Making links, opening out: Anthropology and the British Association for the Advancement of Science

This paper has benefited greatly from the time that I have recently spent working on the Committee of Section H of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. I am particularly grateful to David Shankland and Malcolm Smith, both of whom have served as Recorders for Section H, for generously sharing their knowledge and reminiscences of the Section with me. The paper further benefited from comments received at the recent 2004 Festival of Science in Exeter at which I presented it in a session entitled 'Anthropology after Darwin: The role of the BA'. I also acknowledge the helpful comments of three anonymous reviewers.     

An International Association for the Advancement of Science. II.

Abstract

The modern research funding system is generally oppressive to creativity and innovation. More specifically, expert peer review favours trendy projects with predictable outcomes and usually rejects novel higher risk proposals; the system supports mostly 'me too' projects ('do as others do') and encourages mediocrity and triviality rather than true innovation, the latter being paid only lip service; it encourages proliferation of powerful control cliques operating as old boys clubs ('I'll fund you, if you fund me'); it fosters quasi feudal research empires, with 'soft money' researchers (mostly postdocs) doing all the real work while tenured professors are engaged largely on the conference circuit and in grantsmanship; research supervisors often lose touch with the experimental bench, and yet remain in full control of their laboratories' budget and operation; and such an imperial model of operation discourages the creativity of junior researchers and their ideas are often misappropriated by supervisors. These factors generally render the modern research funding system financially wasteful and resentful of public accountability. Radical changes are required to improve the system's efficiency, to liberate creativity, and to encourage innovation from below. Peer review, though not entirely useless, needs far greater public openness and feedback from a broader research community. Junior research personnel should be part of a professionally managed structure, and not be left at the whim of professors who almost never have the training or skills necessary for competent human resource management. Small base grants should be provided automatically to active researchers, with no need for proposals.     

转型中的英国历史地理学:专访查尔斯·威瑟斯

查尔斯·威瑟斯(Charles W.J.Withers)是当代英国著名历史地理学家,2018年7月19日借参加第17届国际历史地理学家大会(ICHG)的机会,作者在波兰华沙大学老图书馆对其进行了采访。现经查尔斯·威瑟斯教授书面授权,将中文译稿刊发如下。采访中,笔者就他的研究经历、学术思想发问,有些问题比较尖锐,他均以数十年来的所见、所思坦诚相告。通过这个采访,读者或可一窥英国历史地理学现状及原委。     

Anthropology and the British Museum: A conversation with John Mack

John Mack is Keeper of Ethnography at the British Museum, and until recently was also Senior Keeper. He curated The Museum of the Mind: Art and Memory in World Cultures as part of the British Museum's 250th anniversary programme. Major changes have taken place at the museum, including the return of the Museum of Mankind to the British Museum's Bloomsbury site. This site will by next year also house the Anthropology Library, one of the largest anthropology libraries in the world, the holdings of which were greatly enhanced by the gift of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Library to the British Museum Ethnography Department Library in 1976. John Mack can be contacted at J.Mack@british-museum.ac.uk .     

Anthropology and the Iraq war: An uncomfortable engagement

The Iraq war has preoccupied anthropologists. However, this has not materialized in panels dedicated to independent study of Iraq at annual conferences at our major professional associations. In the US, we have been predominantly preoccupied with the implications of intelligence gathering for our profession. The author considers some of the differences between our dealing with the Iraq war presently, and the successful campaigns against the Vietnam war of the 60s. He concludes that there is scope for anthropologists to learn from the past and to make a renewed concerted effort to, independent from government demands on their skills, inform and change public opinion and ultimately government policy.     

Suggestions for the Extension of the British Archaeological Association

Restoration work shows that the solar wing of Barnston Manor originally had a second wing with garderobe similar to that at Aydon Castle. Archaeological evidence indicates that the present halls of both houses are secondary, and historical evidence is presented to explain the sequence of development on each site.     

An Interview with Administrator of Chaqi Nursing Home for the Elderly

When we first met, Changrin- la was proud to tell me that shehad a typical Chinese name： ＂Jiang Yonghong＂. Her aunt, who is a cadre, gave her the name. She said she would be very＂ pleased if we called her by her Chinese name.