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April 11-14, 2013. NSTA is the National Science Teachers Association, and they have been bringing science educators together for more than 50 years. People came to discover methods and strategies for improving science learning and teaching, facilitate professional discussions,
and gather the latest information regarding science education. This year’s theme was “Next Generation Science: learning, literacy and living”. Different conference strands focused on Next Generation Assessments: Effectively Measuring Student Learning; Next Generation Elementary Science: Building the Foundation; Next Generation Special Populations: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners; Next Generation Technology: Putting the “T” in STEM. The conference committee worked to develop a series of sessions and presentations geared to stimulating professional growth, motivate a sense of inquiry, and promote lifelong learning. Sounds like science is actually something of an art…
March 22, 2013. Each spring, the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) holds a four-day conference devoted to planned programs of scholarly papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, and panel sessions on a wide range of issues in research and teaching, and on Asian affairs in general. Keynoter Dr. Aoki Tamotsu, Director General of The National Art Center, Tokyo, was a Former Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, and was awarded a Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2000 by the Government of Japan. A cultural anthropologist, Dr. Aoki taught at Osaka University, The University of Tokyo, and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. He conducted extended anthropological fieldwork in Southeast Asia, China, and Europe. He was once ordained as a Thai Buddhist monk in Bangkok. So his view of Asian Studies was from a pretty high elevation…
March 2-8, 2013. USCAP is the United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology, dedicated to “leading pathology educational excellence”, and a global leader in the transmission of knowledge in the field of pathology for more than 100 years. The Academy has maintained a rich heritage of leading in the highest standards of pathology education, and attracts to its ranks the leaders in key areas of the science. The Annual Meeting has by far the largest attendance of physician-pathologists of any meeting in the world, it seems. The event regularly attracts over 3,000 pathologists from the United States and Canada, as well as several hundred scientists from overseas. Studies have shown that well over 60% of the practicing pathologist’s time is involved in surgical pathology, cytopathology and organ-based pathology (i.e., anatomic pathology). This is one of the major strengths of the USCAP’s educational activities. It’s like “taking the path(ology) less trodden…”
February 22-26, 2013. CAMEX is the Campus Market Expo, and it positions itself as the premier educational event for college store professionals. Approximately 1,500 store pros meet to take part in more than 120 educational sessions, keynotes, learning tours, and workshops led by both professional speakers and education industry experts. People were here to learn. Educational opportunities included everything from Deep Dives (2-hour sessions designed to provide an in-depth exploration of critical topics impacting the industry) to Flash Sessions (20-minute presentations allowing just enough time to hear a great idea and ask a few questions). For those whose curiosity was still not sated, there were learning tours of mainstream retailers, campus stores and local apparel vendors. Then there was the Book Tour Luncheon, and for new arrivals in the industry, the First Timers’ Program. It’s never too late to start….
January 14-17, 2013. NSSEA EdExpo presents itself as the premier showcase for innovations in every facet of learning, from instructional materials, teaching aids and technology products to educational games, toys, and supplies — a veritable cornerstone of the teaching and learning industry. The show is produced by the National School Supply & Equipment Association (NSSEA), the educational products and services trade association. Teachers, managers, buyers and sellers could visit hundreds of manufacturers and evaluate thousands of products, all under one roof. There were workshops, networking events, continental breakfasts, and the Dealer Speed-Dining Luncheon — returning, apparently, by popular demand. What ever happened to teachers telling us we had to “chew each mouthful 100 times”? Speed-dining sounds like a recipe for indigestion…
January 4-6, 2013. The American Economic Association (AEA) gets its members from business and professional groups. The main focus is the encouragement of economic research, especially the historical and statistical study of “the actual conditions of industrial life”. Membership is around 18,000, over half of whom are academics; about 15% are employed in business and industry, and the remainder work largely for federal, state, and local government, or other not-for-profit organizations. Once composed primarily of college and university teachers of economics, the association now attracts an increasing number of members from business and professional groups. AEA, in conjunction with over 50 associations in related disciplines, holds its three-day meeting to present papers on general economic subjects. About 500 scholarly sessions are held each year. “The actual conditions of industrial life” these days are not all positive, so there was lots to talk about…
January 3-6, 2013. MLA is the Modern Language Association, and their Annual Convention featured around 350 sessions, plus a full program of keynote and other speakers and cultural events echoing the show’s location in the historic city of Boston. English is certainly a “modern language”, and presentations covered topics as diverse as the poet Emily Dickinson, The City in Literature after 9/11, Early American Romanticism, Early Black Feminist Ideology and the Development of a New Paradigm, “Encounter Tradition, Make It New”: Approaches for Teaching the Harlem Renaissance, The Hegemony of Standard American English: Race and Writing, Native American Christian Narratives and Social Identity 1800-1920, and (er, this is about language?) New Approaches to The Jazz Age. Delegates were repeatedly enjoined to, well, ‘mind their language’…..
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