I am honored to have served as the founding editor of Open Anthropology, the public journal of the American Anthropological Association. My commitment to this pilot project began the moment the idea surfaced in a brainstorming session with AAA past president Leith Mullings, CFPEP chair Deb Nichols, the CFPEP team, and Oona Schmid, AAA's magnificent Director of Publishing. It was clear from the start that in an ever changing technological, cultural, political, and market environment for scholarly publishing, Open Anthropology would stand as a win-win for all, one among other AAA innovations.
It has been my great pleasure to bring Open Anthropology from a germ of an idea to a full-fledged online publication that draws readers from all over the world. It has also been an eye-opening experience. For example, sifting through the electronic stacks that comprise the AAA portfolio of journal articles in anthropology, I have learned that many of today's concerns were also yesterday's worries, and that certain ideas may seem "new" but have been thought of earlier. Now, I can better recognize specious claims to "new" theory. I have also come to prefer arguments that build on cumulative knowledge while acknowledging flaws, gaps, and weaknesses in those that came before.
New Editors: Introducing Sallie Han and Jason Antrosio
It is now my pleasure to introduce Sallie Han and Jason Antrosio who will serve as co-editors of Open Anthropology beginning with the March 2015 issue. Sallie is Associate Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Oneonta and chair of the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction, an interest group of the Society for Medical Anthropology (see her tweets under the handle @AnthroRepro). Jason is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Hartwick College, and writes two widely read, awesome blogs: Living Anthropologically and Anthropology Report. Their interests include medical anthropology, reproduction and the US (Sallie) and economic anthropology, globalization and the Andes (Jason).
Jason and Sallie are fully prepared to take the publication to the next level. Among their innovations, they will expand use of links to blog posts, podcasts, and YouTube clips, especially those featuring authors of articles appearing in Open Anthropology. With its 15 articles and the Editor's Note, Open Anthropology is structured to fit seamlessly as a one-semester course packet. Sallie and Jason plan to build on this infrastructure, linking to materials on the AAA's Teaching Materials Exchange that include special activities and student assignments. Also, they will more fully incorporate social media to raise awareness about OA and engage readers interactively using crowdsourcing for topic ideas and tweetups with featured authors.
Welcome Sallie and Jason! This is an exciting moment for Open Anthropology.
