A Successful Annual Conference in San Francisco

The April 2023 annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in San Francisco, California, was a great success, bringing together the largest group of participants since before the pandemic. In total, there were 1278 individuals listed as paper presenters, discussants, and chairs. Almost 1000 participants joined us in person in San Francisco, more than 40 percent greater than our 2022 Portland conference. The program included 258 panels, four pre-conference workshops, four mini-conferences, two keynote speakers, and several great receptions. Give that some WPSA members understandably remain reluctant to travel because of the continuing challenges with Covid-19, we had great turnout and a fabulous event.

Nominate outstanding papers. If you came across an outstanding paper during the conference, whether on your panel or one you attended, we encourage you to nominate it for one of the association’s awards. Colleagues who do good work deserve to be recognized for their achievement, so please take a moment to let us know about especially good papers. For graduate students and new faculty, an award can be particularly valuable, helping them in getting an academic job and being promoted. We will soon be listing the chairs of all the awards committees. For now, the best place to send nominations is to Richard Clucas at hprc@pdx.edu. To find out about the different awards, follow this link: https://www.wpsanet.org/award/.

The annual meeting may be over, but there is another way to remain engaged. The WPSA may only put on a large conference once a year, but it does offer another way to be engaged with other scholars. The WPSA Virtual Communities (VC) Program brings academics together in live online events throughout the year. These events include traditional panels, colloquia, reading or writing groups, social events, and more. Currently, there are ten VCs focusing on topics ranging from Contemporary Feminist Theory to Educational Politics and Policy to Interpretive Methods in Political Science. Each community is led by two or more co-chairs and meets about once a month. All VCs are welcoming new members. Participation is included in regular WPSA membership dues; there is also a VC-only membership. To see the calendar of upcoming events, and to register for one or more VCs, check out the VC Program website at https://www.wpsanet.org/virtual/wpsavc.php. For general information about the program, including how to launch a VC, please contact Mark Brown at mark.brown@csus.edu.

Find out what is new with the WPSA and its members. The spring 2023 edition of The Western, the WPSA newsletter, is now available on our website at https://www.wpsanet.org/publication/thewestern.php. Catch up on WPSA news and find out what members are doing. One of the highlights of this edition is a section with contributions from the editors of several journals, which are of interest to WPSA members. The editors share news about their publications and discuss the types of submissions that they are looking for.

Get your passport now for the 2024 conference. The 2024 annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver, British Columbia. The deadline for proposals will be right after the American Political Science Association meeting in September. If you are planning to join us, make sure your passport is up-to-date soon. According to the U.S. State Department, it is currently taking between 10 to 13 weeks to get a passport. It is a bit shorter if you pay to have the process expedited, but it still may take 9 weeks.

WPSA 75th Anniversary Fundraising Campaign Continues

As part of the WPSA’s 75th Anniversary, the association launched a $100,000 fundraising campaign to create a travel endowment. In October, the WPSA executive council voted to name the travel award after Elsa Favila, the association’s long-serving associate director. The association is continuing the fundraising campaign. If you have not contributed yet, please do so. Every year, the WPSA offices get request from graduate students and faculty who do not have the funding to attend the annual meeting. This will enable us to provide some support. Even small contributions are appreciated!!

Donations to the Association can be made on a one-time only basis or spread out over multiple months or years. The WPSA is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization; as such, your contributions are fully tax-deductible, as permitted by law. To make a donation, please visit the WPSA website at:https://www.wpsanet.org/about/donate.php.