Human Rights Is Focus of Welcoming Plenary

The American Sociological Association has a history of speaking in support of human rights globally, especially in defense of sociologists and other scholars persecuted for their beliefs or scholarly activities. A year ago, the Council voted in favor of the American Sociological Association Statement on Human Rights on the Occasion of ASA’s Centenary. In continuation of its human rights support, the ASA invited UNESCO’s Pierre Sané, human rights advocate, to speak at the Welcoming Ceremony of the Annual Meeting on Thursday, August 10, 2006, in Montréal.

Sané, formerly the Secretary General of Amnesty International, will discuss his work developing new programs of research-policy linkages in the study and management of social transformation.

With more than 40% of eligible voters participating, ASA members have elected Arne L. Kalleberg of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as President-Elect, Douglas McAdam of Stanford University as Vice President- Elect, and Donald Tomaskovic-Devey as Secretary-Elect. Kalleberg, McAdam, and Tomaskovic-Devey will serve one year as Elect and will then assume office at the end of the 2007 Annual Meeting. Kalleberg and the 2008 Program Committee will be responsible for shaping the 2008 ASA Annual Meeting, scheduled for August 1–4, 2008, in Boston.

Vincent J. Roscigno and Randy Hodson, both of The Ohio State University, will be the next editors of ASA’s American Sociological Review, appointed by ASA Council for a threeyear term beginning in January 2007. They will follow the editorship of Jerry A. Jacobs.