March 2009 • Anthropology News 29 PUBLIC AFFAIRS An Association-Wide Ethics Discussion DENA PLEMMONS UC SAN DIEGO ALEX BARKER U MISSOURI To be effective, ethics codes need to be living documents, developed and updated as matters of course (rather than crisis), and periodi- cally reviewed and revised to ensure that they speak directly to the ever-evolving needs and character of the discipline. As was reported in the February 2009 issue of Anthropology News, the AAA Executive Board (EB) appointed a task force to review the association’s Code of Ethics and recommend changes as needed. Although the members of the task force were selected to represent a broad range of constitu- encies and viewpoints, anthropology is never- theless too diverse and inclusive a discipline for all views to be adequately represented by this working group. Thus, members of the task force will solicit opinions and comments from the AAA membership at large, AAA sections, and other related and outside organizations or associations that might have an interest in any proposed revisions, or that could provide broader commentary on proposed changes. We also hope to use this opportunity to accomplish more than revisions to the code. We want to use this period of review to offer a true and rich picture of the contexts in which anthropologists presently work and the role of the code in our association. It is also our hope that this be the first of many regular review periods for the AAA Code of Ethics, to make certain that the code serves as a living docu- ment of real and continuing relevance to all anthropologists. There are important questions to be asked about the relationship between our members and our code of ethics, and we ask these ques- tions with different purposes in mind. The first set of questions concerns not our specific code with its particular content, but a broader and in some ways fundamental examination of how we characterize what codes of ethics should and can do, and what they can not do. How, for example, do we perceive codes of ethics to func- tion for a student, for an individual practitioner, for faculty, or for an organization? Another related but distinct question we might ask is, since the AAA is no longer an organization with an adjudicative function, and there are no puni- tive consequences for violating the code, what, then, can and does our code actually do? What is the function of a code that offers guiding principles rather than enforceable standards? Do we seek a code of ethics or a code of profes- sional practice or responsibility? Is there more than a semantic difference between these? In moving on to ask specific questions about our code and its content, we hope to discover how immediately and intensely we experience the relationship between our code and our prac- tice. We endeavor to ascertain in what ways precisely we use the code in our practice and in our teaching, and how we can make those rela- tionships more relevant. There will be many opportunities provided for the membership to share their opinions, including a member survey, a chance to post comments online, and a call for related articles in AN. But members don’t need to wait for these opportunities to become available in order to get involved. Your views on the ethics code, its revision and the ways its immediacy and relevance can be increased are welcome at any point. Please contact the Committee on Ethics’ staff liaison Damon Dozier (ddozier@aaanet.org) to have your comments forwarded to all members of the task force. Dena Plemmons (UC San Diego) and Alex Barker (U Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology) are members of the AAA Committee on Ethics and the new ethics code task force. Plemmons can be contacted at dplemmons@ucsd.edu and Barker can be contacted at barkeraw@missouri.edu. Lisa Frink, of the AAA Committee on Ethics, is contributing editor of Ethical Currents. She is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and can be contacted at lisa. frink@unlv.edu. ETHICAL CURRENTS AAA Staff Directory Telephone: 703/528-1902 Fax: 703/528-3546 Hours of Operation: M–F 9:00 am–5:00 pm Eastern time; closed on all federal holidays Extension Executive Director’s Office Bill Davis Executive Director 1168 bdavis@aaanet.org Kim Baker Section Lias & Governance Assc 1170 kbaker@aaanet.org Finance & Operations Elaine Lynch Deputy Exec Director/CFO 1166 elynch@aaanet.org Lisa Myers Dir, Information Systems 1176 lmyers@aaanet.org Suzanne Mattingly Controller 1160 smattingly@aaanet.org Kathy Ano Staff Accountant 1161 kano@aaanet.org Pablo Williams Mailroom Srvs/Reception 1162 pwilliams@aaanet.org Richard Thomas Manager, Mem Services 1177 rthomas@aaanet.org Sheron Davis Mem Services Coordinator 1178 sdavis@aaanet.org AAA & Section Meetings Lucille Horn Director 1172 lhorn@aaanet.org Carla Fernandez Meetings Planner 1173 cfernandez@aaanet.org Publishing Department Oona Schmid Director 1174 oschmid@aaanet.org Sharon Stein Asst to Director of Publishing 1175 sstein@aaanet.org Dion P Dears Product Mgr, Digital Pubs 1185 ddears@aaanet.org Dinah Winnick Associate Managing Ed, AN 1184 dwinnick@aaanet.org Amy Goldenberg Production Ed, AN 1186 agoldenberg@aaanet.org Academic Relations Kathleen Terry-Sharp Director 1180 ksharp@aaanet.org Jona Pounds Program Assistant 1181 jpounds@aaanet.org Public Affairs Damon Dozier Director 1163 ddozier@aaanet.org Brian Estes Public Policy Associate 1165 bestes@aaanet.org Lauren Schwartz Media Relations Associate 1164 lschwartz@aaanet.org Practicing and Applied Programs Kathleen Terry-Sharp Director 1180 ksharp@aaanet.org RACE Project Joseph Jones Grant Manager 1171 jjones@aaanet.org Did you know about the Wiley- Blackwell book discount for AAA members? In celebration of its partnership with the AAA, Wiley-Blackwell would like to extend a 25% discount on all Wiley and Wiley- Blackwell books to AAA members. To start saving today, please visit www. wiley.com/go/aaa and enter SOC05 when prompted for a promotion code. Also, remember to bring the promotion code to conferences as the discount applies when shopping at the booth. The promotion code will change annually, so be sure to check AN and the member benefits webpage (www.aaanet.org/membership/ benefits) for updates. This offer does not expire—members are eligible to receive the 25% discount whenever they purchase a book from Wiley or Wiley-Blackwell.