The theme of the 2008 SfAA meeting, “The Public Sphere and Engaged Scholarship: Challenges and Opportunities for Applied Anthropology” will provide our colleagues at local, national, and international levels a venue to highlight the specific contributions of applied anthropologists in the public sphere. In addition, this theme will allow anthropologists to explore innovative ways in which they can participate more prominently in public discourse while addressing pressing human issues in contemporary local and global communities. Needless to say, applied anthropologists have enormous potential to be the public voice of the discipline. This broadly defined theme will attract all those working in collaborative and interdisciplinary settings to shape public policy and improve people’s lives through direct action and community advocacy. This theme will also appeal to professionals in other disciplines who are interested in making an impact within the public sphere, in areas as varied as criminal justice, medicine, education, community development, agriculture, environment, business, and government as well as research on gender, border issues, racial equity, economic disparity, and museum/cultural heritage.
