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Biological Anthropology Section Home About Officers Bylaws Officer’s Handbook Minutes & Reports Awards Distinguished Lecture W.W. Howells Book Award Student Poster/Paper Award Resources Job Search Teaching Resources Blog List Related Organizations BAS supports AABA statement in support of trans lives Featured | By Katie Lee on March 21, 2024 The American Association of Biological Anthropologists, the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, the Dental Anthropology Association, the Paleopathology Association, The PaleoAnthropology Society, the Biological Anthropology Section of the American Anthropological Association, and the Human Biology Association stand together against the escalating legislation and governance in the United States and across the globe that attacks the existence of transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse peoples. We affirm the power of all persons to make the ultimate decisions over what happens to our/their own bodies. We oppose legislation that is rooted in and maintains rigid binary conceptions of sex and gender which impact reproductive justice and access to care for everyone. We condemn the biological essentialism driving much of this legislation. As biological anthropologists, we condemn the historical role of our discipline in producing binaries of sex, gender, and sexuality and are committed to work that enacts a more livable world. We condemn discrimination and denial of healthcare for youth and adults, including care that is gender and life affirming. We stand for the lives of transgender, non-binary, gender and sex diverse, and queer communities. This statement was authored by Samantha Archer, Zachary DuBois, Alexandra Kralick, and Rick Smith; was unanimously accepted by the AABA Executive Committee; and was concurrently approved by the Executive Committees of the AAAG, DAA, PPA, PAS, AAA BAS, and HBA in November, 2023. (This statement is copied verbatim from the AABA site: link to AABA statement ) This entry is filed under BAS News . 2024 AAA Submissions By Katie Lee on March 21, 2024 This year we will be organizing a session of student presentations and will give awards for best student presentations. To be eligible for BAS awards, students must be part of this session! To be included in this session and therefore eligible for awards, students MUST notify Program Chair (to be announced by early 2024) that they have submitted individual presentations for the BAS section. We encourage you to consider organizing sessions in affiliation with BAS or joint sessions with BAS and other organizations (which means we can sponsor more sessions!). The BAS Program Committee is happy to provide feedback to anyone considering a submission for AAA or to answer any questions. Information about the AAA annual meeting can be found here . This entry is filed under BAS News , Student Paper/Poster Award . AAA Biological Anthropology Section (BAS) Statement on the MOVE Remains By Holly Dunsworth on May 18, 2021 The Executive Committee of the Biological Anthropology Section of the American Anthropological Association restates its commitment to the ethical and respectful treatment of human remains. We express solidarity with the joint statement from The Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA), The Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA), and The Black in Bioanthropology Collective (BiBA) 1 . Recently, the Penn Museum committed to repatriate the remains of Black Philadelphians and others who were taken almost two centuries ago by Samuel Morton for racist science that constitutes the foundations of physical anthropology in the United States. Only weeks later, we learned that some remains of Africa family members murdered in the 1985 police bombing of West Philadelphia were left in the custody of Alan Mann at the Penn Museum with hope of achieving a definitive identification, transferred to Princeton University with him, and recently used by Penn curator Janet Monge as part of an online course about forensic methods. While the specific identities of these remains have been a continued matter of debate among forensic scientists, the Africa family has been clear about the harms these actions have caused ( Move Press Conference ). Meaningful actions are needed to address the demands of the Africa family and our colleagues in ABA, SBA, and BiBA, and we understand that some efforts are already underway. At the same time, we recognize that these problems extend far beyond any one scientist, one institution, one city, or one discipline. We must therefore work for broad systemic change and move to disrupt and upend the historical ties between anthropology and state-sanctioned anti-Black violence. The work of Morton – along with the work of many other physical anthropologists – wrongfully provided scientific justification for chattel slavery and helped sustain post-emancipation forms of anti-Black violence to the present. This body of science helped shore up the racist systems and structures of power that made anti-Black brutality such as the MOVE bombing possible. These histories are not separate and disconnected, but interdependent. We therefore recognize that the prolonged possession and use of the Africa family’s remains – and the forensic standards that inform these decisions – are simultaneously outcomes and continuations of systemic violence. Furthermore, just as the practices of racial science are not new, neither are critiques of it. There have been nearly two centuries of sustained Black criticism of such work 2,3 , with the recent calls for repatriation of the Morton collection and the MOVE remains being the latest iteration. It is critical that we acknowledge these critiques and not erase or deny long-standing efforts to make us grapple with the consequences of our science. The pain and suffering expressed by the Africa family makes clear how urgently change is needed. We assert that the use and display of human remains obtained by violent or dubious means, retained beyond their original scope, or used for purposes other than those which descendant or stakeholder communities have explicitly allowed must end. It is incumbent upon all biological anthropologists to scrutinize our practices and those of our institutions in relation to human remains, including their use in research, teaching, and non-academic contexts. We recommend that evaluations of institutional holdings and practices involving human remains become a standard part of departmental and institutional external reviews. We must also take steps to correct any questionable, problematic, or unethical practices and develop effective institutional policies and community relations to better govern future work with human remains. However, because research on human remains does not legally constitute human subjects research in the U.S., this work is considered exempt from Institutional Review Board oversight. Anthropologists therefore need to move beyond these minimally required institutional protections. Existing bioethical frameworks can help guide these efforts, but because contemporary bioethics was designed for research involving living human subjects, these frameworks are not, by themselves, sufficient. Incorporating anti-racist ethical standards is necessary. This is not to say that all research involving human remains must end – decolonial and anti-racist anthropology have a long history and are rapidly expanding areas of work. But our discipline is built on a foundation of bones and bodies. Let that foundation shift, crack, and unsettle as it is emptied of remains that were obtained through – and sustain – anti-Black and other forms of colonial violence. On that unsettled ground, we can work towards better relations with and for those who want to work with us, and together seek a less violent and more life-affirming future. — 1 Concerning the Possession and Unethical Use of the Remains of the Children of MOVE and the Africa Family: A Collective Statement from the...