Michael Louis Blakey

The Commission on the Ethical Treatment of Human Remains (TCETHR), co-chaired by Michael Blakey (William & Mary) and Deborah Thomas (University of Pennsylvania) has been charged by the American Anthropological Association to review current thinking and established practices, to deliberate and report on these in order to recommend best ethical practices in the handling of all human remains for research and teaching (see Liebow letter). This proposal is to obtain funding in support of Global Listening Visits to assess the thinking of descendant communities/culturally affiliated groups and colleagues working with those group’s ancestral remains in different parts of the world. We understand these visits to constitute a kind of “Listening Tour,” and consider them the beginnings of longer-term conversations that will culminate with a gathering at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the fall of 2023. The first three (3) ‘listening visits’ (Australia, Japan, and South Africa) will constitute the pilot sessions to be completed under the proposed grant.