216 American Anthropologist Vol 112, No. 2. June 2010 University of Colorado, Denver, fall of 2009), Sidewalk Ra CONCLUSIONS dio illustrates new ways to engage students and the public In many ways, 2009 can be seen as both a year of promise and through visual and web-based mediums. In 2009, posts took change and a discouraging time of"business as usual. "From up such diverse debates as natural birth, teen drinking the standpoint of u.S. anthropology, the new administration bacco farming, and Otarez's own work on the health effe offered cautious optimism and a renewed sense of hope that of uranium mining in Malawi. At Kansas State University, human rights would become a funding priority, espe Michael Wesch's Digital Ethnography offers ethnographies of in the areas of healthcare and environmental and for You Tube and the World Simulation Project, an experiential policy. A year wrought with fiscal and environmental crisis approach to teaching introductory cultural anthropology revitalized anthropologists fervor to ensure that the voices esch was named one of the National Geographic Societys of marginalized peoples and cultures are heard as well as to Emerging Explorers"for 2009. Although these two exa rally behind the wake-up call that our planet and its peoples les are more general in content, other anthropologists keep cannot afford to continue along the path we have so far issue-specific blogs. At the close of December 2008, Holly paved McCarthy(2008)created a list of the" Top 100 Anthropo- However, as the research of public anthro In logy Blogs 2009 demonstrates. there has been little action taken to veer Other anthropologists continued a long-standing disci from the market-driven approach to the commodification of plinary tradition of using journalism to communicate their people and natural resources. Neoliberal conservation mod- research to wider audiences. For example, Melissa Checker els, carbon offsetting as a dominating force of the climate wrote several articles for print and online magazines about talks, increased dam construction, development disasters the ways that carbon offsetting ignores human rights both and significant cuts to state-funded universities, resulting in in developed and developing countries. As well, Checker furloughs, early retirements, and departmental merges, call wrote a series of articles for the Gotham Gazette, an online into question the degree to which anthropology is indeed NYC-based newspaper, critiquing the Bloomberg adminis- considered by the"public. " But these same points also illus- tration s sustainability plan and analyzing the ways in which it trate the pressing need of and for anthropology in the com- helped or hindered the efforts of local environmental-justice decade. as we continue to the lead the social scien activists. These efforts led her to"break"a story about a as the primary discipline that strives to document the ef highly radioactive site in Staten Island, which had been part fects of change from the perspective of those most impacted f the Manhattan Project( Checker 2009b) by it An innovative example of reaching out and attempt The current fiscal and ecological crisis provides an op- ing to bridge multiple publics is Amahl Bishara's work to por ortunity to reimagine our communities through the lens A translate feature articles from u.S. news from Arabic into peace and equity. As evidenced by this article, public an glish and then have Palestinians interpret and analyze the thropologists are generating new possibilities for the future news articles. Although public commentary in the United through innovative means of collaboration and dialogue in- States on Palestinian society and politics abounds, Pales cluding university-community development partners tinian response to this commentary is scant. Bishara's work engagement in policy setting ricina makes available the kinds of Palestinian political and media dialogues on indigenous rights, war, water rights, and cli- analysis that seldom appear in the news. By choosing to in- mate change; and the expansion of interactive, web-based terview nonelite Palestinians, and bringing representations venues for communicating and entering a dialogue with the of community back to the community for scrutiny, Bishara's public(e.g, blogs, video projects, online newspapers). The work provides an opportunity to reflect on a diverse and challenge for 2010 is to transform these relationships into engaging set of u. S. news articles in a new light(from socially and environmentally sustainable policy change rab an s articles that employ well-worn stereotypes about Arab and Muslim gender relations to uncovering car Keri Vacanti rondo depar ent of Anthropology, University of nuanced depictions of cultural practices rarely seen in u.S. Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152: kbrondoememphis edu http://anthronow.com/category/fieldnotessdetailedon mainstream media). This innovative approach The Advancement of Science's(AAAS)new"On-call Scientists program offers an innovative means through which NOTE can become engaged in global human Acknowledgmen ly talented and dynamic public anthro- work(see oncallscientists. aaas. org). The AAAS Science and pologists supported the development of this article. I am particularly Human Rights Coalition was developed to increase commu- grateful to Linda Bennett, Janet Chernela, Shirley Fiske,Robert nication and collaboration between the scientific community Hitchcock, and Michael Perez for their excellent contributions and and the human rights community to protect and advance help in the development of specific sections of this article.I thank universal human rights. Anthropologists can now join other Lori Allen, Kelly Alley,Amahl Gregory Button, Melissa scientists in volunteering their expertise to human rights Checker, Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Saul Cohen, Robert Con- organizations and affected communities nolly, Susan Crate, T. J. Ferguson, Robert Hahn, Janice Harper216 American Anthropologist • Vol. 112, No. 2 • June 2010 University of Colorado, Denver, fall of 2009), Sidewalk Ra￾dio illustrates new ways to engage students and the public through visual and web-based mediums. In 2009, posts took up such diverse debates as natural birth, teen drinking, to￾bacco farming, and Otanez’s own work on the health effects ˜ of uranium mining in Malawi. At Kansas State University, Michael Wesch’s Digital Ethnography offers ethnographies of YouTube and the World Simulation Project, an experiential approach to teaching introductory cultural anthropology. Wesch was named one of the National Geographic Society’s “Emerging Explorers” for 2009. Although these two exam￾ples are more general in content, other anthropologists keep issue-specific blogs. At the close of December 2008, Holly McCarthy (2008) created a list of the “Top 100 Anthropo￾logy Blogs.” Other anthropologists continued a long-standing disci￾plinary tradition of using journalism to communicate their research to wider audiences. For example, Melissa Checker wrote several articles for print and online magazines about the ways that carbon offsetting ignores human rights both in developed and developing countries. As well, Checker wrote a series of articles for the Gotham Gazette, an online NYC-based newspaper, critiquing the Bloomberg adminis￾tration’s sustainability plan and analyzing the ways in which it helped or hindered the efforts of local environmental-justice activists. These efforts led her to “break” a story about a highly radioactive site in Staten Island, which had been part of the Manhattan Project (Checker 2009b). An innovative example of reaching out and attempt￾ing to bridge multiple publics is Amahl Bishara’s work to translate feature articles from U.S. news from Arabic into English and then have Palestinians interpret and analyze the news articles. Although public commentary in the United States on Palestinian society and politics abounds, Pales￾tinian response to this commentary is scant. Bishara’s work makes available the kinds of Palestinian political and media analysis that seldom appear in the news. By choosing to in￾terview nonelite Palestinians, and bringing representations of community back to the community for scrutiny, Bishara’s work provides an opportunity to reflect on a diverse and engaging set of U.S. news articles in a new light (from criticizing articles that employ well-worn stereotypes about Arab and Muslim gender relations to uncovering carefully nuanced depictions of cultural practices rarely seen in U.S. mainstream media). This innovative approach is detailed on http://anthronow.com/category/fieldnotes. The Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) new “On-call” Scientists program offers an innovative means through which anthropologists can become engaged in global human rights work (see oncallscientists.aaas.org). The AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition was developed to increase commu￾nication and collaboration between the scientific community and the human rights community to protect and advance universal human rights. Anthropologists can now join other scientists in volunteering their expertise to human rights organizations and affected communities. CONCLUSIONS In many ways, 2009 can be seen as both a year of promise and change and a discouraging time of “business as usual.” From the standpoint of U.S. anthropology, the new administration offered cautious optimism and a renewed sense of hope that human rights would become a funding priority, especially in the areas of healthcare and environmental and foreign policy. A year wrought with fiscal and environmental crisis revitalized anthropologists’ fervor to ensure that the voices of marginalized peoples and cultures are heard as well as to rally behind the wake-up call that our planet and its peoples cannot afford to continue along the path we have so far paved. However, as the research of public anthropologists in 2009 demonstrates, there has been little action taken to veer from the market-driven approach to the commodification of people and natural resources. Neoliberal conservation mod￾els, carbon offsetting as a dominating force of the climate talks, increased dam construction, development disasters, and significant cuts to state-funded universities, resulting in furloughs, early retirements, and departmental merges, call into question the degree to which anthropology is indeed considered by the “public.” But these same points also illus￾trate the pressing need of and for anthropology in the com￾ing decade, as we continue to the lead the social sciences as the primary discipline that strives to document the ef￾fects of change from the perspective of those most impacted by it. The current fiscal and ecological crisis provides an op￾portunity to reimagine our communities through the lens of peace and equity. As evidenced by this article, public an￾thropologists are generating new possibilities for the future through innovative means of collaboration and dialogue in￾cluding university–community development partnerships; engagement in policy settings; participation in international dialogues on indigenous rights, war, water rights, and cli￾mate change; and the expansion of interactive, web-based venues for communicating and entering a dialogue with the public (e.g., blogs, video projects, online newspapers). The challenge for 2010 is to transform these relationships into socially and environmentally sustainable policy change. Keri Vacanti Brondo Department of Anthropology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152; kbrondo@memphis.edu NOTE Acknowledgments. Many talented and dynamic public anthro￾pologists supported the development of this article. I am particularly grateful to Linda Bennett, Janet Chernela, Shirley Fiske, Robert Hitchcock, and Michael Perez for their excellent contributions and help in the development of specific sections of this article. I also thank Lori Allen, Kelly Alley, Amahl Bishara, Gregory Button, Melissa Checker, Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Saul Cohen, Robert Con￾nolly, Susan Crate, T. J. Ferguson, Robert Hahn, Janice Harper, Jim