Editor’s note: We at Points are thrilled to announce new developments concerning the Alcohol and Drug History Society. Today’s post was provided by Noelle Plack, the organization’s secretary-treasurer, and Virginia Berridge, its president. For more information, check out the society homepage at https://alcoholanddrugshistorysociety.org.
Over the past 18 months there have been several exciting developments at the Alcohol and Drugs History Society that we would like to highlight.
The Society’s Officers have changed. Professor Virginia Berridge of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine took over as President in July 2015 from Professor Scott C. Martin. Dr Noelle Plack of Newman University, Birmingham has replaced Cynthia Belaskie as Secretary-Treasurer. Our thanks go to both Scott and Cynthia for their service to the Society. Dr Tim Hickman of Lancaster University has been elected Vice President of the Society. Dr Sue Taylor also of the LSHTM has become the Society’s Media Officer, while Dr Dan Malleck of Brock University remains the Editor of the Society’s journal, The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs.
The Society’s Executive Committee has been refreshed and now contains a mix of established and early career scholars representing a diverse range of specialties from across North American and Europe. The Executive Committee will provide guidance on strategy and developments of the Society; sub-committees have been created to oversee the development of a new Constitution as well as work on the website and future conference planning. The new Executive Committee as well as minutes from Society meetings can be found on the website.
The Society’s journal is also transforming with the intention to negotiate publication with a commercial publisher. Talks have begun with a leading academic international publisher and it is hoped that a formal relationship can begin in 2017. This would be a major advance for the Society and would enable wider circulation, integration into broader academic networks and a lessening of the administrative burden for the current editor. The next two volumes of The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs, 29 (2015) and 30 (2016), should be out by the end of the year. Once these are published, we can then proceed with further negotiations and any proposals will be put to the Society’s Executive Committee.
The Society’s biennial conference will take 22-25 June 2017 at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. The local organizers are Prof. Toine Pieters and Dr Stephen Snelders and the theme is ‘Drinking and Drug Policies in History: Contextualizing Causes and Consequences’. The call for papers has been circulated throughout various international networks and the deadline for abstracts is 15 December 2016. More information can be found on the conference website: https://adhs2017.wordpress.com
We look forward to a stimulating and productive conference next summer and we hope to see many of you in Utrecht! For more information, including Society membership, please visit: https://alcoholanddrugshistorysociety.org