ASEEES COVID-19 Updates

Publishing Date: 
Wednesday, March 25, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed in a short time the way we work, teach, learn, research, and communicate. We at ASEEES are working to provide relevant information and support to our members as COVID-19 impacts our field. 

This page will provide updates and changes to ASEEES' operations and activities as well as other relevant information as they arise.

On July 15, we announced that the 2020 ASEEES Convention will be a virtual event. We will provide more details here and on the convention website.

How is the COVID-19 pandemic impacting your professional life? Please let us know in this survey.

If you have suggestions on what ASEEES could do to support the field and members, please email your suggestions to Executive Director, Lynda Park.


Posted on August 13
ASEEES joins ACLS in calling on U.S. institutions of higher education to sustain the centrality of humanities and social sciences at this critical time.

Posted on July 29
ASEEES is asking all convention participants to confirm participation in the virtual convention or withdraw. More information can be found HERE. New revised registration rate and waiver information for the virtual convention is posted on the  Registration page

Posted on July 23
ASEEES signed an AHA statement urging universities to make a series of specific accommodations for faculty and students whose research has been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Posted on July 22
Slavic Review announced a switch to ScholarOne for submissions, review requests, and review reports.

Posted on July 15
ASEEES announced that the 2020 Annual Convention will be held in an all virtual format.

Posted on July 13
Cambridge University Press has started to mail out the print copy of the Slavic Review spring 2020 issue.

Posted on July 8
ASEEES signs a MLA letter calling on ICE to reconsider ending visa exemptions for international students.

Posted on June 24
Thanks to those of you who completed the 2020 Convention planning survey. You can continue to do so. The 2020 Convention Contingency Planning Committee is hard at work on a variety of options for the convention. In these uncertain times, we suggest that you do not purchase any non-refundable travel tickets and accommodations. But rest assured that we will hold a 2020 annual convention in some shape or form. The registration has been changed so that the early registration rate is now extended to Oct 7.  As situation requires, we will make necessary changes to ensure the health and well-being of our community. 

Posted on June 11
ASEEES President Jan Kubik issued a letter on the state of ASEEES. This letter includes a survey about how Covid-19 has impacted you.

The 2020 preliminary Convention schedule is now available along with additional Convention information. We also have a survey about the Convention and request your response.

Posted on June 9
The Cambridge University Press has informed us that it will begin printing and shipping its journals starting July 1. We expect the press will ship the Spring issue of Slavic Review soon and anticipate the Summer issue to be mailed on schedule.

Posted on June 3
ASEEES signed a letter by the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) calling on Ohio University to reconsider their planned closure of their Russian program.

Posted on June 1
ASEEES signed a letter by the Amrerican Sociological Association calling on Congress to allocate additional funding for higher education institutions and ensure they are distributed to students and institutions most impacted during the COVID-19 crisis.

Posted on May 11
The Spring 2020 issue of Slavic Review is now available online on Cambridge Core. ASEEES members can access the issue as well as the entire collection through the ASEEES members site. However, due to supply chain disruptions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, Cambridge University Press has halted printing of journal issues. We apologize for the disruption. Print copies of the Spring 2020 issue will be mailed as soon as the supply chain issues are resolved. For more information see the CUP’s update page.

Posted on April 28
The 2020 MAG Congress in Minsk, Belarus, has been postponed to Oct 4-6, 2020. This event is sponsored by ASEEES.

Posted on April 24
ASEEES signed a statement by the American Sociological Association calling on the higher education administrators to consider appropriate temporary adjustments for students whose degree progress has been impacted during the COVID-19 crisis.

Posted on April 23
ASEEES staff is continuing to work remotely. At this time, you can reach us by fax at +1 (412) 685-3087 and an alternate phone number at (412) 436-9468. When calling our alternate number, it will ask for your name and then proceed with the call. You may still call our main office number and leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible. Our office hours are 9-5pm ET Monday through Friday. Additionally, we are checking our mail at less frequent intervals, and may be slower to respond to mailed documents. If you have something time sensitive to mail, please email us first at aseees@pitt.edu and we will provoide an alternate mailing address.

Posted on April 6
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Thurnau Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of History at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, discusses the actions that can be taken to assist graduate students. Read about these actions in our recent blog post.

ASEEES signed a statement by the Modern Language Association calling on universities and colleges to implement practices that will mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for graduate student, contingent faculty members, untenured faculty members, and international students and scholars.

Posted on March 30
The 10th ICCEES World Congress has been postponed until August 3-8, 2021, and will be held at Concordia University in Montreal. More information about the Congress can be found on their event website. Due to the postponement, ASEEES has rescinded the travel grant program for the World Congress. We will conduct the competition again in early spring of 2021.

Posted on March 26
The following regional affiliates have postponed or cancelled their conferences, the Midwest Slavic Assocation, Northeat Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, Northwest Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, and Southern Conference on Slavic Studies. The Western Slavic and Eurasian Association will be held in a virtual setting. Find more about the conferences here.

Posted on March 24
ASEEES signed a statement by the American Sociological Association calling on the higher education administrators to consider appropriate temporary adjustments to their faculty review and reappointment processes for tenure line and contingent faculty during the COVID-19 crisis.

Posted on March 23
Deadlines for Film Submissions for the ASEEES Convention in Washington, DC has been extended to April 15. Learn about film submissions here.

Posted on March 20
Deadlines for April 1 applications and nominations are extended to April 15. This includes the ASEEES Summer Dissertation Writing Grant, ASEEES Dissertation Research Grant, Understanding Modern Russia Research Grant, ASEEES Distinguished Contributions Award, Self-Nominations for ASEEES Board Candidacy, and Book Prizes.

Programming for the 2020 Annual Convention in November in Washington, DC, is on schedule, and we expect to send out acceptance notifications by no later than mid-April. We are mindful of the contingencies as we move forward.