13th Annual Public Anthropology Conference:

Creating Dialogues between Social Movements & Academia

American University’s Department of Anthropology established the Public Anthropology Conference (PAC) as part of its long-standing commitment to centering public anthropology in the service of social justice.  In honor of the 13th PAC, the Department of Anthropology invites students, staff, faculty, alumni and the community at large to participate in a series of panels, presentations, conversations, films, and workshops focused on the theme “Creating Dialogues between Social Movement & Academia”.  This year's theme seeks to explore opportunities for collaboration between academia and social movements of all kinds to advance movements and related forms of advocacy and activism. Participants and audience members are encouraged to share insights about the concrete ways in which activists and academics can strengthen collaborative efforts to combat social inequalities and injustice, discrimination and oppression, and violations of basic human rights.  Taking place just weeks before the U.S. presidential election amid a dramatic rise in social movement activism in recent years, the conference provides a space to self-critically reflect on the contributions of and relationship between academia and movements.