: Ira Jacknis: A Celebration of Life, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Ira Jacknis: A Celebration of Life, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology

December 9th, 2021, 1:00-2:30PM PT

102 Anthropology & Art Practice Building, Berkeley CA 94720

Please join us in celebrating the life and work of Dr. Ira Stuart Jacknis at this memorial service for family, friends, and colleagues. The service will be held in person at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Portions of the day will also be streamed online for those unable to attend. RSVP to the in person or online event by clicking the link below.

To read more about the life and achievements of Ira Jacknis, please click here to visit our website.

For those attending in person, please note that masks will be required and no food or drink will be served due to COVID safety restrictions.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to send letters of condolences to pahma-execdirector@berkeley.edu, or make a donation in Ira Jacknis' memory to the Hearst Museum.

RSVP here.

Position Announcement: Curator of Native American Cultures & Repatriation Coordinator, University of California-Los Angeles

Under the general direction of the Museum's Director this position is split as Curator of Native American Cultures and being UCLA's Repatriation Coordinator. As curator, the position manages and organizes the Fowler Museum's Native American collections and associated documentation. As Repatriation Coordinator, the position is responsible for the implementation of NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA and related repatriation activities at UCLA. Develops exhibitions related to Native American cultures. Seeks grant funds to support repatriation and collaborative community projects. Supervises the Archeological Collections Manager (who supervises a repatriation team including two leads, student employees, and interns) an archivist, and others needed to meet compliance requirements.

More here.

Position Announcement: Director, National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History

The Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History invites applications for an anthropologist to serve as Manager of the National Anthropological Archives (NAA), which includes the Human Studies Film Archives. 

The NAA holds the largest known collection of historical and contemporary materials documenting the world’s cultures and the history of anthropology via a wide array of media types. Indigenous communities, anthropologists, folklorists, historians, film scholars and national and international researchers and filmmakers are the primary users of the collections. 

The Manager manages the NAA, and develops collections goals and plans, including preparation of annual budget in alignment with the Department and NMNH’s goals and plans. The position also oversees the processing of archival collections and preparation for digitization, including organization, arrangement, description (finding aids and inventories) and preservation, and the tracking of these activities. The Manager will also oversee the collections information systems used by the NAA, as well as the preservation, security and safekeeping of the archival and film collections.  The Manager will supervise staff and contract archivists as well as interns and volunteers. Additional duties include representing the NAA within NMNH and the Smithsonian, as well as being an active part of the collections management team at NMNH.

This position will be offered as a permanent Federal position and the position will be filled at the GS-13 level, which starts at $103,690 per year. U.S. citizenship is required. College transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study must be submitted online by the closing date of announcement or your application will be disqualified.  For complete requirements and application procedures go to www.sihr.si.edu  or www.usajobs.gov and refer to Announcement #: 
22A-JW-306791-DEU-NMNH (open to public candidates); or 
22A-JW-306791A-MPA-NMNH (open to current/former federal candidates).  

All supporting documentation must be received online by 11/30/2021. Applicants will be notified by email when their applications are received.

To learn more about the Department of Anthropology, please view our website: www.anthropology.si.edu.

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum and research complex with over 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and nine research facilities. The Department of Anthropology is one of seven research departments at the National Museum of Natural History. The NAA Manager will join a large and diverse department with 52 full-time staff, including 12 curators in three research divisions: archaeology, ethnology and biological anthropology, along with the Collections Program  and the Repatriation Office.  The Anthropology collections hold over 3.6 million archaeological objects, over 200,000 ethnology objects, over 9,000 linear feet of archival documents, and 8 million running feet of ethnographic film and video.  


More here.

 

Reminder–Council for Museum Anthropology Preliminary Program, American Anthropological Association 2021 Annual Meeting, November 17-21, Baltimore, MD (and Virtual) (Copy)

CMA-SPONSORED IN-PERSON PANELS/POSTERS

(2-1620) Anthropology at St. Louis and Before

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Oral Presentation (In-Person)

Council for Museum Anthropology

11/18/2021: 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Sean O'Neill, Christopher Lowman, Richard Warms, Robert Launay, Reece McGee

(2-1460) Entangled Histories and Bundles of Relations: Contemporary Ethnographic Work In and Around Collections

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Invited Session - Oral Presentation (In-Person)

Council for Museum Anthropology

2:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Catherine Nichols, Diana Marsh, Kristin Otto, Christopher Berk, Howard Morphy

(3-2233) From Ecomuseum to Museum Family: Developments in China and Taiwan

Friday, November 19, 2021

Poster (In-Person)

Council for Museum Anthropology

4:15 PM - 6:00 PM

Yanqi Wei

(4-3340) Anthropology In/Of Museums and Their Collections

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Volunteered - Oral Presentation (In-Person)

Council for Museum Anthropology

4:15 PM - 6:00 PM

Chris Urwin, Lawrence Ramirez, Sylvia Ngo, Meryl Shriver-Rice, Elizabeth Oakley, Foster W. Krupp, Sonia Barragan

OTHER IN-PERSON PANELS/POSTERS OF INTEREST

(3-2120) Organizing and Curating Museums during the Pandemic: Truth, Responsibility, and Repatriations

Friday, November 19, 2021

Oral Presentation (In-Person)

Association for Africanist Anthropology

2:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Preminda Jacob, Bennetta Jules-Rosette, Erica Fontana, J.R. Osborn, Shannen Hill

(5-3640) Commodification and Environmentalism: The Political Economy of Defining Cultural Heritage

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Volunteered - Oral Presentation (In-Person)

Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Nicholas Denning, Rowenn Kalman, Jocelyn Moylan, Amy Medvick, Rebecca Irons, Meredith Main Sá

CMA-SPONSORED VIRTUAL PANELS/PODCASTS/TALKS

(2-1690) "Small Museums—Large Truths"

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Oral Presentation (Virtual)

Council for Museum Anthropology

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

John Bodinger de Uriarte, Sigurjon Hafsteinsson, Joseph Gonzales, Anna Runarsdottir, Bergsveinn Thorsson

(3-2553) A Conversation on Community-led Databases: Surveying Methods of Knowledge Sovereignty

 Friday, November 19, 2021

Invited Session - Roundtable / Townhall (Virtual)

Council for Museum Anthropology

4:15 PM - 6:00 PM

Christina Hodge, Diana Marsh, Cara Krmpotich, Ricardo Punzalan, Alexandria Rayburn, Sandrena Raymond

OTHER VIRTUAL PANELS/PODCASTS/TALKS OF INTEREST

(3-2122) Native Americans and Museums: International Perspectives and Collaborative Prospects.

Friday, November 19, 2021

Roundtable / Townhall (Virtual)

Society for the Anthropology of North America

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Robert Collins, Justin Richland, Alaka Wali, Markus Lindner

CMA-SPONSORED ASYNCHRONOUS CONTENT

(0-0430) Remediating Sky Blanket: A conversation with Jaad Kuujus.

Podcast (Virtual)

Council for Museum Anthropology

Hannah Turner, Kate Hennessy, Meghann O'Brien

(0-0980) Global Themes in Local Context: A Case Study of a Japanese Human Rights Museum

Talk (Virtual)

Council for Museum Anthropology

Lisa Mueller

(0-1240) Constructing Arab Cultural Heritage from Museums-Based Materials

Talk (Virtual)

Council for Museum Anthropology

Sara Ann Knutson

OTHER ASYNCHRONOUS CONTENT OF INTEREST

(0-0310) Schools and local museums in the Pyrenees. Some reflections on the relationship between cultural and educational institutions from an ethnographic approach.

Talk (Virtual)

Council on Anthropology and Education

Elizabeth Pérez Izaguirre 

(0-1910) Shifting Post-colonial Narratives of the U.S. South: Historic Houses, Tour Talk, and Museum Scripts

Flash Presentations (Virtual)

Society for Linguistic Anthropology

Lori Donath

(0-1120) Dulac-You-Wanna: Cultural Heritage and Subsiding Ecologies in Louisiana's Coastal Marsh

Thesis Competition (Virtual)

National Association of Student Anthropologists

Dustin Reuther

(0-1670) Authority and Authenticity: an ethnographic discourse analysis of the safeguarding of Zhuang ethnic minority heritage

Late Breaking - Individual Poster (Virtual)

Executive Program Committee

Linfei Yi