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COSSA’s Annual Meeting

Each year, following its Board of Directors meeting in the fall, COSSA holds an Annual Meeting for its members. Invitations are sent to representatives of COSSA’sGoverning Members, Membership Organizations, University, and Research Centers and Institutes. Key Washington policy makers including Presidential Science Advisers, National Institutes of Health(NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) Directors, and Members of Congress have addressed the gatherings.

On November 29 and 30, 2012, the Consortium held its annual meeting called the "Colloquium on Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Policy." Over 125 people attended and were exposed to a series of talks and panels (agenda) that highlighted the current political situation, how to broaden participation in science, the opportunities and challenges for social/behavioral science research, and how that research is used and not used by policymakers.  The PowerPoint slides (from the speakers who used them) are available on the COSSA website. Ken Prewitt, Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and COSSA's President, presided over the meeting.

pictures of 2012 annual meeting speakers

In 2011, COSSA celebrated (agenda) 30 years of successful advocacy. Ken Prewitt, COSSA's current President, former Census Bureau Director, and a key actor in COSSA's creation, presided over the meeting which featured a look back at the past thirty years, including its political and economic landscape, and the contributions of the social and behavioral sciences to the period’s public policies.  The 2011 meeting also took a special look at the current budget-constrained policy era with a focus on future research topics and data collections in these sciences.   A celebratory reception was held to honor COSSA’s its founders.

COSSA 2011 Annual Meeting

2011 Meeting Summary(PDF)

Past meetings have featured panels on Social Science and the Press, How Congress Views Social Science, and at the 2005 meeting Religion in Public Life featuring Representative Rosa De Lauro. In 2001, COSSA held a special symposium for its 20th Anniversary that featured sessions on the contributions of social and behavioral research to public policy. An edited transcript of that meeting is available.

2012 COSSA Colloquium/Annual Meeting -- November 29-30; Washington, DC