Business Meeting:
The Student Section Business Meeting was hosted by Section Chair, Koby Hansen, on
May 23rd, 2025 at the LASA Congress. Koby shared information about the section, the
section’s accomplishments in the past year, and Koby announced the winner of the
Student Section Paper Award. 3 members attended the meeting.
Section Membership:
This year we had a 30% decrease in section membership. To combat this, efforts by the
Student Section for the 2025-2026 year will be aimed at recruitment and retention of
members.
Accomplishments:
This year we successfully transitioned from the previous representatives to Koby
Hansen as the Chair of the Section.
We successfully ran the 2025 LASA Student Section Paper Award. The award was
selected by Koby Hansen. We congratulate Anderson da Silva Soares for winning this
award.
The Student Section also organized two sessions for the 2025 LASA Congress. The
first session, titled “Self-Care in Academia” importantly explored the topic of self-care
as students in academia. Given the theme of this year’s congress, it is fundamental to
talk about self-care when discussing corporality. 6 members attended the session.
The second session that the Section organized was titled “Publishing as a Student in
Academia.” This session is aimed at the lack of professional developments that many
of us face in our programs; more and more it is necessary that we publish as students in
order to be viable candidates on the job market, and this session is a way that we are
trying to bridge that gap. 15 members attended the session.
Looking toward the future:
For the upcoming year, these are the plans for the section:
- Highlighting student accomplishments. This is a collaborative project, so in
order for it to be successful, we need folks to share their accomplishments and
profiles to share the information. - Student Paper Awards. Given that the 2026 LASA Congress will be held in
Paris, France, we recognize that the cost of travel will be much higher than in
other years. We will be offering more paper awards to offset the cost of travel. - Year-Round Events. One of the major issues is staying connected between
Congresses, so as an attempt to stay more connected throughout the year, I will
be organizing a series of events and opportunities for us to be more connected
as a Section including dissertation writing, professional development workshops,
or opportunities to share work in progress. - Section Elections. This year we will also be holding the Student Section
elections as my term finishes with the end of the 2026 Congress. It is very
important to continue to have representation as students in LASA.
Current Student Section Board:
Koby Hansen (khans030@ucr.edu) will continue as the Section Chair, and elections for
the next term will be held in Fall 2025.