Podcasts from the SfAA

CHAIR: FRENCH, Diana E. (UBC-Okanagan)

Staying Out of the Rain: An Umbrella for Community Based Research Ethics.

Many First Nations in Canada have their own clearly defined research policies and ethics protocols. However, these are not always coincident with the requirements and procedures of university based Research Ethics Boards. Stipulations are often made by those with little or no background in anthropology, and with outdated views on the expectations and needs of indigenous communities. This paper will examine how research permit systems administered by First Nations can help to minimize the difference in perspectives and lead to more fruitful collaborative research. Issues to be examined include the selection of appropriate community cultural experts, the construction and management of informed consent forms, and the long-term caretaking of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. diana.french@ubc.ca (W-125)

MURCHISON, Julian (Millsaps Coll)

‘The Anthropologist’s NGO’?: Examining the Practice and Theory of Collaborative Work.

This paper examines the early stages in the formation of SOMI, a NGO dedicated to supporting education and culture in southern Tanzania. Tanzanian colleagues developed the initial ideas for SOMI and invited the author to join them as a collaborative partner. Working from practical experiences with local politics, planning strategies, and emergent challenges, this paper analyzes the way a foreign anthropologist serves as a form of social capital for the NGO, and investigates ways that an engaged anthropologist can operate as a stakeholder and co-leader while still embracing models of development and anthropology that embrace collaboration. murchjm@millsaps.edu (W-125)

Julian M. Murchison
Asst. Professor of Anthropology & Sociology
Millsaps College
murchjm@millsaps.edu
601-974-1437
www.millsaps.edu/socio/murchisonbio.shtml
www.songeamississippi.org

BENNETT, Elaine (U Connecticut)

Reciprocity in Research: Fulfilling Community Expectations by Returning Knowledge.

While conducting research on childhood malnutrition in a Kaqchikel village, I found that mothers who participated wanted something tangible for the information they provided about child feeding practices. This paper examines the development and pilot-testing of a nutrition education program I developed for the introduction of complementary feeding for children aged 6 months to 3 years. This program included the kind of information the women wanted in a format that responded to their literacy and economic level. I developed photo recipes and cooking classes for developmentally appropriate complementary feeding to overcome documented stunting among this age group. elaine.m.bennett@gmail.com (W-125)

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Session took place in Santa Fe, NM at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2009.