Dear Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that I write to you now after a very successful conference at the University of Pittsburgh in April 2011. Conference highlights included two plenary speakers, Marcia Landy (University of Pittsburgh) and Simonetta Soldani (University of Florence), a great variety of interdiscliplinary sessions, and sessions on new books from our colleagues. Francesca Savoia organized the conference, which took place at the Campus Holiday Inn, located in the cultural center of Pittsburgh across from the magnificent Cathedral of Learning building, with several museums and historical landmarks just around the corner. Sessions and plenaries were well attended and it was wonderful to see so many of you there.
Our association is in good fiscal shape. I thank all of our members for accepting the raise in dues which supports the publication of our quality journal, our new website, three AAIS book prizes at $500.00 apiece and support for our caucuses and our host institutions in future conferences.
Next year, the AAIS annual conference will be held at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, from May 2-5. Please note my correction here from the announcement on the list-serve. We will indeed be at the COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON in Charleston in a city that is known as the Riviera of the Atlantic Coast. Your conference organizer is planning a series of wonderful events in this beautiful city that has so much to offer. Proposals for sessions and roundtables are accepted through December 1, 2011. Please visit the conference site for more details. We look forward to seeing you in May.
I believe we may have leaders for Gay and Lesbian Caucus, which has been relatively inactive in the past years. Interested members should please continue to contact me so that we can organize sessions for the upcoming conference.
Please click here to view this year’s book prize winners. I encourage all of you to submit your 2011 publications for next year. We now have a Member Publications page, where members can announce their publications. Presses can also advertise several publications at one time but we do ask fee of $100.00 a year for this space.
I thank all of you for your continued support.
Cordiali saluti,
Carol Lazzaro-Weis
President
7 Sept 2011
