2012 Annual Conference

Click here to view the 2012 conference program

SSEC members and guests were treated to a fabulous learning experience in Monteverde, Costa Rica, at its 2012 annual conference. Our host was the Monteverde Institute, a community based educational and cultural organization. The conference theme was Sustainability and the Social Sciences.

In addition to the substantive academic content of the conference, conferees were treated to a wide variety of other learning experiences arranged by the Institute. These experiences included an overview of the history and culture of Costa Rica, a natural history walk, a visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a visit to a chocolate factory, a visit to a coffee plantation, and a discussion of Costa Rica’s educational system. The staff of the Monteverde Institute was most accommodating and helpful throughout the conference.

The six photos below offer a few conference highlights.


Conferees walk across a suspension bridge at the Cloud Forest Reserve.

At the end of the Cloud Forest Reserve tour, we watched hummingbirds feeding.

At the Institute, Guillermo Vargas, a community leader, discusses how Monteverde tries to foster and maintain a sustainable community.

Young people from the Monteverde community demonstrated their dancing customs.

Bethany Elmore of the Monteverde Institute was one of our outstanding hosts. She is accompanied by her son. To Bethany’s right is a coffee plantation owner, who demonstrated the process of coffee-making.

Professor Charles White of Boston University presented his paper on “Sustainability in the Arenas of Power:  An Exploration of Public Policy.”