Anthropology Day 2024 At A Glance
This year’s AnthroDay (February 15) saw a continuation of virtual celebrations and in-person events. This summary outlines some of the unique and fun ways participants celebrated anthropology, as well as the social media activity for the day.
Official Anthropology Day Participants*
Representing 17 countries and regions: United States, Columbia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal, Jamaica, India, Italy, Australia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Poland, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, England
Total registered groups: 197
- 148 Departments/Clubs at Universities and community colleges
- 21 K-12 Schools/Programs
- 28 (Businesses, museums, and other groups not affiliated with a university
*This number only includes groups that registered their events with AAA and is not all encompassing of event participation.
Matchmaking Program
Every year we offer a matchmaking program for AnthroDay where we partner K-12 schools with anthropologists and anthropology clubs to deliver age-appropriate, interactive presentations in their classrooms. A total of 40 K-12 classes were matched with an anthropologist or anthropology student for a presentation. There were 33 volunteers this year.
AAA Sponsored Webinars
- AnthroDay Kick-Off Event: AAA Executive Director’s Journey in Anthropology – February 8 6:00-7:00 PM
- 60 registrants with around 15-20 participants
Podcast Partners – Episodes on or around AnthroDay
- The Familiar Strange – World Anthropology Day with Dr Noel Salazar
- Anthro to UX (Matt Artz)
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Anthropotamus – Anthropology Podcast
K-12 Unessay Contest
AAA hosted the third AnthroDay Unessay Contest for K-12 students. Unlike a traditional essay competition, this event invites students to choose the format and product they submit. Students are encouraged to think creatively about the topic and respond to the prompt in a way that is meaningful to them. For example, students may choose to submit a poem, artwork, song, etc., as well as a traditional essay. The 2024 topic was technology.
90 students submitted entries in the 2024 Unessay Contest. Winning pieces were selected for publication on the Anthropology News website and will receive a $50.00 gift card.
- Winner for grades 6-8: Choices by Reet Gupta (8th grade), NPS International School Singapore
- Winner for grades 9-12: Digital Water Flows to Everyone by Xinyu Zhou (11th grade), United World College, Changshu, China
- Grades 9-12 runner-up: From Darkness to Infiniteby Hanyi Zhou (9th grade), Chinese International School, Hong Kong (also on YouTube)
Microgrant Program
For the first time, AAA offered small one-time grants to apply toward the cost of hosting an Anthropology Day event. Grant funding comes from small donations from the AAA community. Last year, we raised $400 for the program. There were 15 applications and $50 was awarded to 4 participants
Popular Events
- AnthroDay Milano – Three days of programming starting on February 15 with more than 80 events organized in Milan and, for the first time, also in Turin.
- Anne Arundel Community College – Hosting the virtual event Anthropology and International Development February 15 at 12:30 PM ET
- Anthropour AnthroDay2023 – February 16 5pm IST (Details)
- Anthropology: PS “It is personal to me”, Agency in Objects: Looking at the mundane, Reading of Ethnography: Contemporary relevanc
- The Lens of Anthropology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Bangladesh
- Workshop on Environmental Anthropology and Climate Action (SDG 13) with panel discussion
- Discussion on Contemporary Anthropology