Professor Dame Sue Black

We are delighted to announce that our President, Professor Dame Sue Black has been elevated to the House of Lords, where she will sit as a cross-bench peer. It is a wonderful compliment to anthropology, and the work that she has done in forwarding the discipline, that she should be recognized in this way. In the past, our Presidents have been peers occasionally, such as Lord Avebury, who helped to form the modern institute in 1871, but we believe that this is the first since Lord Raglan, in the 1950s.

The official announcement from Baroness Black's university may be read here: Lancaster Professor and leading forensic anthropologist appointed to the House of Lords | Lancaster University

Call for Panels

Anthropology and Conservation: Virtual Conference

25-29 October 2021

Call for Panels deadline 12 March 2021

We are very pleased to announce the call for panel proposals for a major interdisciplinary conference on Anthropology and Conservation. The aim of the conference is simple: it is increasingly recognised that conservation can only be properly achieved with Indigenous Peoples, in full recognition of their rights. It is therefore urgent that we develop cross-disciplinary understanding not just of conservation, but also of way that conservation and people go together. The conference will be held virtually. The conference was originally proposed by the University of East Anglia’s School of International Development, and we are pleased to welcome as co-organisers alongside UEA: Forest Peoples Programme, the Linnean Society, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the University of Kent’s School of Anthropology and Conservation, the Anthropology and Environment Society (a section of the AAA), Botanic Garden Conservation International and the Society of Ethnobiology.

Read more: Call for Panels

RAI Building Closure

With great sadness, because of the ongoing situation with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be closing the institute’s building on Monday 16 March 2020 indefinitely. All in person events are postponed or cancelled. The RAI’s staff will be continuing to work as usual remotely.

The staff will be continuing to work on the RAI’s future programme and current projects, and we do not anticipate anything other than normal service with regard to our publications.

The quickest way to contact any colleague is by email and we will get back to you as soon as we can.