15 August 2014
Dear Members of the ACPA,
On behalf of the ACPA, I am pleased to invite all ACPA members to attend this year's Annual Conference, on "Dispositions, Habits, and Virtues," to be held in Washington, DC, from 9—12 October 2014.
1. Annual Meeting on "Dispositions, Habits, and Virtues," to be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, 9—12 October 2014.
On behalf of the Association, I would like to thank The Catholic University of America for very generously hosting the event. I would also like to thank all those who submitted papers for the meeting, and especially the members of the Program Committee: Mirela Oliva, Michael O'Neill, and Bernard Prusak. For the third year in a row we have broken the record for the number of papers submitted. As a result, our acceptance rate for "Contributed Papers," that is, the papers to be published in the Proceedings, had to be even lower than last year. So interest in the Annual Conference is growing by leaps and bounds.
The 2014 Annual Meeting will take place 9—12 October 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Links to register for the Conference, reserve a room at the hotel at the conference rate, and sign up for the banquet and women's luncheon are up on the ACPA Website http://www.acpaweb.org/ which takes you to the ACPA Conference page on the Philosophy Documentation Center website http://www.pdcnet.org/wp/services/2014-acpa-conference/ .
Discounted prices for hotel registration are only good through 15 September 2014, one month before the Conference begins. Hotel prices are good for Washington, especially if you are willing to share a room with friends: $175 per night for one or two persons, $200 per night for three, and $225 per night for four. Conference Registration is $60.00 until 22 September and then $65; Student Registration is $15.00 until 22 September and then $20; Banquet price is $55.00 (which includes drinks and gratuity); and the Women's Luncheon price is $25.00.
2. Program for the Annual Conference
The Program for the Annual Conference is posted on the ACPA website. In order not to miss out on some very fine papers, I have again organized some ACPA Sponsored Satellite Sessions. You can find them in the program, along with the satellite sessions organized by groups allied with the ACPA. Just like last year, satellite sessions will begin at 10:00am on Friday, 10 October 2014 and extend through 11:00am on Sunday, 12 October 2014. So please make your airline reservations accordingly.
We should have the traditional paper Program, still sent by regular mail, to you before 1 September 2014. Additional copies will be available at the Registration Table at the Conference. And here let me thank Pam Swope of the Philosophy Documentation Center, who does such a marvelous job in helping to set up our Conference.
3. Election of ACPA Officers
The ACPA Constitution requires that election of officers be done by paper ballot. This ballot must be mailed and it will be mailed to you in the "Conference mailing." At present, please consult the brief biographies of candidates on the website. All constituent members of the Association (i.e., all members excluding institutional, library, associate, and student members) are eligible to vote. Please vote for one candidate for VP/President-Elect and for not more than five candidates for our Executive Council. Eligible voters should send their completed ballot to the National Office at the University of St. Thomas no later than 2 April 2015. Be sure to print and sign your name on the back of the envelope; without your name and signature your ballot will not be valid.
4. Future ACPA Meetings
The 2015 meeting will be in Boston and hosted by Boston College. The topic, as announced last May, will be "Analyzing Catholic Philosophy" and our President will be Prof. Jorge L. A. Garcia of Boston College. For submission guidelines and more details, visit the ACPA's website.
5. Hosts for 2016 and 2017
We are looking for volunteers to host the 2016 and 2017 meetings. If your university might be interested, please contact me at [email protected].
6. Reminder
If you have not done so, please be sure to pay your ACPA dues (dues notices were emailed to all members in May of this year). The timely payment of your dues will eliminate the need for reminder notices and thereby help to reduce the ACPA's overall costs. For more information, please go to the ACPA website or our page on the Philosophy Documentation Center website.
7. Necrology
If you know of a member who has died during these past two years, then please send relevant details to me or to Pam Swope at the Philosophy Documentation Center.
Finally, as you probably remember, the Executive Council will elect a new Secretary at the 2014 Conference. Let me say that it has been a pleasure functioning as your National Secretary during these last few years. I have been delighted to be in office while the national meeting has grown in size so rapidly, and while younger members have taken an increasingly prominent role in the Conference. From where I stand, the future looks bright, indeed, for the ACPA.
Yours, as always,
Ed Houser
R. E. Houser
ACPA National Secretary
Bishop Wendelin J. Nold Professor of Graduate Philosophy
Center for Thomistic Studies
University of St. Thomas (TX)
Houston, Texas