The History of SEUSS

SEUSS has been co-sponsored by Emory Sociology and Morehouse Sociology for decades. Alternating its location annually between Emory and Morehouse campuses, this symposium has, over the years, drawn hundreds of students from college and universities across the southeastern US (and sometimes from elsewhere). These students have converged on Atlanta to present findings from their own empirical research projects.

This symposium ties into one of the curricular emphases of Emory Sociology: equipping students with the skills and tools to conduct their own sociological research. Indeed, many of our classes build on this emphasis by requiring students to complete an empirical project of some sort. Yet, we also want our students to share the results of their studies with a broader audience. One way to do so is via presentation at various conferences and symposia.

Thus, SEUSS offers students the opportunity to present their own original papers at a professional conference, in a 12-15 minute presentation. Regardless of your career plans, preparing and presenting your paper is a great learning experience. It provides an opportunity for you to get public speaking and professionalization under your belt in preparation for graduate school, law school, public health, etc.

We encourage you to consider submitting a good paper you have written in one of your sociology classes. If you are considering a paper for presentation, talk with the professor for whom you wrote the paper to see if your paper is appropriate. That professor, in turn, can help you refine and polish the paper prior to its presentation, offering a mentoring experience that goes beyond the typical classroom assignment.

Tim Dowd, Chair, Emory Sociology