Mid-South Sociological Association

The Mid-South Sociological Association (MSSA) is a non-profit professional organization of sociologists and social scientists established in 1976 to promote the study and understanding of sociological and related issues and problems. Professional interests include crime, aging, deviance, demography, environment, family, education, race and ethnic relations, religion, global and community development, occupations, health, inequality, gender, corrections, community, political economy, science and technology, urban/rural, law, ecology, and others.

History

Its first president was Julian B. Roebuck, professor of sociology at Mississippi State University. The MSSA holds annual meetings in late October in locations around the Mid-South region. Recently scheduled locations have included Atlanta, Georgia (2013), Lafayette, Louisiana (2009), Huntsville, Alabama (2008), Mobile, Alabama (2007), Lafayette, Louisiana (2006), Atlanta, Georgia (2005), and Biloxi, Mississippi (2004).

Background

At its annual meeting, the MSSA holds sessions for the presentations of professional papers, roundtable discussions of current social issues, and hosts speakers. The organization also has a banquet, usually on Thursday evenings, at which the current president gives a talk and officers give out awards. These awards include the Stanford M. Lyman Memorial Scholarship, given each year to a worthy doctoral student completing a dissertation; the Graduate Student Distinguished Paper Award, given to the best graduate student paper delivered at the meeting; the Undergraduate Paper Award, given to the best undergraduate paper delivered at the meeting; the Sociological Spectrum Outstanding Article Award, given to the best article published that year in the journal Sociological Spectrum; and the Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award, given to an outstanding book authored by a member of the organization in the previous three years. Notable past presidents include Carl L. Bankston (vice president from 2002–03 and president from 2005-06),[1] Dennis L. Peck and Clifton D. Bryant (from 1981–82 and Bryant received the association's Distinguished Career Award in 1991 and Distinguished Book Award in 2001 and 2004).[2]

Publications
Sociological Spectrum
LanguageEnglish
Edited byKevin D. Breault
Publication details
History1980-present
Publisher
FrequencyBi-monthly
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4Sociol. Spectr.
Indexing
ISSN0273-2173 (print)
1521-0707 (web)
LCCN81649975
OCLC no.321020947
Links

The main publication of the MSSA is its official journal Sociological Spectrum, a refereed interdisciplinary social science journal that publishes articles in the areas of sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. It was established in 1980 and is published six times every year by Taylor and Francis. The editor-in-chief is Kevin Breault (Middle Tennessee State University). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2018 impact factor of 0.625, ranking it 118th out of 148 journals in the category "Sociology".[3]

References
  1. "Bankston, Carl. L.". Contemporary Authors. January 1, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  2. Clifton D. Bryant, Dennis L. Peck (2009). Encyclopedia of Death & Human Experience: 1-. Sage Publications. p. 17. ISBN 978-1412951784. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  3. "Journals Ranked by Impact: Sociology". 2016 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Clarivate Analytics. 2017.
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