Travis Hedwig, PhD, MA

University of Alaska Anchorage 
CV

I am running for a board position to help facilitate the same opportunities for students and applied/practicing anthros as the SfAA has provided for me. As a curious and developing applied anthropologist eager to translate what I was learning in the classroom into community, the SfAA was the first professional organization I felt welcomed into. The 2005 meetings in Santa Fe were one of the first opportunities I had to present work to an audience of peers and partners. The SfAA has consistently been one of the most important and supportive professional organizations I have ever been a part of. The mentorship I have received through the SfAA is something I intend to pay forward if elected as a board member. I have a particular interest in demystifying the conference experience for newer members, reducing barriers to participation for all members and partners, and promoting new leadership opportunities and experiences to respond to new and emerging problems in our world. My academic genealogy is explicitly applied (MA in applied cultural anthropology from the University of Alaska Anchorage, PhD in applied medical anthropology from the University of Kentucky) and has been instrumental in helping me translate anthropological perspectives into practice in partnership with communities. My goal is to be accessible and responsive to concerns from the membership while serving to expand our community of practice and advance a scholarship of engagement that is respectful, inclusive, and committed to working across disciplines, perspectives, and ways of being and knowing to better understand and address all manner of contemporary human health and social issues. Thank you for considering my nomination.