The American Studies Association is an open, diverse, and inclusive scholarly organization, committed to supporting fair labor practices and just political and social policies.

Each year, the Annual Meeting Program Committee works closely with local organizers in order to highlight issues of discrimination and fair practice specific to that site. The ASA will officially meet only at properties whose employees are free to organize and be represented by a labor union. Each potential conference site must submit detailed information about the property’s union status, its equal opportunity and affirmative action efforts, and its efforts to exceed ADA compliance standards.

The ASA is proud to be a founding member of INMEX, a non-profit meeting planning organization started by UNITE HERE to ensure that groups such as ASA hold their meetings and conferences at hotels and conference centers that treat their workers with dignity and respect.

The ASA fully endorses the NAACP Economic Reciprocity Initiative on hotels and conventions, which establishes guidelines for labor policies that promote equal opportunity and social justice. We also encourage other professional associations to join us in this effort to fight discrimination and re-segregation, specifically to participate with us in the NAACP Report Card Project on hotels and conventions, which establishes guidelines for labor policies that promote equal opportunity and social justice.