Special Annual Convention Programs

The global pandemic has changed many things about our personal and professional lives. At ISA, we have been working diligently since the cancellation of #ISA2020 in Honolulu to understand how these changes impact what we do professionally and in service to our members. ISA Headquarters’ staff have been researching the feasibility of a wide array of options for #ISA2021, ranging from an in-person to hybrid to an entirely virtual event.

While we all hoped to be able to meet in person, the health and safety of the ISA community is our top priority. We have determined that the ISA 2021 Convention will move to an entirely virtual platform. Given the ambiguity of global vaccination distribution, on-going travel restrictions, budget cuts and the potential on-site spacing constraints for in-person events, we saw little room for a different choice.

Read More...

Our Special Activities at the Annual Convention

Our Annual Convention has over 1,000 panels and roundtables every year covering topics from across the wide array of international studies. But, ISA also offers a number of program experiences that go beyond these traditional forms of conference participation. 

Career Courses

Career Courses are half-day courses that offer participants an in-depth instruction on advanced topics such as methodology, teaching strategies, software, and more.

"In Other Words" Roundtables

"In Other Words" Roundtables is a series of three non-English roundtables that seeks to explore the role of the English language in governing academic practice, facilitating, or impeding communication, and determining academic proficiency and legitimacy within the discipline of International Relations.

Innovative Panels

Innovative panels provide scholars with the ability to move beyond the traditional panel format. In the past, these have involved simulations, "town-hall" style events, online virtual panels, and many other forms of interaction.

Junior Scholar Symposia

The JSS is designed to provide Junior scholars (those in graduate school or who are within two years of their Ph.D) the opportunity to present their research and receive feedback in an environment dedicated to professional development as well as improving and sharing work.

Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward is a mentoring program designed for female graduate students and junior faculty within the International Studies profession. It serves as a space for networking, guidance, and critical engagement and reflection. The one-day workshop covers topics such as professional development, work-life balance, and navigating a gendered field, among others.

Structuring Inclusion

Structuring Inclusion is a series of panels that seek to challenge systemic exclusion through the articulation of new practices, approaches, cultures, and institutional parameters that liberate ISA in particular and scholarship in general.

Working Groups

Working Groups serve as a forum for dialogue and interaction around pre-designated issue areas at the Annual Convention.

Workshops

Workshops are supported by the Research Workshop Grants program. Workshops take place the day before the official start of the Convention and bring together the research team being funded by the grant to discuss their work and prepare to share it with the broader ISA community.

See us at #ISA2021!

All of these special activities take place at our Annual Convention. Our next Convention will be virtual and takes place April 6th-9th, 2021. We hope to see you there!

The Annual Convention

Copyright 2020 by the International Studies Association