Contact Cheryl Brown (336-272-7102, ext. 292 or cbrown@gborocollege.edu) about bringing and displaying materials on your program for our undergraduate members to pick up at the meeting.

Our annual awards banquet is the time in the program when we recognize our colleagues for their contributions to sociology and our students for excellent papers and projects. Please join us for lunch. The cost of the meal is included in the registration fee this year. Pre-registration is encouraged!

From I-40 East (Boone/Winston-Salem) From I – 40 E take 40 Business through Greensboro. Take exit 41 at Lee Street (old exit 128). Turn left onto Lee Street. Just past the interstate exit to your right you will see Cedar Park Road on your right. Turn onto Cedar Park Road. Just up the hill is the Convention Center, Quality Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

From I-40 West (RDU/RTP/Wilmington) Take I-40/85 west towards Greensboro. Where I-40/85 turns south you need to stay to the right and remain on I-40 Business. Take exit 41 (old 128) at Lee Street. At the bottom of the exit – take a right. A very short distance down on the right is Cedar Park Road. Take a right on Cedar Park Road. Just up the hill is the Convention Center, Quality Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

From I-85 North (Charlotte)Take 85 North to Greensboro. When you can see the Grandover Hotel to your left near town start paying attention. You need to be in the right lane. Take exit 120A for Business 85 and follow the signs through Greensboro. Take Exit 41 – Lee Street (old exit 128). Turn left onto Lee Street. Just past the interstate exit to your right you will see Cedar Park Road on your right. Turn onto Cedar Park Road. Just up the hill is the Convention Center, Quality Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

by Cheryl Brown
Greensboro College
NCSA President-Elect

What an amazing time to be a sociologist! Since our last annual meeting we have witnessed a political season culminating in the January inauguration of Barack Obama and the implosion of our economic system. We have seen the world come together in Beijing for the Olympics and Gaza explode. Now comes the chance for us to get together and recharge our batteries for the adventures the coming year promises.

Please join us for the 2009 Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Sociological Association to be held February 20 in Greensboro. The theme of this year’s meeting is "Igniting the Passion: Sociology Today." We’ve included the preliminary program so you can start deciding now which sessions you want to make sure you get to early for the best seat.

My address will introduce you to a project I’m passionate about – Vidas de Esperanza (Lives of Hope). I’ll be talking about the challenges and rewards of designing and implementing a sustainable international program. All of our sessions are then focused on how we as sociologists find and nurture our passion from our undergraduate years to today, wherever we find ourselves. We’ve designed the day so folks at every level can have an experience that best reflects and serves their needs. Students can explore life after their BA in session one and career options utilizing sociology in the non-profit world and law enforcement (session three). Faculty can explore ways to challenge themselves with new teaching methods, research topics or techniques, and areas to explore outside academe.

Plan to travel to Greensboro on Thursday, February 19 and relax at the conference site.

Two different hotels share the facility and both will be available for reservations. Those attending may choose Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites, 336-697-0101 (direct line), 1-800-HOLIDAY (corporate). Rates are $69.00 per room plus 9.75% tax. Room are also available at Quality Inn & Suites, 336-697-4000 (direct line), 1-800-4CHOICE. Rates are $89.99 per room plus 9.75% tax.

The welcoming reception will be held at the Guilford Convention Center from 6 – 8:30 pm on Thursday evening. We’ll be having terrific appetizers and beverages from Above & Beyond Catering and a spirited conversation about the state of our nation and world.

If you are planning on arriving early and coming to the reception (especially if you plan to bring a bus-load of students with you!), please contact Cheryl Brown (336-272-7102, ext. 292 or cbrown@gborocollege.edu) and let her know how many to expect so that she will have a better idea of how much food to order!

The lunch on Friday will also be catered by Above & Beyond Catering and will start with salad and breadsticks. We’ll move to the pasta bar for entrees of baked spaghetti, vegetable lasagna and Santa Fe Chicken with tea and dessert to follow. This year in order to streamline the process, the luncheon fee will be included in the registration fee for both faculty and students. This, however, makes it very important that everyone pre-register if at all possible, so we can provide the catering company with pretty firm numbers. A registration and membership renewal form is provided inside this issue of THE BULLETIN.

by George Conklin
Editor, SOCIATION TODAY

The members of the NCSA Executive Council are pleased to announce the candidates for the NCSA 2008 election. We are truly fortunate to have excellent NCSA members who are willing to serve the organization as President-Elect and as members of the Executive Council. We are confident that the NCSA will be in good hands in the coming years. Please read the brief biographical statements below and vote using the ballot included with this newsletter.

Candidate for President-Elect

The president-elect of the NCSA will serve as the program chair for next year’s annual meeting. Following a year as president, this person will serve for one year as a member of the Executive Council.

Ken Spenner is Professor of Sociology and Psychology at Duke University and is the founding director of the Markets & Management Studies Program at Duke, an interdisciplinary certificate program administered by the Department of Sociology. He is a past Chair of the Department of Sociology at Duke. His research interests include work, technology, organizations, market transitions, and higher education. In 1991 he was the recipient of Duke’s Howard Johnson Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Contributions to Sociology Award from the North Carolina Sociological Association. He has been active in ASA, SSS, and NCSA for several decades.

"My vision for the North Carolina Sociological Association is twofold," he said. "First, it should foster and enhance the sociological enterprise in North Carolina at all levels, including community colleges, four-year colleges and universities. Second, NCSA should offer a forum for students, faculty and practitioners to network and exchange ideas. And, along the way, we should have some fun."

Candiates for NCSA Executive Council

The membership will elect three of the following candidates to serve three-year terms on the NCSA Executive Council. Please use the enclosed ballot. You may write in candidates if you wish.

Carol Jo Evans is originally from Elizabeth City, NC. She received her BA in socio/cultural anthropology from East Carolina University, her MA in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Tennessee, and her PhD from the University of Kentucky. For the last five years Evans has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Coordinator for the Program of Sociology at Elizabeth City State University. She returned to her home town after fifteen years of graduate work and extensive travel on community development projects to teach at ECSU. Her fields of interests include applied sociology, community and economic development, medical sociology, public policy, and conflict resolution.

Afaf Omer

Afaf Omer is an Associate Professor of Sociology at UNC-Asheville. She received the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan with specialties in social organization and population. Her professional affiliations include African Studies Association, Association of Black Sociologists, American Sociological Association, Middle East Studies Association of North America, Population Association of America, and Sociologists for Women in Society. She has written extensively on gender, work and violence in Muslim countries, most recently focusing on women’s perspectives on the "genocide" in Dafur. She has spoken both to professional and community groups regarding these issues.

Ian Taplin is Professor of Sociology and International Studies at Wake Forest University and visiting research professor at Bordeaux School of Management (France). His current research interests focus on the growth of NC wine industry and the role of networks as knowledge brokers amongst luxury wineries in Napa Valley, California. Both projects come from an interest in general economic sociology and how markets and networks operate in emerging industries and how cooperative frameworks enable cluster growth. Taplin teaches courses on Global Capitalism and Business and Society. "I am interested in the NCSA because I believe local associations provide an important link for members with very different educational affiliations to come together and share information," said Taplin. "If I am to talk about vision, it is that such an association can become a more viable and inclusive part of the professional sociology scene in the state."