Activities
Annual Conference
Each year in April, 750 or more social scientists gather for the association's annual conference. At a typical conference held over three and one-half days, participants, organized in some 30 sections and affiliated groups, present 800 papers at 300 disciplinary and interdisciplinary panel sessions. Five affiliated organizations --Borderlands Studies, Canadian Studies, Economics: AFIT, Land Grant Studies and Slavic Studies--meet concurrently with WSSA. Visit this year's conference page.
Through its interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary commitment, WSSA offers an alternative to the tendency toward parochial scholarship and provides a means for social scientists, regardless of intellectual persuasion or scholarly enthusiasm, to communicate. To facilitate involvement, the various sections and affiliated groups organize their own conference panels under the general guidance of the Association's President-Elect.
The Social Science Journal
The Social Science Journal, the official journal of the WSSA, is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, quarterly journal. It is dedicated to the promotion of scholarly research. Social science is interpreted in the classical sense and we accept the idea that scholarship appears in a variety of methodological forms.
All articles are refereed. Theoretical as well as speculative articles are considered as fully as those using extensive statistical analyses. The major concern is the quality of work rather than approach or method. In addition to articles, the journal publishes research notes and book reviews. Issue number four each year is a special issue focusing on a particular theme or area of study. For more information, please contact the editor at the address below.
Editor, Social Science Journal
N. Prabha Unnithan
Department of Sociology
Colorado State University
Ft. Collins, CO 80523
Office: (970) 491 6615
Email: prabha@lamar.colostate.edu
Book Reviews for the Social Science Journal
The Social Science Journal publishes book reviews for the various social science disciplines the social sciences and in the fields represented by the affiliated sections of the Western Social Science Association. Any scholar interested in being considered to write a book review should contact:Book Review Editor, Social Science Journal
Rich Greene
Department of Geography
Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL 60115
Office Phone: 815 753 6851
Fax 815 753 6827
Email: rgreene@niu.edu
WSSA News
The WSSA News is published three times each year by the WSSA. It contains items of interest to members, including the late summer "call for conference papers," information about the spring conference and other items
Fall 2009
Spring 2009
Fall 2008
Spring 2008
Fall 2007
Spring 2007
Fall 2006
Spring 2006
Fall 2005
Spring 2005
Winter 2004
Fall 2004
Spring 2004
Winter 2003
Fall 2003
Spring 2003
Other Publications
The association also publishes a Conference Program and Abstracts of conference papers. Pre-registered attendees receive a copy of the Conference Program in the mail. Programs are available for persons who register on site. Persons may pick up the Abstracts at the meeting or review and download them from this web site.
Current Conference Program and Abstracts will be found on the Conference web site. Past conference programs at abstracts can be found here.
Student Paper Competition
Each year, undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to enter outstanding papers in this competition. A committee selects three papers for cash awards. Winning students also receive a one-year membership in WSSA and waiver of the annual conference fee. Their papers are eligible for publication in the SSJ and may be presented on an appropriate panel at the spring conference. Visit the information for this year's student competition.