2023 Annual Meeting
TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CENTERS FOR THE STUDY OF CONGRESS
May 3-5, 2023
Hybrid
Registration is open. Members must be logged in to acsc.wildapricot.org to register.
The annual meeting will take place at the new home of The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement, The Tom & Ruth Harkin Center, on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. There will be online options available.
Annual Meeting Program
Celebrating ACSC’s 20th Anniversary!
All times in Central Standard Time
Wednesday, May 3
12pm: Check-in
12:30pm: Lunch (provided)
1:30pm: President’s Welcome
1:45pm: Session 1, Keynote with Dr. Sean Theriault
University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Author of five books: Congress: The First Branch (with Mickey Edwards; Oxford University Press, 2020), The Great Broadening (with Bryan Jones and Michelle Whyman; University of Chicago Press, 2019), The Gingrich Senators (Oxford University Press, 2013), Party Polarization in Congress (Cambridge University Press, 2008), and The Power of the People (Ohio State University Press, 2005). Sean is currently researching the effect of interpersonal relationships within the U.S. Congress.
2:45pm: Break
3:00pm: Session 2, “For All: Building the Tom & Ruth Harkin Center & Disability Policy at The Harkin Institute”
Kevin Nordmeyer, Principal, BNIM
Daniel Van Sant, Director of Disability Policy, The Harkin Institute
4:00pm: Break
4:15pm: Session 3, Tour of The Tom and Ruth Harkin Center and Drake University Archives & Special Collections (across the street)
6:00pm: Reception (with hors d’oeuvres)
7:00pm: Harkin Institute Lecture with Don Ritchie and Ray Smock
Thursday, May 4
9am: Coffee and Danish
9:30am: Session 4, Archives in Policy: Military and Veterans
In this panel, archivists will share how they have used congressional records related to the military and veterans for exhibits, outreach, and research.
Hope Bibens, moderator, Drake University
Sarah Gard, Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Missing, Then Action: An Army Wife Speaks Out, exhibit, and “Congressional Archives: A new source for the Vietnam era”
Kate Gregory, Mississippi State, “Mr. MSU to Mr. Veteran: Mississippi State University and the Legacy of Sonny Montgomery”
Lori Schwartz, University of Nebraska at Omaha, War in Iraq, 2003-2011, an exhibit from the U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives
10:45am: Break
11:00am: Session 5, Congressional Research
Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress
Dawn Sueoka, moderator, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, University of California, Irvine
Gwendolyn Mink
12:15pm: Lunch (provided)
1:30pm: Session 6, Former Members Panel
Hobe Bibens, moderator (tentative)
Senator Tom Harkin and staff member TBD
3:00pm: Break
3:15pm: Session 7, Business Meeting
4:00pm: Break
4:15pm: Session 8, Member Updates (with in-person and virtual groups)
Please come ready to share the latest news from your repository/office! Jami Hunter (Carl Albert Center), Chris Kaergard (Dirksen Center), and Jess Porter and Emily Summers (UA Little Rock) will start, and then we will open the floor.
5:15pm: Adjourn
6:00pm: Dinner Groups (there will be a sign-up)
Friday, May 5
9am: Coffee and Danish
9:30am: Session 9, Practitioner’s Corner, AV Matters
Join this panel of experienced archivists to begin a conversation about how to appraise, preserve, reformat, and provide access to valuable—but technically challenging—audiovisual resources found in contemporary congressional research and collections.
John Caldwell, Moderator and Presenter, University of Delaware
Sara Stefani, Indiana University
JA Pryse, Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma
10:30am: Break
10:45am: Session 10, American Indians and Congress
The archives of former members of Congress which are distributed around the country, as well as the official records of Congress housed at NARA, are probably under-used for research on Native American history, policies, and issues. Our session speakers advocate the value of these sources as they talk about resource surveys, strategies to promote access, and current research uses.
Rebecca Johnson Melvin, moderator
Megan Baker, UCLA / Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Maurita Baldock, Library of Congress
Wendel Cox, Dartmouth College Library
JA Pryse, Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma
12:00pm: Adjourn/Boxed lunches available to stay or go
12:15pm: Executive Committee Meeting (if needed)
