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Deborah Stone, Dartmouth College, deborah.stone@dartmouth.edu

APSA’s annual calls for papers are not usually high on my reading list, but I encourage everyone to read this year’s thought-provoking call on the theme of “Representation and Renewal.” In keeping with the overall theme and the New Orleans location, I particularly welcome proposals that might fit some of the following topics:
 
• Health Activism and Advocacy: Speaking for the Silent
• Citizen Participation and/or Patient and Family Rights in Health Care
• Illness, Disability and Inclusion (e.g., voting rights for the mentally disabled; health status and immigration law; representation of the ill and disabled in clinical research design and trials)
• Representation of GLBT Interests in Health Care, Caregiving and Family Keeping
• Representation of Health Policy Interests in Comparative Perspective
• Representation of Indigenous Interests in Development Aid Programs
• The Future of Solidarity
• Representations of Health Care, Illness and Health Systems in Literature and Film
• Health Policy and Practice in Disasters
• Biosecurity—surveillance and other biotechnologies for public health, national security, and crisis management
• And our perennial favorite: Whither the Affordable Care Act?

Knowing that people will and should submit proposals based on their current research rather than any canned list of topics, I encourage you to state how your research topic fits into one or two classic themes or puzzles of political science, if not representation.

I’ll consider pre-formed panels as well as individual proposals, with three provisos. First, as you form your panel proposal, think about how it might be appropriate for co-sponsorship with another division. Second, whether or not your panel might be co-sponsored, it would help if you leave me some flexibility, i.e. open spots to fill from individual paper proposals and willing discussants. Third, please don’t suggest a gang of fellow travelers who routinely appear on panels together; rather, look for a new and unusual grouping that will set off intellectual sparks. 

We will have some poster session slots, and I’m looking into busting the genre with short videos (not PowerPoint) instead of posters. Let me know if you have an idea.