Political scientists gathered in Montréal, Québec, Canada from September 15-18, 2022, for the 118th Annual Meeting & Exhibition. We acknowledge that our meeting location was on the unceded indigenous lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation, which is known as a gathering place for many First Nations, and we recognize them as custodians of the lands and waters on which we gathered.
We are grateful for the 2022 program chairs, Sherri L. Wallace, University of Louisville, and Pei-te Lien, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) for their outstanding leadership and their timely theme of “Rethink, Restructure, and Reconnect: Towards A Post-Pandemic Political Science” (https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2022/2022-theme-statement/). The excellent program is a reflection of their hard work, as well as the 2022 division chairs, related group chairs, and other volunteers. These volunteers are key to delivering an innovative event, and we are very grateful for their service. We also appreciate the continued support of the event from the APSA community.
2022 Program co-chair, Sherri L. Wallace, noted, “we are very grateful to the divisional chairs who worked collaboratively with us to highlight the conference theme—to rethink almost everything about political science—and create an extraordinarily diverse and inclusive theme panel program at an unprecedented level. From the pre-conference workshop to the mini-conferences, attendees had multiple choices and perspectives to deliberate on topics ranging from systemic inequality in the discipline, the profession in flux, the various impacts of COVID-19, racism in the discipline and curriculum, and critical topics on disability, mental health, Title IX, gender/sexual violence to academic and pedagogical freedom. This was remarkable and historical.”
The program co-chairs put together more than 45 theme panels for the 2022 Annual Meeting. Co-chair Pei-te Lien shared, “We offered roundtable discussions of current and hot topic issues in American Politics—Title IX, abortion rights, voting rights, immigration, and critical race theories. Highlights of the innovative, DEI-themed panels include a roundtable by and for graduate students on their mental health, a roundtable and paper session on disability in political science. We also put together more than a handful of theme panels that address the issue of racism (and sexism and other intersections) in the discipline and specific to several subfields.“
On Wednesday, the Paula D. McClain Taskforce on Systematic Equality in the Discipline held a pre-conference short course on “Creating and Enacting Your Department’s Plan for Equity.” Two Bystander Intervention Trainings were held – one on Thursday in-person in Montréal and one virtually on Friday. A roundtable on “Operationalizing the APSA RESPECT Campaign,” which encourages professional respect by and towards all APSA annual meeting attendees, took place on Thursday, as well. On Saturday, the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute scholars presented their research as part of APSA iPosters. View more of APSA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program Events at the 2022 Annual Meeting (https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2022/diversity-inclusion-panels-and-events/).
These panels were part of more than 1,200 panels at the 2022 Annual Meeting. The in-person meeting in Montréal featured more than 1,100 sessions, as well as business meetings and receptions. A virtual component featured nearly 120 virtual panels and 56 sessions livestreamed from onsite in Montréal to a virtual platform. Around 5,700 attendees participated in person in the 2022 Annual Meeting. In keeping with APSA’s RESPECT Campaign, the APSA Annual Meeting Ombuds was onsite and available to attendees for in person or virtual meetings.
On Wednesday, nearly 30 in-person pre-conference short courses were held. Short courses provide diverse opportunities for professional development. In the evening, the Awards Ceremony took place both in-person and virtually, with the session livestreamed to the virtual platform for all attendees. Congratulations to the 2022 APSA Award winners (https://politicalsciencenow.com/2022-apsa-award-winners-announced/)!
In-person and virtual panels officially kicked off on Thursday, September 15 at 8:00 a.m., including an in-person panel on “Racism in Political Science,” featuring presenters Drs. Robbie Shilliam, Desmond King, Jeanne Morefield, Chloe Thurston, Terri E. Givens, Joseph E. Lowndes, Debra Thompson, Jessica Blatt, and chair Lester Kenyatta Spence.
As part of the theme panels, the program co-chairs select several plenary panels. The Thursday plenary “Is Canadian Democracy under Threat?” featured presenters Drs. Yann Allard-Tremblay, Daniel Béland Antje Ellermann, Sheryl R. Lightfoot, and Debra Thompson, and it was moderated by Jonathan Montpetit with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This session was also livestreamed and added to the on-demand virtual recordings on the platform. Interview services also kicked off on Thursday, with 26 departments interviewing, followed by the Career Open House in the afternoon. The Career Open House was an opportunity for attendees to connect with departments institutions and organizations for informational and informal discussions about careers. Several professional development panels were also held throughout the meeting.
Dr. Kenneth Atsenhaienton Deer, Mohawk elder, preceded the Presidential Address with the Opening Thanksgiving, followed by Dr. John Ishiyama, University of North Texas, with the 118th APSA Presidential Address: “Whither Political Science in a Post Pandemic World? Challenges and Opportunities." The address was available both in-person and livestreamed, and it remains available for attendees to view on-demand on the virtual platform. Following the address, attendees enjoyed cocktails and hors d’eouvres at the Opening Reception on the terrace of the Palais.
On Friday, September 16, the “Voices of the Right: Political Conservatism in America” panel featured presenters Drs. Laura K. Field, Ronnee Schreiber, Jon A. Shields, James Stoner, and Matthew Woessner, and was moderated by former APSA President Rogers Smith. This panel took place in-person and via livestream. The panel discussed the role of political conservatism in academia and in political science in the current era of severe polarization and controversies over academic freedom. The Breaking News panel, “The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Its Consequences” featuring presenters Drs. Dominique Arel, John Mearsheimer, Olena Nikolayenko, Oxana Shevel, and Kathryn Stoner, and moderated by APSA President John Ishiyama, took place in the afternoon. Both panels are available on the virtual platform for on-demand viewing. Friday evening featured many section and committee business meetings and receptions, including the annual Reception Honoring Women of Color in the Profession.
On Saturday, September 17, the annual Emerging Scholars Symposium returned (https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2022/lightning-rounds/). The symposium featured three categories of presentations reserved for emerging scholars in the field and utilized an innovative panel format similar to PechaKucha and Lightning Rounds. Each scholar had five minutes to present, followed by five minutes of feedback or Q&A. This format provided a structured framework, giving presenters not only an opportunity to share their research at the world’s largest political science meeting, but also an opportunity to develop and enhance research communication skills through a concise presentation. The Lightning Rounds consisted of three Graduate Student Research sessions, one Research Design session, and one Undergraduate Research session. The symposium also coincided with other emerging scholar events on Saturday, including the virtual Graduate School Information Fair, which featured 113 student and 31 departmental registrants engaging in recruitment and informational discussions, and the Graduate Student Happy Hour on the Palais terrace.
In the afternoon, a cross-subfield roundtable brought together early-career and established scholars, who center disability as an object of disciplinary inquiry, to discuss “Disability in Political Science: Current Scholarship and Future Directions. Panelists included Nancy J. Hirschmann, Barbara Arneil, Stefanie Reher, Monica C. Schneider, April A. Johnson, Lisa Schur, Jennifer Leonor Erkulwater, Andrew Jenks, and Chair Ann Kathleen Heffernan.
The fifth annual TLC at APSA was also held on Saturday with more than 150 participants (https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2022/tlc-at-apsa/). The TLC at APSA theme was “Teaching Political Science in a Post-Pandemic Era.” Dr. Terri Givens presented the keynote, “Radical Empathy in the Classroom: Going Beyond Inclusion.”
In addition to the many panels, APSA also hosted an in-person exhibit hall with nearly 60 exhibit booths. Multiple events were held in the hall, including more than 250 in-person iPoster presentations. The gallery is still available for viewing and feedback post-conference here: https://apsa2022-apsa.ipostersessions.com/Default.aspx?s=Apsa-2022-Gallery.
Most virtual recordings and livestreams are available to both virtual and in-person attendees on the virtual platform for six months following the meeting: https://apsa2022.conventus.live/login. Individuals who did not participate in the meeting can still register for the meeting to gain access to the nearly 120 virtual session recordings, as well as more than 50 livestreamed session recordings. Select meeting sessions will also be made available to all APSA members.
Program co-chair Pei-te Lien reflected on the 2022 meeting, “Working on the 2022 APSA meeting program has been a most gratifying and indeed the zenith of my professional service experience for the discipline. This happy experience was made possible by a peerless co-chair Sherri Wallace, a superior team of APSA meeting staff led by Ashley Vande Bunte, the early, steady, concise, and insightful advice provided by President-Elect and then President John Ishiyama. However, without the submissions by our members to the meeting program, we could not have produced, arguably, the most diverse, inclusive, and equitable conference program in APSA history. We cannot say thank you enough to everyone for your support and commitment to helping advance the discipline in what seems like a forever disrupted and endless evolving order in a volatile world.”
Program co-chair Sherri L. Wallace added, “It was a sheer delight and highlight of my professional career to plan the 118th APSA Annual Meeting. I am ever grateful to President(-Elect) John Ishiyama for asking me to serve and share this opportunity with a truly incomparable co-chair Pei-te Lien, and Ashley Vande Bunte, whose persistence and patience are unparalleled. Each year, the dedicated APSA staff, led by Steve Smith, work tirelessly to promote, plan, and produce an annual meeting around a President’s theme designed to draw members and attendees to convene and channel their intellectual energies. The response to this year’s call was indeed overwhelming for this fully in-person, international conference held in Montréal, Québec, Canada, coming on the heels of a global pandemic. “Rethinking political science” created opportunities for scholars to engage and interact with colleagues in business meetings, pre-conference workshops, plenaries, sessions, panels, and mini-conferences—delivered via in-person sessions and livestreamed on a virtual platform for online attendees—while “reconnecting” took place via vigorous hallway conversations and various evening receptions. This annual meeting was a memorable success because of you. Thank you!"
The 2023 Annual Meeting will be held in Los Angeles, California, from August 31–September 3, 2023. The call for proposals is currently open until January 18, 2023. The program co-chairs, Zoltán Búzás, University of Notre Dame and Felicity Vabulas, Pepperdine University, in conjunction with APSA President Lisa Martin, University of Wisconsin–Madison, developed the theme, “Rights and Responsibilities in the Age of Mis- and Disinformation.” Submitters can choose to submit to the program co-chairs’ theme panel category, one of APSA’s 61 divisions, numerous related groups, Lightning Rounds, and TLC at APSA. We look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles for another meeting filled with exemplary panels, networking, and professional development opportunities.
