The third annual Anthropology Day celebration on Thursday, February 16 was a huge success. Posts on Twitter and Instagram reached millions of users across six different continents and thousands of users took to social media to share their love of anthropology. The Association's official celebration had more than 180 registered anthropology clubs and departments, museums, businesses, community colleges and high schools from twelve different countries including Belize, Guatemala, Lebanon, Kenya, India and Turkey.
Association staff joined in on this year's celebration by partnering with Archaeology in the Community (AITC) to visit schools in Washington, DC. AAA staffers, along with volunteers from AITC, National Geographic, the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists, George Washington University, Georgetown University, and the Society for American Archaeology made a total of seven presentations about anthropology to a total of more than 200 elementary and middle school students.
Anthropology Day began in 2015 as a way to encourage anthropologists to share and celebrate the discipline with the world around them. Ultimately, it is our vision that Anthropology Day will help anthropologists around the world expand public knowledge of the field and the work done by anthropologists within communities and inspire the next generation of anthropologists.
Anthropology Day allows each participating group to celebrate the day in the way they choose, making the celebratory activities that are planned as diverse as the field itself. Each year groups plan activities ranging from department open houses to trivia nights to workshops in K-12 classrooms. Planning is already underway for the 2018 celebration. For more information, visit the Anthropology Day webpage or contact Anne Kelsey.
