• Startseite
• Recherche
• Veröffentlichen
• Hilfe

Eingang zum Volltext

Lizenz

Bitte beziehen Sie sich beim Zitieren dieses Dokumentes immer auf folgende
URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-opus-76036
URL: http://www.freidok.uni-freiburg.de/volltexte/7603/

Buhl, Christiane A. ; Engel, Felix ; Hartung, Linda ; Kästner, Mareen ; Rüdell, Alexandra ; Weißhaar, Christian
Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie

Proceedings of the 4th Meeting of Junior Scientists in Anthropology : Freiburg im Breisgau 25. bis 28. März = Beiträge zum 4. Kongress des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses der Anthropologie

Kurzfassung in Mehrsprachig

For a scientific field to blossom, it needs dedicated researchers who continuously further the field. To retain its vitality and ensure its existence, there always needs to be a next generation of scientists to continue on the path of those currently defining the field while contributing new ideas and approaches. For a discipline covering a broad scope of research, based in diverse university departments and often institutionally underrepresented, as is the case with anthropology in the German-speaking countries, it is crucial for those young scientists to communicate and to have a common platform. Such a platform is provided by the Junior Scientist section of the Gesellschaft für Anthropologie (GfA) in which students and young researchers are organized and represented. By acknowledging the next generation as part of their professional society, the junior scientists' needs and their efforts are always visible to the GfA, and the young anthropologists are very active and enthusiastic. Since 2004, the section is holding meetings specifically designed for junior scientists in anthropology that alternate with the biannual international GfA conferences. Those meetings serve to learn about study and work opportunities and establish fruitful networks early in their participants' careers. In discussing current as well as future issues in anthropology, next-generation scientists have a chance to collectively meet the challenges that lie ahead.

The idea has been well-received and the meetings have attracted young anthropologists in all stages of their education and with many different interests. The 4th Meeting for Junior Scientists in Anthropology took place in Freiburg, March 25 to 28, 2010. For four days, 52 attendees and three invited key lecturers devotedly discussed the field of anthropology and its research areas and applications. The 2010 meeting is notable for comparably high international attendance. The participating junior scientists came from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and the U.S. Our three key lecturers joined us from Freiburg (Prof. Dr. Ursula Wittwer-Backofen), the United Kingdom (Dr. Christian Klingenberg) and Italy (Dr. Andrea Cardini). The diversity of backgrounds stimulated a thriving communication and resulted in the establishment of many, hopefully lasting, ties.

Traditional areas of research in physical anthropology, such as prehistoric anthropology and paleopathology, saw many contributions in the form of presentations and posters. A session on forensic anthropology, a popular field especially among junior scientists, and a section on ethics and history of anthropology contributed to the broad scope of topics. A new aspect of the 2010 meeting was the introduction of a key issue, namely Geometric Morphometrics. The idea was to introduce attendees to promising methods that are not yet widespread in use among anthropologists, and to initiate a discussion about those methods and their potential use in the future. The methods of modern morphometrics open up a vast field of opportunities for physical anthropologists, as they allow to grasp the shape of a complex configuration of points (representing a biological feature) mathematically. Thus it is possible to extract statistical information not only adressing a set of points but a shape as a whole.

In the accompanying conference volume, we assembled the contributions of thirteen young researchers to the 4th Meeting of Junior Scientists in Anthropology. The following eleven articles span the range of topics discussed in Freiburg and exemplify the vitality and drive of the next-generation anthropologists.