Dear SCJA Members,
As you get ready to enjoy the summer months, I would like to remind you to submit your papers, panels, roundtables or poster ideas for the upcoming Southern Criminal Justice Association’s Annual Meeting. The meeting will take place from September 12 through September 15th at the Pensacola Beach (Florida) Hilton Gulf Front Hotel. The theme of the conference is Making a Difference about Crime and the Criminal Justice System. In relating your ideas and research, I am hoping that your presentations will address how your work will make a tangible difference in dealing with criminal behavior or improving the criminal justice system. In keeping with that theme, I have arranged for six thematic presentations to address how our research has made a difference for some of the key issues regarding crime in our society. Speakers well known for their work in the areas of the death penalty, weapon and gun use, gangs, race and juvenile justice, cybercrime, and green criminology will try to answer the questions of how our research has made a difference, why it hasn’t made more of a difference, and how we might change the way we do things to allow our work to have more of an impact. In addition, Tom Blomberg, the former editor of Criminology and Public Policy and longtime dean of the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University will further the discussion of this topic in his keynote address. I am confident that these talks combined with your research will provide for stimulating and important discussions on how our discipline can improve conditions in our society.
While I know you all attend the conference for the exchange of intellectual ideas and to network with others who share your interests, I would be remiss if I did not tell you about the site of this year’s conference. Pensacola Beach is a beautiful resort town that is situated between the Gulf and the inlet. The Pensacola Beach Gulf Front Hotel is right on the white sands of the gulf-side beach. There is a large pool on the way to the beach and a tiki bar for your convenience. The hotel is situated within very easy walking distance to a number of quality restaurants, bars, and shops. There are a number of recreational things to do in the area for those who are more adventuresome. In addition, the city of Pensacola is a short drive away with yet another set of restaurants, shopping areas and places to sightsee
Please submit your proposals for papers, panels, roundtables and posters electronically through the SCJA website (https://www.southerncj.org/) by July 15, 2018. There you will also find information to register for the conference and to book a room at the Hilton Gulf Front Hotel. I would also like to encourage you to convince others who have not as yet attended one of our annual meetings to do so. As a special incentive to encourage students to join the SCJA, we will waive the membership fee for first time attendees who are not members. So bring your colleagues and students along. If you have any questions please contact our program chair, Dr. John Stogner, University of North Carolina – Charlotte (JohnStogner@uncc.edu).
I look forward to meeting friends and colleagues on the beach in Pensacola Beach. I’ll be the one with the George Hamilton tan.
Marv