Urban affairs group prepares for meeting in DC

9:10 a.m., March 26, 2004--The Urban Affairs Association, which has its headquarters at the University of Delaware, will hold its annual meeting from March 31 through April 3 in Washington, D.C.

This year’s meeting will include more than 400 individual paper and colloquy presentations with sessions on the political and economic impact of the Sept. 11 attacks on cities, the role of news in the formation of public attitudes and policy, and challenges related to urban food systems in inner-city communities, according to Margaret Wilder, UD professor of urban studies and national chair of the UAA annual meeting program committee.

The session on the media will feature representatives of Al-Jazeera, CNN and the Federal Communications Commission.

The Al-Jazeera representative, Yasser Thabet, will be hosted by UD’s College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy (CHEP) during his U.S. visit through the efforts of Danilo Yanich, UD associate professor of urban affairs, and funding from the Center for International Studies. In addition to the conference presentation, he will speak at 7 p.m., Monday, April 5, in Multipurpose Room B of UD’s Trabant University Center.

Other topics during the conference include information technology, immigration, welfare reform, brownfield reclamation, urban sprawl, regionalism and globalization, Wilder said.

The wide range of topics “reflects the multifaceted nature of urban issues and policy challenges,” she said.

Wilder said the meeting is “very interdisciplinary,” attracting scholars with interests in such varied fields as political science, sociology, history, economics, urban planning, health services and transportation.

“We are hard-core urbanists,” she said. “Our common interest is looking at urban issues, and there will be presentations on virtually every aspect of urban life.”

It is expected that more than 500 persons will attend the event from across the United States and from Canada, China, England, Frances, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland and Sweden.

For emerging scholars, the meeting offers sessions with practical advice on converting grant reports into publishable articles, attaining tenure and promotion, and writing book reviews.

UD has been heavily involved in the organization since its inception nearly three decades ago and now serves as its headquarters.

Provost Daniel Rich, formerly CHEP dean, was among its founders.

Mary Helen Callahan, assistant to the dean in CHEP, was a long-time executive director and was succeeded by Tanya Tilghman, also of the college.

“The UAA started as a loose confederation of deans,” Wilder said. “Over time, there was more and more faculty interest in the organization and it grew quickly.”

For additional information, see the organization’s web site at [http://www.udel.edu/uaa/index.html].

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