Political scientists met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from September 4-8th for the 120th Annual Meeting & Exhibition around the theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” We are very appreciative for the outstanding leadership of the conference program co-chairs, Danielle Allen, Harvard University, and Michael Neblo, The Ohio State University. We are also extremely grateful to the 2024 division chairs, related group chairs, and other volunteers who help make this program possible.
The 2024 Annual Meeting featured over 1600 total events, including over 1,500 panels and 169 affiliated events, providing a forum for over 7,000 attendees to present their cutting-edge research and innovations in the political science discipline, as well as providing the opportunity to network and collaborate with one another. APSA was delighted to welcome attendees from all over the world, as over 25% of attendees were international members. Conference attendees had an opportunity to network with colleagues and take advantage of the many professional development panels and roundtables. Attendees ranked the meeting experience as being a satisfying experience in their post-conference evaluations.
Attendees of the 2024 Annual Meeting gather in the Philadelphia Convention Center
The Program Co-chairs put together several theme panels for the 2024 Annual Meeting. The chairs selected two plenaries, “Democracy, Retrenchment,” and “Democracy, Renovation and Reimagination.” In addition, there were three breaking news panels: “AI and Democracy,” “Future of Political Parties,” and “Implications of the Israel-Gaza Crisis for the Middle East and Beyond.”
Attendees of the 2024 Annual Meeting gather in the Philadelphia Convention Center
APSA Oral History Project films were shown, which includes a collection of interviews that seeks to amplify the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to the profession. The films included interviews with Dr. Errol Henderson, Dr. Ollie Johnson, Dr. KC Morrison, and Dr. Sheila Harmon Martin as they shared their careers as political scientists, what it means to be a political scientist as a person of color, and their research and advice for the discipline. On Wednesday, over 20 short courses kicked off in advance of the meeting. In keeping with APSA’s RESPECT Campaign, the APSA Annual Meeting Ombuds was on-site and available to attendees.
The Awards Ceremony Reception concluded the first evening on Wednesday with a celebration of the amazing research contributions to the discipline. Hundreds of individuals were honored with APSA and APSA Organized Section Awards. Congratulations to our 2024 APSA award winners!
Program panel sessions officially kicked off on Thursday. The Exhibit Hall and Interview Services also opened on Thursday, with over a dozen departments registered to conduct interviews. Once Interview Services concluded for the day on Thursday, the Career Open House kicked off, as an opportunity for attendees to have informational and informal discussions about careers with other departments and organizations. Several professional development panels were also held throughout the meeting.
In the evening, Dr. Mark E. Warren, University of British Columbia, gave the 120th APSA Presidential Address: “Democratic Innovation and Representative Democracy.” The Address was followed by the International Attendee Reception, the APSA Reception Honoring Women in the Profession, and various section and affiliated receptions.
Friday featured hundreds more panels, including the Department Chair Luncheon on “Surviving and Thriving as Department Chair” as well as the “Hackathon: Reimagining the Economic and Political Wellbeing of Americans.” APSA also hosted the Member Appreciation Reception in the Exhibit Hall that afternoon. In the evening, several receptions took place throughout the meeting such as the APSA Mentoring and Networking Reception, the Joint Reception for APSA Status Committees, Caucuses, and REP Organized Section, the Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Latina/o Caucus Reception, and the LGBTQ Political Science Joint Reception.
Attendees of the 2024 Annual Meeting printing badges in the Philadelphia Convention Center
Saturday continued with the Emerging Scholars Symposium Lightning Round sessions. The Symposium features three categories of presentations reserved for emerging scholars in the field and utilized an innovative panel format similar to PechaKucha and Lightning Rounds. This event coincided with other emerging scholar events, including the virtual Graduate School Information Fair, and the Graduate Student Happy Hour in the evening which was very well-attended.
The seventh annual TLC at APSA was also held on Saturday with nearly 130 participants. The TLC at APSA theme was “Teaching Democracy: Reflection, Innovation and Imagination.” Dr. Nazita Lajevardi of Michigan State University presented the keynote, “Educating for Change: Teaching Race in a Climate of Hostility.” In addition to the many panels, APSA also hosted an in-person exhibit hall. Multiple events were held in the hall, including the in-person iPoster presentations. The 2024 APSA iPoster gallery is still available for viewing and feedback post-conference.
The 2025 event will be the 121st APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition and will be held in Vancouver, Canada from September 11-14, 2025. The call for proposals will open in October and remain open until January 15, 2025. The 2025 APSA Annual Meeting Program Chairs are Tatishe Nteta, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Christian Dyogi Phillips, University of Southern California and the 2025 theme is “Reimagining Politics, Power, and Peoplehood in Crisis Times.” The theme statement can be found here: https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2025/theme-statement/.
Submitters can choose to submit to the program co-chairs’ theme panel category, one of APSA’s 62 divisions, numerous related groups, Lightning Rounds, and TLC at APSA. We look forward to seeing you in Vancouver! ■
Attendees of the 2024 Annual Meeting at the Exhibit Hall in the Philadelphia Convention Center
Entrance of the Philadelphia Convention Center
