The Western Social Science Association is calling for paper and session proposals for its 54th annual conference April 11-14, 2012, in Houston. The program coordinator for the conference is Tom Isern, University Distinguished Professor of history, who is the organization’s president-elect.
Isern said he is responsible for putting together more than 600 presentations for the three-day conference, and he invites colleagues to consider submitting proposals.
“The association is a house with many rooms. It has sections of the program devoted not only to traditional social science fields such as sociology and political science, but also to a variety of subject specializations like women's studies, Canadian studies, chronic disease and disability, and many others,” said Isern. “The variety of disciplines and subjects addressed means that the meeting is an opportunity not only for people in traditional social science disciplines but also the humanities, the applied human sciences and other areas. I encourage scholars to have a look at the list of sections of the association and see if one of them might suit their interests.”
According to Isern, the association’s motto is “Scholarship, Service and Collegiality.” He describes the conference as a supportive, constructive venue to present research.
“The senior scholars in the association take seriously, too, the responsibility of inducting junior scholars, including graduate students, into the profession. So, the meeting of the WSSA is a terrific venue for networking and mentorship,” Isern said. “The democratic atmosphere of the WSSA is just different from that of the huge, disciplinary conferences.”
In addition, the association is hosting a poster session for the first time.
For the call for papers and information on registration, membership and section coordinators, visit http://wssa.asu.edu. Isern can be contacted at isern@plainsfolk.com.