2018 Annual Conference Update

Greetings, AASECT members!

The Annual Conference Planning Committee has been hard at work crafting an exciting program for the 50th annual conference that will take place on June 14-18, 2018 in Denver, CO. This year’s theme is Bridging the Divide: Shedding Light on the Taboos and Pleasures of Sexuality. Before we share some of the recent highlights, let us introduce you to the additional committee members who have already contributed many hours to this conference planning process.

Lexx Brown-James, Ph.D.

Tanya Bass, MS

Neil Cannon, Ph.D.

Prem Pahwa, LCSW

Sally Valentine, Ph.D.

Please check out the conference website to read more about our team.

One of the exciting highlights from our work so far is confirming the plenary speaker line up. Each plenary speaker was carefully selected in order to reflect the conference theme as well as offer a valuable learning experience to AASECT members.  You can find additional information about each of these plenary speakers here; however, here is a sneak peek at the names you’ll see headlining the program:

• Dr. Miguel Muñoz-Laboy, Associate Professor, Temple University School of Social Work
• Dr. Maria Trent, Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Dr. Michael Seto, research director, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group
• Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex, Cinderella At My Daughter, and other publications
• Ericka Hart, activist, writer, highly acclaimed speaker, and award winning sexuality educator

Finally, the call for proposals resulted in a very high number of quality submissions! We appreciate everyone’s eagerness to showcase their knowledge, experiences, and passions during this annual event.

With more than 250 submissions, we are being thoughtful about the selections and integrating your feedback from last year.  All proposals have been reviewed and ranked, and are now are in the hands of the conference committee.  If you submitted, please know all the notifications will be sent out shortly after the new year. If possible, please keep your schedule open until then.

As we count down the days to the annual conference, our team will remain focused on confirming the conference schedule and putting the final touches on all the different opportunities for socializing, networking, and expanding skills, knowledge, and worldviews.

We look forward to seeing you in Denver!

Jayleen Galarza, Ph.D. and Juan Camarena, Ph.D.

2018 AASECT Annual Conference Co-chairs