The Committee on Teaching shall concern itself with issues relating to the teaching of sociology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including teaching theory and methods, curriculum program development, and other professional concerns related to teaching sociology. The Committee shall explore ways of improving the teaching of sociology through such efforts as organizing teaching workshops and regular paper and/or panel sessions at the annual meeting and/or through other appropriate means. The Committee shall help solicit nominations to be sent to the Awards Committee for the PSA distinguished contributions to teaching award and shall from time to time organize a reception and/or other gathering at the annual meeting in order to facilitate networking among members of the Association interested in the teaching of sociology. The Committee shall maintain effective liaison with the American Sociological Association's Section on Undergraduate Education, with the ASA's Teaching Resource Center, and with other professional organizations that focus on teaching.
The Committee on Teaching consists of six members of the Association. Membership of the committee is recommended to Council by the Committee on Committees and appointments are made by the President and/or Council for a three year term of office. Each year, two members begin, and two members end their term of office. While members of the Committee on Teaching may recommend prospective members to the Committee on Committees, they do not select their own members. They do, however, elect the committee's chair. The chair of the Committee on Teaching is elected by the committee members from among their ranks and must be someone who will be a continuing and active member of the committee for at least one year. The chair is elected at the scheduled meeting of the committee and serves for one year. The chair can be reelected if continuing as a member of the committee.
- Pam McMullin‐Messier Procedures for taking action. The chair is responsible for contacting committee members whenever committee action is required. Members of the committee are encouraged to contact the chair with ideas, issues, and any other items that should be brought to the attention of the entire committee.
The chair of the committee should be elected from among those members who will continue service on the committee. Meeting with and communicating with committee members at the annual PSA meeting helps forge a bond between members and facilitates interaction and sharing of committee responsibilities.
A considerable amount of time should be spent on deciding what sessions the committee would like to sponsor at the following year's PSA meeting. These decisions need to be made at the committee's annual meeting in order to meet the deadline for submitting the Session Proposal Forms, which is usually May 1. For this reason, all committee members should be encouraged to attend the annual committee meeting and to agree to organize a session for inclusion in the following year's program. - Specific duties of the chair of the committee. Most of the chair's activities (and time) involve organizing sessions for the annual meeting. The chair may do this directly, may assist other session organizers, or may solicit session organizers from among the committee members and members of the Association. The chair will also spend a considerable amount of time soliciting nominations for the PSA distinguished contributions to teaching award. The chair is also responsible for keeping the committee's file folder or archive and passing it on to the chair-designate.
- Calendar of committee activities.
- September: Notice soliciting nominations for PSA teaching award is placed in the September Newsletter. The Executive Director will routinely place the announcement in the Newsletter.
- October 15: Mass mailing to all sociology departments soliciting nominations for the teaching award. Labels can be provided by the Secretary/Treasurer of the Association; PSA will pay the cost of mailing if the Executive Director is provided with an invoice.
- January 1: Deadline for teaching award nominations.
- February/March: Develop agenda for up-coming meeting of the committee at the PSA annual meeting, and distribute to all committee members at least two weeks before the meeting.
- at the annual meeting: Conduct committee meeting. Pass on action items, if any. Select a committee chair for the following year. Meet new committee members. Discuss proposals for Sessions at next year's PSA meeting.
- by May 1: Write the annual report, including a summary of the year's activities, and submit to the PSA Secretary for publication in the Association's Newsletter. Submit Session Proposal Forms developed by committee members to the next year's Program Committee Chair. Session Proposal forms are available from the Secretary/Treasurer and should be available at the registration table at the annual meeting.
Committee Members
- Joshua Meisel (13) Humboldt State University, Co-Chair
- Pam McMullin-Messier (14) Central Washington University, Co-Chair
- Nadia Raza (13) Lane Community College
- Anjana Narayan (14) Cal Poly Pomona
- Megan Wright (14) University of Arizona
- Adam Rafalovich (15) Pacific University
Committee Reports
Past Committee Reports
We are in the process of making all committee reports accessible through the web.
In the meantime, for information on past meeting programs, please contact the PSA Executive Office.
