Aging & the Life Course
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By Dave Ekerdt, Section Chair Research Groups (formerly Research Committees) have been part of the Aging and the Life Course Section’s activities since 1990. In that time, many Section members have participated in Research Groups, networked, made good professional friends, and had a regular place on the annual meeting program. Groups have formed around such themes as parent-child relations, aging well, the life course, Alzheimer’s disease, comparative aging, work and retirement, qualitative research, gender, bioethics, race and ethnicity, and other topics. Lately, however, Research Groups have been harder to sustain, raising questions about their future form. In the late 1980’s, John Williamson proposed that the Section host “Research Committees” as another way summer for people to engage in the Section, the annual meeting, and their substantive specialty. Modeled on similar 2003 committees in other organizations, he imagined them as meeting in conjunction with the Section’s Roundtable session. By August 1990, five groups had organized themselves and met during the ASA annual meeting. Section Council appointed John (and later others) to coordinate the activity and give it some year- to-year continuity. Inside… About eight or nine Research Groups, as they were now called, met annually in the ensuing years. One Getting more out of ASA issue of the Section newsletter described their activities this way: “In many cases, the Research Group meeting at the Section’s Roundtable session is an informal discussion of (a) what research those present are Section schedule for the doing or planning, (b) recent books and articles of interest, (c) ideas for possible funding sources, and (d) annual meeting where the cutting edge is and what research needs to be done next. With some of the committees, formal papers are presented; with others the session is more an informal discussion. In some cases, those present News of members exchange drafts of papers for comment between meetings. We hope that eventually some participants will co-author articles, books, and grant proposals. Each group has a great deal of autonomy with respect to New publications & what actually goes on at and between meetings.” reading recommendations Note the key features of this activity: A Section-appointed coordinator who oversees the integrity of the Announcements groups and publicizes them; groups conducting themselves with informality and autonomy; and Research Group participants enjoying the advantage of their name in the program. In addition, ASA had a planning format for its annual meeting that easily accommodated the Research Groups meeting during the Refereed Roundtable session. Home Page: In the last few years, things have changed. First, there has been no Section-appointed coordinator, leaving www.asanet.org/ Section Council scrambling to supervise the Research Groups on an ad hoc basis. Second, ASA has phased in an online submission system for the annual meeting that admits only paper-based submissions. This has sectionaging steered the Research Groups toward paper presentations and away from the informality and flexibility that was their hallmark. Newsletter Editor To address these changes, Section Council at its August meeting will discuss—with input from the Research Laurie R. Hatch Groups and other Section members—a hierarchy of questions. First, should the Section continue to sponsor, Dept. of Sociology host, and affirm the value of Research Groups? If the answer is yes, we will need to restore a coordinator Univ. of Kentucky or coordinating committee. Second, assuming that the Research Groups will continue, how should they Lexington, KY 40506-0027 meet? They can meet in conjunction with the Refereed Roundtables, as we have done since 1990, but tel.: 859-257-4413 working through the online submission system will continue to challenge us. Alternatively, they can meet at fax: 859-323-1956 another time during the ASA meeting, which could restore their informality but might also be less conve- nient. email: [email protected] We would welcome any Section member’s comments on this topic, especially if you have had a stake or interest in Research Groups over the years. You can direct your ideas to David Ekerdt at [email protected]. Getting More Out of ASA: Advice for Students and Other Newcomers By Joy Pixley and Adam Perzynski Graduate Student Representatives, Aging & the Life Course Section Council Academic conferences can be fun and rewarding experiences. They provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about the latest research activities, find resources for your own research and teaching, touch base with colleagues and friends, and meet others in your field. The sheer size and breadth of the ASA annual meetings mean that this conference offers more of all of these benefits than smaller conferences. Yet that same large size leaves some newcomers feeling overwhelmed. In particular, students and other junior members may feel isolated and find it difficult to meet people. As the student representatives to the ALC Council, we’d like to help newcomers get the most out of ASA. We looked around for the best advice we could find, and here we summarize many pages of hints and suggestions from both senior and junior members of the ALC. We hope you find something useful! Planning ahead What you do before the conference can substantially enhance your experiences once you’re there. If you know you’d like to talk with a particular person during the conference, try emailing them a couple of weeks in advance to set up an appointment. Explain why you want to meet with them: for instance, you may have a quick methodological question, or hope to get their input on a project that is related to something they’ve done, or want to know more about their program. Students, consider talking to your advisors about the conference. He or she probably knows some of the senior level people you’d like to meet and can be sure to introduce you or to invite you along for dinner plans with them. Before the conference, go over the online program to identify activities that you want to be sure not to miss. The program lists presenta- tions as well as scheduled receptions and business meetings. Don’t forget to mark the ALC Section sessions and business meeting! (See pages 4-8 of this newsletter.) Plan to go to a variety of activities; interspersing paper sessions with roundtables, poster sessions, exhibits, meetings, and breaks helps to maintain your energy and interest level. Look up listings for the people you would most like to meet. You might want to review their latest articles ahead of time, and think about a quick question or two you could ask them that would show both interest in and familiarity with their work. Meeting people Students sometimes focus on meeting “famous” people at conferences, but fellow sociologists who are less well known may make better contacts in the long run. Keep an eye out for other section members, who are likely to have similar research interests, and especially for other students and junior faculty working in your field. Don’t underestimate the importance of making contacts with other people at your level: these are the colleagues you will be seeing at conferences and working with on projects and committees for the rest of your career! Some ASA activities are better for meeting people than others. Take advantage of the many receptions held every evening. Get more involved by coming to Section business meetings and social events. This year