Association for Cultural Studies

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A brief history of the ACS

At the Second International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference in Tampere, Finland 1998, Pertti Alasuutari introduced the idea of establishing an international association of cultural studies. Informal discussions with Ann Gray, Larry Grossberg, John Hartley, Joke Hermes and others led to a "Draft Proposal for establishing an International Association of Cultural Studies at the Crossroads in Cultural Studies conference in Birmingham".

A general launching meeting was arranged during the third Crossroads conference in Birmingham 2000, electing a larger committee to prepare a constitution for the association, now called the "Association for Cultural Studies" (ACS). The committee comprised Pertti Alasuutari, Kuan-Hsing Chen, Kirsten Drotner, Ann Gray, Lawrence Grossberg, Joke Hermes, Baris Kilicbay, Daniel Mato, Alan McKee, Alvaro Pina (Coordinator), M. Michael Schiff, Keyan Tomaselli and Handel K. Wright.

This committee prepared the first draft of provisional rules and by-laws, which were then introduced to the founding meeting at the fourth Crossroads conference, held in Tampere 2002, where it was decided that the Association for Cultural Studies will be established, with Pertti Alasuutari (Finland) elected as Chair, Joke Hermes (Netherlands) as Vice-Chair and Mikko Lehtonen (Finland) as Treasurer. An Advisory Committee was also formed at that meeting, including also Kuan-Hsing Chen (Taiwan), Kirsten Drotner (Denmark), Ann Gray (UK), Lawrence Grossberg (USA), Baris Kilicbay (Turkey), Daniel Mato (Venezuela), Alan McKee (Australia), Alvaro Pina (Portugal), M. Michael Schiff (Canada), Keyan Tomaselli (South Africa) and Handel K. Wright (USA).

The advisory committee further developed the constitution in accordance with the suggestions made during the founding assembly. It was decided to register the Association in Finland, and the Rules of the Association were revised to meet the legal demands there. The Association for Cultural Studies was accepted to the Register of Associations in Finland on 30 January 2003. You can find a copy of the document here.

The Association had its next full meeting at the fifth Crossroads conference in Urbana-Champaign, USA 2004. An e-mail election of a first real Board was then organised, and concluded on 1 November 2004. The Board had an extraordinary digital meeting in November, discussing among other things sites for the next Crossroads conference and electing treasurer, administrative secretary and organisational secretary.

The Board meeting of February 2005 decided on the budget and membership fee structure, constructed an action plan for the ACS and distributed tasks and responsibilities among the board members.

The Board meeting of June 2005 focused on the agreement prepared by Lawrence Grossberg, Mikko Lehtonen et al. with Istanbul for the sixth Crossroads conference. It was ratified, and the two were selected to represent the ACS and its Board in the organising committee of that conference. The conference programme was discussed, with special attention to time-tabling and global diversity.

The Board meeting of November 2005 decided on a new institutional membership fee, accepted a budget for 2006 and decided to let Pepi Leistyna act as co-opted Board member representing North America until the next election in 2008.

The Board meeting of February 2006 decided to have its General Financial Assembly at Istanbul during the Crossroads conference. The Assembly will as its main content have the presentation and confirmation of the accounts, the Board's annual report and the auditors' report.

The Board meeting of April 2006 discussed the preparations for Crossroads 2006. Lawrence Grossberg and Mikko Lehtonen form a conference committee to prepare the 2008 agreement. A revised subgroup was formed (headed by Melissa Gregg together with Jody Berland) to develop contacts with publishers and academic journals on a longer perspective, and the issue will be further discussed in the General Meeting in Istanbul.

The Board meeting of July 2006 decided to let the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, organise Crossroads in 2008, on the basis of their proposal. Full contract will be negotiated by the end of this year. Also Board's organisation and subgroups were discussed. It was decided that the Board will from now on have six subgroups (see Board-page), each with one appointed coordinator within the Board, but with several other members participating in each of them.

The General Financial Assembly of July 2006 was held during the ACS Members' Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. The Board's annual report and the ACS's accounts from years 2004 and 2005 together with the auditors' report were presented. The Assembly confirmed the accounts and gave discharge from liability to the Board and others in charge.

The Board meeting of November 2006 discussed the institutional membership, in terms of which kinds of institutions can become such members at the previously set fee level of 250 euros, and what benefits such membership is to include. It was decided to let the Financial Committee investigate other international organisations to see what options they provide. The aim is to present a proposal at next meeting. Also, based on Istanbul experiences, there was a discussion of various ideas on how to improve and develop the conference. Ideas raised in the debate will be considered by the Conference Committee in its ongoing interaction with the Jamaica organisers, and the whole issue will be further discussed at next board meeting.

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