The AAA Annual Meeting, which took place in Washington, D.C. this year, was quite a whirlwind for UC Press. Seven different awards for six books. Non-stop meetings. Dinners, parties, and die-ins.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • We threw a dinner for Seth Holmes, who won the prestigious Margaret Mead Award. Executive Editor Naomi Schneider reports the dinner was attended by a wide array of senior anthropologists—Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Philippe Bourgois, Charles Briggs—who reconfirmed their commitment to social justice and human rights as guiding principles of their intellectual work.
  • We held a book party for Eduardo Kohn‘s How Forests Think, as well as a dinner to celebrate Joseph Hankin‘s new book, Working Skin.
  • There was a “die-in” in which primarily African-American anthropologists expressed their rage about the recent non-indictments in Ferguson and New York.
  • Issues surrounding the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel were a predominant theme of the meeting and AAA members rejected a proposed resolution opposing the academic boycott of Israel. 
Seth Holmes' acceptance speech for the Margaret Mead Award
Seth Holmes’ acceptance speech for the Margaret Mead Award

Congratulations to this year’s award winners:

These wonderful authors stopped by to say hello:

Tine Gammeltoft, author of Haunting Images
Sarah Besky, author of The Darjeeling Distinction
Sarah Besky, author of The Darjeeling Distinction
Cheryl Mattingly, author of Moral Laboratories
Cheryl Mattingly, author of Moral Laboratories
Jarrett Zigon, author of "HIV is God's Blessing"
Jarrett Zigon, author of “HIV is God’s Blessing”
Ruben Andersson, author of Illegality, Inc.
Ruben Andersson, author of Illegality, Inc.

For more research and insights on this year’s AAA theme, “Producing Anthropology,” be sure to check out our author blog series (and use hashtag #AAA2014 when sharing). Thanks to everyone for a great meeting; we can’t wait to do it again next year!

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