American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies

The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), a nonprofit, non-political, scholarly society, is the leading private organization in the world dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about the former Soviet Union (including Eurasia) and Eastern and Central Europe. The AAASS supports teaching, research, and publication relating to the peoples and territories within this area.

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Multi-Year Data Set for Title VIII Participant Organizations

In November 2008, at the AAASS conference in Philadelphia, seven of the eight Title VIII recipient organizations were asked to produce five-year data sets reflecting individual application numbers and successful grant numbers for their various programs. The data on applicants and grants collected by these organizations and presented at the 2008 Philadelphia convention was compiled and organized by Robert T. Huber in an article "Multi-Year Data Set for Title VIII Participant Organizations: Some Preliminary Conclusions." An abbreviated version of this article was published in the May 2009 issue of NewsNet (v. 49, n. 3). ... more...

Russian Visa Restrictions Hurt Scholarship

The AAASS is seriously concerned about the visa restrictions recently placed on foreign scholars working in Russia. We encourage our members who have contacts with senior scholars and Russian government officials to use the template provided to write to them and ask them to use their influence to urge the Russian government to change its visa policy. Those members who do not have such contacts are urged to write one (or more) of the senior government officials listed on the template form. ... more...

2009 Convention

The 41st National Convention of the Association will be held at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston, MA, from Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15, 2009.

If you are interested in learning more about the historic city of Boston, please visit the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.bostonusa.com for more information.

2009 Convention Program

Donwload the Preliminary Program for the 2009 convention in pdf.

Please note that in order to save on printing and mailing costs and to reduce the Association's environmental impact, the AAASS Executive Committee has decided that the preliminary program for the 2009 convention will not be printed in the NewsNet.

Members who wish to have the program sent to them by mail may contact Emily Falkenstein at aaass@fas.harvard.edu or 617-495-0677 to request that a copy be mailed to them.

Deadline for changes for the final program will be August 14, 2009. You may make changes using the online system or e-mail your changes to Wendy Walker, walker@fas.harvard.edu.

2009 Convention Hotel Information

The Association's special group rate for convention participants is $165 per night, single or double. If you have not yet booked your hotel room, please do so as soon as possible. We have already sold 50% of our room block and we will sell out.

To make your reservations, please go to: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/AAASS2009 - this link will automatically enter the group rate. If you wish to reserve by phone, please call 1 800-266-9432. You must say you are with Slavic Studies 2009 Convention to get the discounted rate.

We are sorry but we have sold out of graduate student rooms.

2009 Convention Pre-Registration

You can register for the 2009 AAASS Convention online through our “Members Only / Registered Users” site, www.aaassmembers.org. If you prefer not to register online, you can download the 2009 pre-registration form and mail or fax it to us. The pre-registration form will also be published in the upcoming issues of NewsNet. Please remember that the first pre-registration deadline that allows the lowest pre-registration rates is August 15, 2009. ... more ...

Note for 2009 Convention Participants

Panel organizers may edit their panel proposals and paper presenters may edit their paper titles at any time on our Members Only / Registered Users site. ... more ...

2009 Convention Schedule

For all of you who plan on attending the 2009 Convention at the Boston Marriott Copley Place this November, please note that we have received a record number of panel and roundtable proposals and a large number of meeting requests (over 550 total - an increase of 90 requests and proposals over last year).

In order to accept the maximum number of panels and roundtables we will have fifteen one hour and forty five minute sessions. ... more ...

2009 "Unconference" Sessions

This year the AAASS will be experimenting in a limited way with a new format for several conference sessions. This format, most commonly known as an “unconference” is a loosely structured and participant driven set of sessions around topics suggested by those who will participate. Instead of the standard panel or roundtable, the three unconference sessions, which will take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, will be facilitated discussions of the topics with the highest level of interest from those planning to take part in the sessions. ... more ...

2009 Convention Exhibitors and Advertisers

Exhibitors who have already obtained booths may get an exhibitors kit by going to the Vista Convention Services website at www.vistacs.com - once you are on the website, click on the exhibitor login. The user name is AAASS2009 and the password is 2009BOSTON. Please note that these are case sensitive. ... more ...

Child Care at the Convention

Unfortunately, the AAASS Parent Co-op will not be able to offer on-site child care at the 2009 AAASS national convention in Boston due to the prohibitive cost of renting adequate space for child care at this facility. We hope to be able to offer this service in future years.

Apply for AAASS Membership or Renew Online

Members of the AAASS -- and those interested in joining the Association -- can now submit their membership applications online, through our Members Only / Registered Users site (www.aaassmembers.org). ... more...