2012 Wrap Up

Hello fellow ADTSG members,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year. I wanted to take a moment to fill everyone in on some of the highlights from our activities at the AAA meetings in San Francisco last fall as well as our plans for 2013.

Special Interest Group Chairs Meeting

On Thursday morning, Roland Moore and I attended the SMA’s special interest group (SIG) chairs meeting with SMA President, Doug Feldman. As we went around the room, each of the representatives discussed the state of their group and the various projects they were working on. I was so proud to be able to share the success of ADTSG with the group, especially in terms of conference presence, social media development, and an invested membership.  In fact, our group has done so well, Roland and I were able to offer advice to the other SIG chairs on strategies to build infrastructure for their own groups such as a paper prize and online blog. We were also given some ideas about potential projects such as a mentorship program or a book prize that we are considering for 2013. I want to commend our group for having such a diversity membership of senior and junior members – this quality clearly sets us apart from some of the other groups who were struggling with ways to retain their founding members while attracting a new generation of scholars.

ADTSG Business Meeting

On Friday afternoon, we had our official ADTSG business meeting.  According to the sign-in sheet, there were twenty people in attendance including veteran members as well as many newcomers who we were excited to have. One of the primary issues on our agenda was the delegation of labor to maintain the website as well as several other projects ADTSG will be involved in 2013.

  • AAA 2013 panel organizers – Kristen Ogilvie has volunteered but will need some help! We will send out an official call for organizers in January.
  • 2013 ADTSG graduate paper prize – Mimi Nichter and Shana Harris
  • SMA Takes a Stand Policy Statement – Bryan Page
  • Website – Stacey McKenna (blog editor) and Shana Harris (resources manager)

For a full overview of the meeting Agenda, you can click here.

ADTSG Panels

As you know by now, we had three fantastic panels on the moralized borders between drug use and abuse: one on Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday. I am happy to report that all three panels were well attended and received rave reviews from the audience. I was approached by several people after each panel who were impressed by the quality and cohesiveness of the papers – some even suggested an edited volume from the collection which warrants some consideration. Overall, I think we did a commendable job showcasing the tremendous diversity of work our members have to offer.

Finally, a special thank you to our panel organizers, Lee Hoffer, Roland Moore, Daniel Lende and Gil Quintero;  our discussants Lee Hoffer, Eugene Raikhel and Geoffrey Hunt for their thought provoking comments; and to all of our wonderful panelists. My first year as chair would not have been so gratifying if not for your hard work and dedication to the continued success of this group. Thank you.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the website and ongoing ADTSG activities into the new year.

Taz Karim
ADT Study Group, Chair