Milk at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association

Are you an anthropologist? Are you going to be in Chicago for the meetings in a couple weeks? Love lactation research? And most importantly, do you like getting up super early in the morning?

MOTHERS, MILKS, AND MEANING: INNOVATIONS IN STUDYING LACTATION, INFANT FEEDING, AND DEVELOPMENTAL ECOLOGY in HUMANS AND NONHUMAN PRIMATES

Thursday, November 21, 2013: 8:00 AM-11:45 AM

Barbershop (Renaissance Blackstone Hotel)

From the abstract: “The goal of this panel is to bring together a range of anthropologists specializing in human and non-human primate lactation and breastfeeding to bridge this gap and explore the biological, sociocultural and structural concepts that characterize infant and juvenile feeding among humans and primates. This panel serves as an opportunity for the exchange of new ideas and novel methodology, while facilitating an increased understanding of how physiology, behavior, and social practices are reshaping our understanding of milk and breastfeeding and how an anthropological perspective can inform the science of infant feeding while providing useful information for informing policy and promoting improved infant feeding practices.”

This kickass transdisciplinary session was organized by Alyson G. Young & Elizabeth A. Quinn and I am getting crazy excited!

The Line-Up:

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8:00 AM Feeding Infants and Young Children: New Tools for Supporting Ancient Needs- Daniel W Sellen(University of Toronto)

8:15 AM Mother’s Milk: Insights From Rhesus Monkeys- Katie Hinde (Harvard University)

 Hanuman, Hindu Deity

also, consider yourself warned, in honor of my first AAA meeting, 

I am going to go overboard w/ anthropological art in this post.

8:30 AM Seasonality, Breast Milk Bioactives, and Infant Growth- Robin M Bernstein (University of Colorado, Boulder), Sophie Moore (MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, MRC Keneba, The Gambia) and Andrew Prentice (MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, MRC Keneba, The Gambia)

8:45 AM Urbanizing Milk: Detecting Evidence of Nutritional Transitions in Human Milk- Elizabeth A Quinn(Washington University)

Mother-infant dyads in Korea, early 1900s

9:00 AM Maternal Perceptions of Breastmilk Quality, Breastfeeding Decisions, and Child Growth Among Agropastoral Datoga- Alyson G Young (University of Florida)

Peter Paul Rubens, Garden of Love (detail), 1633-1634

9:15 AM Exploring the Effects of Lactation and Birth Spacing On Maternal BMI Trajectories and Infant Birth Weight in 59 Low and Middle Income Countries- Ashley Kirsten Hagaman (Arizona State University, School of Human Evolution and Social Change) and Daniel J Hruschka (Arizona State University, School of Human Evolution and Social Change)

9:30 AM Discussant Andrea S Wiley (Indiana University)

9:45 AM - 10:00 AM A well-earned Mini-Break

10:00 AM When to Wean: A Life History Perspective On Duration of Lactation in Humans and Nonhuman Primates -Lauren Milligan Newmark(Smithsonian Institution) and Gregory Blomquist (University of Misouri)

10:15 AM Breastfeeding, Distinction, and Cultural Capital in a Community in the American South- Michelle Satcher (University of Alabama)

10:30 AM- What Factors Predict Optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in a ‘traditional Breastfeeding population’?- Melanie A Martin (University of California, Santa Barbara), Michael Gurven (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Hillard Kaplan (University of New Mexico)

10:45 AM The Costs of Breastfeeding: Moral Motherhood and Ideas of Value in the United States- Sarah L Sobonya (Washington University in St. Louis)

Moche ceramic vessel of a woman breastfeeding

11:00 AM Breastfeeding and the Practice of Mothering Among Refugees- Erin Peregrine Antalis (University of Illinois)

11:15 AM Appropriate Methodologies for Mapping the Biocultural Determinants of Infant Feeding Practices in the Context of HIV in Limited-Resource Settings- Sera L Young(Cornell University) and Emily G Tuthill (University of Connecticut)

11:30 AM Discussant Penny Van Esterik (York University)

word cloud from abstract & talks in the session (wordle.net)

See you in Chicago!