Mid-South Sociological Association
Encyclopedia
The Mid-South Sociological Association (MSSA) is a non-profit professional organization of sociologists and social scientists established in 1976 to promote the study and understanding of sociological and related issues and problems. Professional interests include crime, aging, deviance, demography, environment, family, education, race and ethnic relations, religion, global and community development, occupations, health, inequal8ity, gender, corrections, community, political economy, science and technology, urban/rural, law, ecology, and others. Its first president was Julian B. Roebuck, professor of sociology at Mississippi State University. The MSSA holds annual meetings in late October in locations around the Mid-South region. Recently scheduled locations have included Lafayette, Louisiana
(2009), Huntsville, Alabama
(2008), Mobile, Alabama
(2007), Lafayette, Louisiana
(2006), Atlanta, Georgia
(2005), and Biloxi, Mississippi
(2004.
At its annual meeting, the MSSA holds sessions for the presentations of professional papers, roundtable discussions of current social issues, and hosts speakers. The organization also has a banquet, usually on Thursday evenings, at which the current president gives a talk and officers give out awards. These awards include the Stanford M. Lyman Memorial Scholarship, given each year to a worthy doctoral student completing a dissertation; the Graduate Student Distinguished Paper Award, given to the best graduate student paper delivered at the meeting; the Undergraduate Paper Award, given to the best undergraduate paper delivered at the meeting; the Sociological Spectrum Outstanding Article Award, given to the best article published that year in the journal Sociological Spectrum; and the Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award, given to an outstanding book authored by a member of the organization in the previous three years.
The main publication of the MSSA is its official journal Sociological Spectrum, a refereed interdisciplinary social science journal that publishes theoretical, methodological, quantitative and qualitative substantive research, and applied research articles in the areas of sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. Sociological Spectrum is published six times every year by the Taylor and Francis Group.
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
(2009), Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
(2008), Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
(2007), Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
(2006), Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
(2005), and Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
(2004.
At its annual meeting, the MSSA holds sessions for the presentations of professional papers, roundtable discussions of current social issues, and hosts speakers. The organization also has a banquet, usually on Thursday evenings, at which the current president gives a talk and officers give out awards. These awards include the Stanford M. Lyman Memorial Scholarship, given each year to a worthy doctoral student completing a dissertation; the Graduate Student Distinguished Paper Award, given to the best graduate student paper delivered at the meeting; the Undergraduate Paper Award, given to the best undergraduate paper delivered at the meeting; the Sociological Spectrum Outstanding Article Award, given to the best article published that year in the journal Sociological Spectrum; and the Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award, given to an outstanding book authored by a member of the organization in the previous three years.
The main publication of the MSSA is its official journal Sociological Spectrum, a refereed interdisciplinary social science journal that publishes theoretical, methodological, quantitative and qualitative substantive research, and applied research articles in the areas of sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. Sociological Spectrum is published six times every year by the Taylor and Francis Group.