Enormous collections followed. In its 86 years, the BAE published numerous bulletins and reports, premier publications in anthropology. Meanwhile, the NMNH's Department of Anthropology focused on adding to and caring for the enormous collections of cultural, physical and biological objects, and organizing exhibitions. Most of these had to do with the Americas. Starting in the 1950s, however, anthropological research and curatorship was extended to the Pacific, Asia and Africa.
All social sciences overlap.
Moreover, the topics and modes of inquiry change. Looking through the program of the November meeting, I was struck by the number of sessions devoted to contemporary subjects and new kinds of inquiries. This is illustrated by the groupings within the American Anthropological Association, which include, for instance, ones concerned with psychological, urban, visual, environmental, feminist and nutritional anthropology. In 1994, our primary academic advisory committee, the Smithsonian Institution Council, presented a complex report that addressed a number of questions including those related to the expanding scope of anthropology. The opportunities are considerable for shaping how the Smithsonian continues to be a major participant in anthropological research and exhibition.