AES #March Madness

This Spring, AES is taking a page from the Men’s Basketball playbook to roll out a high energy array of workshops and events concentrated in the month of March. We support early career scholars. The Covid-19 pandemic has upended many plans and projects, and burdened students and newly minted graduates with uncertainty and economic anxiety. Our March Madness lineup offers a series of conversations with Anthropology PhDs who have followed pathways outside of the academy. To jumpstart that stalled writing project, the editors of the American Ethnologist will present a two-hour publishing workshop. And we will roll out our first ever virtual speed mentoring event, offering opportunities to network and build new connections. Mark your calendars and join us in March!

NB: Please follow link and register first on Eventbrite and then on Zoom. We will then send you the link to join the session.

March 10 5:00-6:00 PM (EST)
UX Research: A conversation with Tomo Sugimoto

What is UX research? How does (or doesn’t) anthropology translate to UX Research? How might one find work in this industry?

Tomo Sugimoto is currently working as a UX Researcher at EPAM Systems, a large digital consulting company. Prior to joining EPAM, he also worked for Round Feather, a small design research consultancy, and Microsoft. Before joining industry, he received a PhD in cultural anthropology from Stanford and worked at Yale as a postdoc in the environmental humanities for a year. His doctoral research focused on urban indigenous communities and their struggles for space and land in Taipei.

To registerhttps://rb.gy/kjcck2

March 15 5:00-6:00 PM (EST)
Changing contexts, durable skills: one anthropologist’s journey from academia to medical education to e-commerce. A conversation with Mandeep Basi

Mandeep Basi will discuss her journey from graduating with a PhD in anthropology to establishing a research career outside of academia. She will review the transferable skills that helped her succeed in different domains, while also discussing challenges and things she needed to learn. Mandeep is passionate about how people interact with technology and each other. Formerly at Shopify where she helped design experiences to help new business owners get started, she now runs her independent research consultancy at Sociotekno.

To registerhttps://rb.gy/wbu1kz

March 19 1:00-3:00 PM (EST)
Publishing a Peer-Reviewed Article: Tips from the Editors of American Ethnologist. Stacy Pigg and Michael Hathaway

This workshop demystifies the article submission, revision, and publication process for authors seeking to publish in peer-reviewed academic journals, particularly in anthropology. The Editors of American Ethnologist have read hundreds of article submissions on a wide range of topics, and thousands of peer reviews, giving them a bird’s eye view of what’s involved for an author in getting from a first submission to a publication. Topics include: crafting your submission, decoding journal guidelines, understanding what happens behind the scenes in the peer review process, interpreting and responding to reviewer comments, revising for success in another round of peer review, working with copyeditors, and promoting your work once it is in print.

To registerhttps://rb.gy/heyyfw

March 24 4-5:30 PM (EST)
Speed Mentoring

Have you ever wished for ten minutes of advice or conversation with an experienced researcher or established faculty member outside your immediate circle of mentors? Speed mentoring offers an opportunity for graduate students and recent PhDs to meet multiple mentors in a short time. Join us for a fun exchange and lively sharing of ideas!

Mentors include:

Lucas Bessire, University of Oklahoma

Catherine Besteman, Colby College

Elizabeth Chin, Art Center College of Design

Carolyn Rouse, Princeton University

Christopher Loperena, Graduate Center, City University of New York

Carole McGranahan, University of Colorado, Boulder

Manissa M Maharawal, American University

Tomas Matza, University of Pittsburgh

Naveeda Khan, Johns Hopkins

Harjant Gill, Towson University

Shanti Parikh, Washington University, St. Louis

To registerhttps://rb.gy/zfqv57

March 31 5:00-6:00 PM
From Anthropology to Union Organizing with Ognjen Kojanic

What is labor organizing and how is it relevant in the field of higher education? Which skills make anthropologists good labor organizers? How can dominant discourses and practices in academic anthropology hinder effective labor organizing work?

Ognjen Kojanic is a cultural anthropologist and labor organizer. He is employed by the United Steelworkers and helps the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) graduate student workers and university staff to unionize. He earned his PhD in the Department of Anthropology at Pitt. His dissertation research focused on the case of ITAS, a Croatian metalworking company, which is often touted as a rare example of worker shareholding in Southeast Europe and a successful attempt to build an alternative to capitalist property relations. In his dissertation, he examined the constraints imposed by hegemonic practices in peripheral capitalism that ITAS worker-shareholders are trying to overcome.

To registerhttps://rb.gy/gvlxdu