Welcome to the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences website!

I am so grateful and excited for this opportunity to work with the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences Board of Directors and our IASS members over the course of the next two years. During my term as president, we plan to redesign our website to allow for direct conference proposal submissions, membership payments and an updated membership roster, as well as to increase our presence on social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Of course, we also will continue to expand our outreach and participation in our Annual Meetings, which have bounced back and expanded since the Covid years. Another priority will be increasing the multiplicity of institutions represented both by our membership and our Board of Directors.

The IASS promotes scholarship in 17 disciplines from the social sciences as well as related interdisciplinary fields by faculty and students teaching or enrolled in programs at a total of 41 academic institutions here in the state of Indiana as well as at additional universities and colleges from surrounding states. Our goal, as always, is to enhance the organization’s public and scholarly impact and effectiveness through cutting-edge social science research.

The IASS also publishes a scholarly online journal for interdisciplinary social science research, the Midwest Social Sciences Journal, which currently has a large outreach to thousands of readers in more than 175 countries throughout the world. The MSSJ is a double-blind, peer-reviewed journal with free Open Access that also allows authors to retain the copyright for their work. Additionally, the George C. Roberts Award is presented to the author who, in the sole assessment of the IASS Board of Directors, has written the best article published in the most recent volume of the MSSJ.

Our Annual Meeting, scheduled next year for Friday, October 9, 2026, at Valparaiso University, will offer an excellent opportunity for you to present your scholarship as well as to meet up with friends and make new acquaintances. Beyond this, it will provide a comfortable, safe space for our undergraduate and graduate students to present posters and papers while interacting with scholars teaching throughout the state and region. Please consider joining our Academy and submitting a proposal to present your scholarship at the IASS Annual Meeting next October at Valparaiso University!

J. Michael Raley, Ph.D. (University of Chicago)

IASS President (2025-2027)