Letter from the president

Hylland Eriksen

Dear EASA members,

Following the election of a new Executive Committee, a handover meeting between the old and new Executives was organised in Milan on 9-10 March. We also met with the local organising committee of EASA2016, were showed around the spacious Bicocca campus, and started to make plans for next year's conference. We thank the previous Executive Committee, represented in Milan by outgoing President Noel B. Salazar and outgoing Vice-President Jeanette Edwards, for having left us an organisation in excellent shape.

There is considerable continuity in the new Executive Committee. Hana Cervinkova serves her second term, now as Vice-President, and the Secretary, Alberto Corsin Jimenez, and the Treasurer, Rachael Gooberman-Hill, have agreed to continue on the Exec. The new members are Valeria Siniscalchi (Marseille), Paolo Favero (Antwerp), Niko Besnier (Amsterdam) and Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Oslo, President). In keeping with EASA traditions, the journal editor is a co-opted member of the Exec., and currently, Patrick Laviolette (Tallinn) represents Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale in the Committee, the other editor being Sarah Green (Helsinki).

Our main priority in the coming two years consists in making contributions to strengthening the position of anthropology at all levels in Europe. Many departments have experienced a decline in student numbers, and the public visibility of anthropology – inside and outside academia – currently leaves a lot to be desired. The recent decision in the UK to cancel anthropology as an A Level subject (see separate item in this Newsletter) has led to strong reactions throughout the anthropological community, and indicates both the existence of a problem and a widespread desire to address it. We hope to be able to make a perceptible difference in the coming two years, hoping that we can draw on both the EASA networks and individual members in this endeavour.

The Executive Committee has identified a range of subject areas of central importance to the Association, and to the position of anthropology. These are some of the issues we will be working on:

As our work proceeds, we will report to the members about plans, activities and outcomes.

Building on an older database, we have begun updating and expanding a list of institutions that teach anthropology across Europe, and will eventually contact national associations for assistance. It should also be mentioned that the work with the physical EASA Archive, stored at the RAI, continues, largely thanks to a generous grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in Prague on 14 October. In addition to the actual members’ meeting, we will have keynote lectures and a workshop. The theme is the situation of anthropology in Europe in the 21st century; how we are doing, what we have to offer to the world, and how we can improve and learn from experiences in other countries (see also separate item in this Newsletter).

Do not hesitate to contact us with queries or suggestions – we are at your service. And, last but not least, I hope to see as many as possible of you in Prague in October.

Yours sincerely
Thomas Hylland Eriksen