Session Types Available for the MSS Annual Meeting

We welcome all submissions with a sociological focus. In particular, we encourage submissions that address this year’s theme. 

Series options are offered to highlight three specific areas of interest:

• High School Sociology issues on Friday March 14th;
• Community College Issues on Thursday March 13th; and
• Students: Undergraduate and Graduate Issues on Sunday March 16th.

Open sessions are available for individuals submitting their own work for presentation. These submissions will be organized into small groups for official presentation. Open sessions types include: Papers, Posters, Roundtables, Teaching Techniques, and Spark Talks.

Closed/complete sessions proposals are available for workshops, complete panels or other closed sessions on any sociological topic. For these sessions, organizers select topics and identify all presenters in advance of submitting their proposal. All presenters should agree to participate before the organizer submits a proposal. We welcome proposals for sessions in all subfields of sociology including research and teaching topics, as well as professional development sessions or workshops. Closed sessions types include: Papers, Roundtables, Panels, Workshops, Academics-Community-Partnered Projects, Academics-Meet-Activists, and Author-Meets-Critics.

Individual Participation is available in three areas: panelists, authors, and critics. If you are interested in providing your expertise as a panelist, author, or critic, you are invited to submit to these options. 

Series Options

Open Sessions

Individual Formal Paper Session

These formal sessions include the presentation of completed papers. Though presenters only submit an abstract, session presiders may request completed papers by March 1. Presiders may serve as discussants or may recruit others to do so. Individual papers will be grouped with papers of similar topics to form a complete session. Note that there is a general list of topics for submission as well as Open Call Paper Sessions that can be reviewed for submission. These sessions are open for all to submit.

In the spirit of exploring multiple modalities for presentation and technology formats, including using apps/smart devices to distribute presentation notes, we are here to support you.  If you know you will not be using hotel AV equipment (projector/screen equipment) for your presentation, please indicate that upon submission.  Note that our conference meeting app also allows for presentations and handouts to be uploaded.

Roundtable Sessions

This less formal and smaller session type is appropriate for presentation and discussion of research proposals and works in progress. This format gives scholars who are in the early research stages a formal opportunity to present their research. These roundtables provide a low stress opportunity to receive feedback on initial research ideas, pilot studies, research restarts, and other works in progress. Unlike formal paper presentations, roundtables focus on discussion among participants rather than formal presentation styles. Audio-visual not available.  

Teaching Techniques

Submit your Good Ideas for Teaching Sociology (GIFTS). Rather than presenting scholarship on teaching and learning (SoTL) these submissions are 5-7 minute presentations which focus on a teaching technique and its implementation in the classroom. We encourage submissions from all levels of teaching, from high school to community college to four year institutions. 

Poster Presentations 

Posters are visual presentations of research work illustrating a research question, methods and outcomes. Posters will be displayed during scheduled time slots and presenters will discuss their research with other meeting attendees. Audio-visual not available. 

Spark Talks (previously Innovative Presentations, powered by Pecha Kucha)

This is a face-paced, visually-oriented, presentation format designed to spark lively audience discussions. Presenters are limited to 8 minutes and are required to include between 15-20 slides during their talk.

Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition for Graduate and Undergraduate Students  

Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a research communication competition that challenges students to describe their research topic and its significance in just 3 minutes to a general audience. 3MT was developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) and has spread to over 18 countries and 200 universities worldwide. Students are allowed to use one static slide, and no additional transitions, animation, embedded video, or props. Presentations are all spoken word, and exclude songs and theatrical performances Background, examples, and “How To’s” available at https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/. Students who participate in 3MT will receive rules and instructions for the competition from the session presider. The competition is judged and prizes are awarded!  

NEW THIS YEAR! We're inviting professors and professionals to submit for 3MT this year, too! Dust off those thesis papers and dissertations and share your work in a unique format!

Closed Sessions

Closed Paper Session 

These sessions should have between three and five participants who present completed papers on a predetermined topic. Chosen presenters will send completed papers to their session organizer by March 1. Session organizers may serve as presiders and discussants or may recruit others to do so. This is a closed session submission.

Panel Session*

Organizers will invite three to five panelists to present on a shared area of expertise or interest. While panelists make formal presentations, they are generally not the empirical reports that predominate in paper sessions. The organizer moderates discussion between the panelists and with the audience. This is a closed session submission. Audio-visual must be requested in advance.

Academics-Community-Partnered Projects Session

Have you worked in partnership with community members, or do you know a group of community members who have participated in research projects?  This session type provides an opportunity for you to share the work being done with community partners and how that work is impacting the field of sociology and/or the community. This is a closed session submission. Audio-visual must be requested in advance.

Author-Meets-Critics Session*

An author and three to five critics participate in a lively discussion about a recently-published sociological work. This is a closed session submission. Audio-visual must be requested in advance.

Academics-Meet-Activists Session

Similar to Author-Meets-Critic session, an invited activist or organization and academic(s) discuss the intersections of academic research and activist initiatives around social movement/social justice issues. This is a closed session submission. Audio-visual must be requested in advance.

Scholars Meet Students

This interactive session is designed to bridge the gap between established sociologists and aspiring undergraduate and graduate students. This unique exchange allows for direct dialogue and mentorship. Scholars will share insights on current research trends, educational opportunities and career paths, while students have the opportunity to ask questions and receive guidance on their academic journey. This is a closed session submission. Audio-visual must be requested in advance.

 Authors Meet Teachers

Authors Meet Teachers is an engaging session that intends to bring together published sociologists and teachers (high school and college level) to explore how academic research and writing can be effectively translated into engaging lessons for students. The forum aims to foster a mutually beneficial exchange, where authors gain insights into the practical challenges of teaching sociology, and teachers receive guidance on incorporating cutting-edge sociological perspectives into their classrooms. This is a closed session submission. Audio-visual must be requested in advance.

Workshop

Workshops are often interactive professional development opportunities facilitated by organizers and are often participatory sessions. Workshops generally form around topics related to teaching, publishing, technology, data analysis, and administration. This is a closed session submission.

*Individual Participation

Panel Participants

A submission of this type provides the planning team with information that you are willing to serve as a member of a panel on a topic pertaining to your area(s) of expertise. By submitting to this, you are putting your name on a list of experts, on a range of topics, for us to use in helping closed session panel organizers and the conference planning team find people who can be added to fill panels. We invite all conference participants to submit their names for consideration by indicating areas of expertise they would be willing to share in a panel format.

Authors

Submit your book for an author-meets-critics session and we will help match you with critics!  If you submit to this category, please make sure that critic participants have access to your book via a publisher or other means of distribution.

Critics

If you have interest in serving as a session critic, providing valuable feedback on content, theory, methodology, and/or teachability of a new book in one of your areas of interest, please consider submitting to the conference as a potential book critic.  Please submit to the portal, with a short description of book topics/interest areas you’d be interested in reviewing.