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Conference Dates
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Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel
333 O'Farrell St
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

General Information for All Annual Meetings

Every winter, the Society for Classical Studies holds a joint meeting with the Archaeological Institute of America. In addition to the presentation of individual papers and panels, features of the annual meeting include an exhibit hall for browsing and purchasing the latest books from a variety of publishers; roundtable discussion sessions; dramatic performances by the Committee on Ancient and Modern Performance; meetings and receptions of affiliated groups; and much more.

Latest Meeting News

Posted January 5, 2016Welcome to San Francisco from the Program Chair

Dear Attendees:

Welcome to the 2016 SCS-AIA Meetings in San Francisco! I hope that you brought your umbrellas as well The SCS Program Committee has worked hard to put together a stimulating program. We want to encourage dialogue at the meetings. So please enjoy the discussions, and share your ideas on Twitter, Facebook, or in person. If you use Twitter, remember to use the conference hashtag #aiascs

I have already highlighted particular panels, including the Presidential Panel on Thursday, January 7, at 5 p.m. (See the program for details) and the SCS Program Committee’s session on Friday Jan. 7, 10:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., dedicated to “The Future of Classical Education: A Dialogue.”

There are many more panels to attend. Just use your new APP to keep track of events. After the meetings, I will send you a survey to get your feedback. For now, I look forward to stimulating conversation at the meetings.

Valete,
Michele Renee Salzman
Vice President for Programs, SCS

Quick Links

Message from the Chair of the Program Committee
Guide to San Francisco from the Local Arrangements Committee
Online Abstracts
Program Information
Seminar Announcements
Registration
Call for Volunteers
Opening Night Reception
Hotel Information
Exhibitor Information

Message from the Chair of the Program Committee

Dear Attendees:

The SCS Program Committee has put together a stimulating program for the San Francisco Annual Meeting in 2016. As always, we have a plenary session with the Presidential Address; this coming meeting will feature President John Marincola speaking on The Historian as Hero: Herodotus and the 300 at Thermopylae. We have several joint panels with the AIA, including Globalizing the Field: Preserving and Creating Access to Archaeological Collections that covers this critical area. And this year we have a joint panel with the Classical Association of the UK, Herodotus at 2500. But I want to call your attention to some novelties at the upcoming meetings.

First, please note that there has been a significant increase in the number and kind of panels organized by members. This is a development that is very exciting. It has brought to the meetings a range of new topics, including such interesting topics as Thinking through Recent German Scholarship on the Roman Republic and The List as Genre. Efforts by previous Program Committees have also resulted in the appearance of several new formats. One that I want to encourage is represented this coming year by the panel where Author Meets Critics; this panel will focus in 2016 on the topic of Race, Religion, Ethnicity: The Politics of Modern Classics and is organized by the Committee on the Status of Women and Minority Groups. In response to contemporary issues, the Program Committee has organized a panel devoted to The Future of the Classics, with comparative papers on the situation of Classics in the UK and the Liberal Arts in Small Colleges in the US. Finally, the Committee has accepted three seminars for the meeting. Please read about them on the web site, and, if you are interested in attending one or more, write to the appropriate organizer as soon as possible.

And there is much more! Please look at the program on line.

Sincerely,
Professor Michele Renee Salzman
For more information, see the SCS Website

Guide to San Francisco from the Local Arrangements Committee

New December 28, 2015Click here to read a comprehensive guide to San Francisco from the Local Arrangements Committee.

Accepted Abstracts

New December 10, 2015Click here to see the abstracts of accepted papers

Program

New December 30, 2015 Click here to see a PDF version of the Annual Meeting Program

New November 24, 2015Click here to see the schedule of committee meetings and other special events.

New December 17, 2015Click here for details of special events at the upcoming meeting.

Seminar Announcements

The Program Committee has approved three proposals to offer seminars at the 2016 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Full details of these sessions appear here. Seminars are intended to provide an opportunity for extensive discussion of the papers to be presented. To this end attendance at the seminars will be limited, and the speakers in these sessions have been asked to make their papers available by the end of November so that registrants who attend the sessions can read them in advance. Each presenter will present only a brief summary of his or her paper at the session itself.

To ensure the success of this session, the Program Committee requests the following commitments from annual meeting registrants interested in attending a seminar.

1. Ask the Seminar Leaders via e-mail to reserve a place for you at the session. Each description below provides the e-mail address for the session’s organizer.

2. Read each of the seminar papers in advance of the meeting. Registrants whose requests to participate are accepted will receive copies of the seminar papers.

3. Attend the entire 3-hour session in San Francisco. The Program Committee feels strongly that the success of the seminars will depend in large part on the willingness of all participants to participate actively for the entire session. In addition, persons accepted for attendance at a seminar may be taking the place of another registrant who wished to attend the session. There will be a brief break scheduled about halfway through each session.

Click here to see the list of speakers and topics for each seminar as well as a brief summary of each session prepared by the organizer:

Registration

To register for the 2016 Joint Annual Meeting, please click here. Please be sure to register by November 13 to take advantage of the discounted early registration rate. If you have a disability or require special accommodations to attend the Annual Meeting, please be sure to check the appropriate box on the registration form so that we can fully assist you.

Call for Volunteers

The Society seeks volunteers at the 147th Annual Meeting of the Society in San Francisco, CA this coming January. Assignments include working in the registration area and assisting staff with some sessions and special events. If you are interested, please write to John Klopacz, the Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee by November 30. We will work with Dr. Klopacz to develop a schedule of volunteer activity in December.

In exchange for eight hours of service (either in one continuous or in two 4-hour assignments), volunteers receive a waiver of their annual meeting registration fees. It is not necessary to be an SCS member to volunteer.

Opening Night Reception

The AIA and SCS Joint Opening Night Reception (ONR) will take place on Wednesday, January 6, from 7:00-9:00 pm. It will kick off the annual meeting and provide a festive social atmosphere with hors-d'oeuvres included with the price of the ticket and drinks available for purchase. The ONR will be held in the Continental Ballroom of the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel. The price of a ticket is $35 ($27 for student registrants). If you have not yet registered for the annual meeting, you can purchase tickets through the registration site or at the event itself. If you have already registered, you can either add tickets to your existing registration or visit this web site set up by our colleagues at AIA.

Hotel Information

Updated December 21, 2015: Rooms at the convention rate are no longer available at the Hilton San Francisco. However, a very limited number of rooms are available for the nights of January 6-9 inclusive at the nearby Parc 55 Hotel at the discounted rate of $159 per night, plus taxes for a single (one bed) or double (two beds). To make a reservation at Parc 55, please visit https://aws.passkey.com/event/14257996/owner/1150/home. (After you click on the link, choose "Attendee" from the "Make Your Selection" dropdown menu.) You may also call 415-392-8000. If making reservations by phone, be sure to mention the booking code “AIA” to obtain the discounted conference rate.

The AIA and SCS have secured discounted rates for registered attendees at the official headquarters hotel, the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, located at 333 O'Farrell Street. It will be the venue for the majority of conference activities, including academic sessions, the Exhibit Hall, convention registration, and most committee/interest group meetings and special events. Benefits of booking a room at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square include:

  • Discounted hotel rates of $155 USD per night, plus taxes for a single (one bed) or double (two beds) room. These discounted rates are valid for hotel reservations for January 3, 2016 through January 10, 2016, and are based on availability. The deadline to reserve rooms at the discounted rate is Monday, December 16, 2015.
  • Complimentary internet in guest rooms
  • 5% discount card to be used in food and beverage outlets (excludes alcohol and room service)
  • Ideal location in the heart of downtown San Francisco, offering easy access by foot or public transportation to Nob Hill, Chinatown and many other San Francisco neighborhoods and attractions
  • Many amenities such as outdoor pool, 2,800 sq ft health club, tour desk, business center, onsite Starbucks, and self/valet overnight parking (for a fee).

Please click here to make a room reservation at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Reservations can also be made by calling 1-800-HILTONS. If making reservations by phone, be sure to mention the booking code “AIA” to obtain the discounted conference rate.

What is the importance of booking at our official Annual Meeting Hotels?

The AIA and SCS are proud to have produced the Annual Meeting for our members for 116 years. Financially, we are able to do this by reserving a large block of rooms with the official Annual Meeting hotel(s). In exchange, these hotels offer our attendees the guaranteed lowest group rate at the hotel and provide us with complimentary meeting space. If we are unable to meet our guaranteed minimum number of registered guests, the AIA and SCS must pay for the unused guest rooms as well as meeting space rental, which can amount to a severe financial penalty to both associations. We greatly appreciate your support by booking within our reserved blocks.

Unauthorized Solicitation of Annual Meeting Hotel Reservations

AIA and SCS members have received telephone calls and e-mails from individuals representing a company variously called “EHS”, "Exhibitors Hotel Services", “Global Housing”, or “Convention Housing Services”. These individuals are operating without the consent of either Society and are fraudulently representing themselves as AIA/SCS, the Hilton Hotel, or a housing service hired to process reservations for the joint annual meeting. They are not authorized in any way by the Societies to handle annual meeting hotel reservations and have no access to our discounted group block at the San Francisco Hilton.

No one at AIA, SCS, or the Hilton will ever call you via telephone asking you to book a hotel room, and you will not receive a solicitation via email from any of our affiliated hotels. As described above, the only official conference hotel is the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel located at 333 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, and our rate there is $155 per night plus taxes. Once the Hilton block is filled, we will offer a discounted rate at the Parc 55 San Francisco, a Hilton Hotel located across the street from the conference site at 55 Cyril Magnin Street, San Francisco, California, 94102. Our rate at the Parc 55 will be $159 plus taxes. Any offers from other hotels and/or travel agencies are not endorsed by AIA or SCS. We strongly urge attendees to use and book through the official housing web link (https://resweb.passkey.com/go/aia2016) above.

The Societies would like to hear from any member who has been approached in this way. Please write to Ann Benbow at ABenbow@aia.bu.edu or Heather Gasda at heatherh@sas.upenn.edu.

Exhibitor Information

Companies interested in exhibiting at the annual meeting can find the Exhibitor Prospectus here.