Postponement: 45th Annual Conference of the Semiotic Society of America

Dear Colleagues and Friends

This email hopes to find all of you well and safe. Our thoughts and concern are with all of you as we navigate this worldwide crisis. Your health and well-being are of the utmost importance to us, and for that reason, in consultation with the program committee, we have decided to postpone our 45th Semiotic Society Annual Conference in 2020. We are hopeful to hold the conference as normal in October of 2021. During the delay we are holding all activities, including nominations and elections, in order to maintain the sequence and integrity of our operational processes. I will be consulting with the editorial board to design steps moving forward.

I ask that if you are able to please consider paying your dues to the society as you would normally, so that we can keep our essential operational expenses intact. I have paid my membership for the upcoming year to lead this effort. However, we realize that this may be a financial burden for some of you and our main concern is that you are well weathering this crisis.

In closing, I wish to share one of my favorite lines from the Lord of the Rings cycle:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

May you have the courage to do something impactful to help someone and remain safe and well.

Most kindly,
Javier Clavere
Executive Director Semiotic Society of America www.semioticsocietyofamerica.org