[email sent to Queer SIG list on March 12, 2009]

Dear Queer SIG members and friends,

This is a long overdue update on some important issues regarding the upcoming annual meeting of AERA in San Diego. I, Mara Sapon-Shevin, and Judy Alson met on February 20th to begin making plans for the annual meeting. We made several decisions that I am sending out to our SIG and disseminated to all other SIGS and Divisions. (We're not quite sure how to make that part happen!!). In subsequent discussions with Kevin Kumashiro, we reinforced these decisions and made a few more, so here they are:

1. If individuals are concerned about where their session is scheduled, they should write individually to AERA and register their concern, protest, request for change.

2. Our Business Meeting at AERA, which is scheduled for Thursday evening from 6:15 - 7:45 will include the business part (report, election of officers, etc.) and then will devote 45 minutes to a TOWN MEETING format on the topic (title not yet firm!): The Troubling Relationship Between Education & Politics in AERA: CAN RESEARCH BE APOLITICAL? CAN AERA STAY OUT OF THE FRAY?

Kevin Kumashiro and Bill Ayers have already greed to be two of the folks to get the conversation off the ground, and Mara is asking Christine Sleeter and Erica Meiners to be the other two. Mara will facilitate. This will NOT be a lecture, but an interactive dialogue. Lively, we hope. A flyer will be prepared and disseminated widely (EVERYONE CAN HELP!!) that advertises the session and the topic and the speakers and some key questions like:
Can educational researchers not be political?
What happens when our agendas collide?
Whose "issue" is this (the Manchester Hyatt debacle)? How do we see ourselves as affected/removed from social injustices? How do we form allies across different struggles? What is the responsibilty of members of THIS SIG for engaging in other social justice struggles.

3. The visibility campaign will be evidenced by rainbow armbands. Mara is going to make hundreds of them, but we will ask others to spread the word at their own institutions and encourage folks to bring/make their own. Mara is hoping to mail these out to Anna Wilson or Suzi SooHoo in California to bring to the meeting since she thinks they are driving.

4. We still need someone to coordinate a social event. Last year Ann Ellersbee and Renee volunteered. Could one of you step forward to lead this activity? Is anyone else interested in coordinating a social event in San Diego!

Thanks so much!

The AERA Queer SIG Officers
Lance T. McCready, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Urban Education
Dept. of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning, OISE/UT

	AERA and Social Justice: Standing Our Queer Ground Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Business Meeting Time:Thu, Apr 16 - 6:15pm - 7:45pm Place:San Diego Convention Center, Room 25A	view
2.	Choosing to Lose Our Gender Expertise: Queering Sex/Gender in School Settings Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Symposium Time:Wed, Apr 15 - 10:35am - 12:05pm Place:San Diego Convention Center, Room 26A Descriptors:Gender Studies, Queer Theory, Social Justice Audio Taping:Yes	view
3.	Examining Tensions and Alliances: LGBT Studies and Queer Theory Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Interactive Symposium Time:Tue, Apr 14 - 8:15am - 9:45am Place:San Diego Convention Center, Room 25A Descriptors:Gay/Lesbian Studies, Queer Theory Audio Taping:Yes	view
4.	Queer Issues and School Culture Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Paper Discussion (formerly known as Roundtables) Time:Thu, Apr 16 - 11:25am - 12:05pm Place:San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, Marriott Hall Salon 4	view
5.	Queer Teacher Educators and Queer Preservice Teachers: International Perspectives of Support, Mentoring, and Hope Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Symposium Time:Wed, Apr 15 - 2:15pm - 3:45pm Place:San Diego Convention Center, Room 26A Descriptor:Queer Theory Audio Taping:Yes	view
6.	Queering Places and Spaces Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Paper Session Time:Thu, Apr 16 - 10:35am - 12:05pm Place:San Diego Convention Center, Room 26A Audio Taping:No	view
7.	Queering Schools and Schooling Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Paper Session Time:Tue, Apr 14 - 12:25pm - 1:55pm Place:San Diego Convention Center, Room 4 Audio Taping:No	view
8.	Unpacking Queer Identities Unit:SIG-Queer Studies Session type:Paper Discussion (formerly known as Roundtables) Time:Thu, Apr 16 - 12:25pm - 1:05pm Place:San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, Marriott Hall Salon 4