2025 INSTRUCTIONS FOR SESSION CHAIRS

The 2025 ASOR Annual Meeting will be held as a hybrid meeting with both in-person and virtual participation. Chairs who do not currently have a co-chair should consider if they would like to work with someone to help share the work involved with holding a hybrid session. Please contact the Program Committee Co-Chairs with concerns.

Planning Sessions

1. Rules for Participation: Session chairs should review the Rules for Participation carefully. Please note especially the participation policy (1 paper presentation maximum, and 3 total appearances on the program); session chairs who solicit papers for their sessions should inquire whether the invitee has already submitted a paper to another session, and if so, should withdraw their invitation to prevent a conflict since a single person may not present or be the first author on more than one paper. A workshop presentation does not count as an academic paper presentation, but it does count as an appearance on the program.
2. Session Format: Sessions are scheduled in time slots of 125 minutes in length. Please plan for no more than two hours and five minutes per session. Each session can accommodate a maximum of 5 papers with 20 minutes for presentation and a required 5 minutes scheduled between presentations for questions and transition. If a session receives more than six high-quality papers that a chair wants to accept, it will be automatically considered for an additional section/time-slot. Sometimes the Program Committee will need to manage the size of the program by asking chairs to accept no more than 5 papers, or to consider additional papers for multiple time-slots if needed. If a quality paper is not accepted due to space limitations, it will be vetted to the author’s second choice. Please remember that four high-quality presentations are better than five medium-quality presentations. If you do not think you will have enough proposals (4) after the Call for Papers, please contact ASOR’s director of meetings (meetings@asor.org) and the chair(s) of the program committee by March 20, 2025.
3. Workshop Format:  Workshops are designed to emphasize discussion, collaboration, activity, or a defined goal. Workshops (125 minutes) can accommodate a maximum of 10 brief presentations (10 minutes maximum). The way a workshop time is used is more flexible than a traditional paper session and chairs may opt to run an activity,  hold questions/discussion until the end, or have a panel instead of individual presentations. The intentions should be clearly stated in the workshop description before the Call for Papers opens. Those who are interested in participating in a Workshop should submit an abstract/application as part of the Call for Papers.  Presentations in workshops do not count as an academic paper on the program, but do count as a program appearance.
   Important:  Workshops (as well as sessions planned in honor of an individual) will be allotted a single (125 minutes) time-slot on the academic program.
   
4. Peer Review: Chairs are responsible for assessing the quality of submissions. Chairs may want to consult with others in the field while reviewing some submissions. Please read ASOR’s Policy on Professional Conduct and keep this in mind when reviewing paper submissions. Section E (5-7) is particularly relevant regarding the presentation of unprovenanced materials and the presentation of research from occupied territories. If a paper raises concerns in terms of compliance with ASOR’s Policy on Professional Conduct, please e-mail the Co-Chairs of ASOR’s Program Committee and do not accept the paper in the online system.
5. Acceptance/Rejection of Papers: Please submit your assessment of each abstract according to instructions that will be sent in March. You will be given access to the abstract submissions soon after the first submission deadline of March 15. Abstracts for paper and workshop presentations may be submitted during an extension period (March 15-April 1) with a $25 late fee. Chairs should plan time in their schedule to complete reviews during the end of March and the beginning of April (no later than April 23). You may be asked to review additional paper proposals that were not accepted/placed during the first round of reviews. The ASOR office will notify proposers of whether their papers have been accepted or rejected by May 15. Please do NOT share your decisions directly with participants, as it is possible late changes may be necessary. All decisions will be issued from the ASOR Office in an official e-mail notification sent on (or before) May 15.
6. Timeline and Deadlines: Session chairs should read the 2025 Important Dates and Deadlines for the ASOR Annual Meeting carefully.

Schedule and Abstract files:

ASOR will assemble the schedule in an online format.  In order to do this we ask each session and workshop to submit the order of presentations (schedule) and session assignment for each presenter (if holding more than one section) to ASOR’s Director of Meetings and Events by May 1. Instructions will be provided for making light copy edits (for grammar and consistency). The ASOR Office will format the program listings and assign times, but Chairs are responsible for indicating the order of the presentations and (if applicable) which speakers will be presenting in each session/time-slot.

Abstract Changes: Chairs may submit light copy edits (for grammar and consistency) via the Abstract and Session Update Form for Chairs. Presenters may use this form to notify ASOR of changes to names, affiliations, or other important corrections.

Audio-Visual Format: All rooms in Boston will be equipped with a Laptop, LCD projector, screen, and podium with microphone. The provided PC/Windows laptop must be used for the duration of the session as it will be configured for the Zoom meeting and, if possible, will have the presenter’s PowerPoint or PDF files already loaded. All sessions and workshops will be recorded as part of the Zoom broadcast and the recorded proceedings will be available to registered attendees following the meeting. Recordings will be formatted and edited prior to posting and presenters may request to have their presentation removed if necessary.

If you need any other audiovisual equipment beyond that listed above, it is the session chair’s responsibility to email Arlene Press with your request by May 25, 2025. Requests cannot always be met and may add an expense to the session.

The Program Committee reserves the right to reject any session that is substantially different from the proposal originally approved.

Etiquette for Session Chairs

All session chairs should be aware of the following rules of etiquette:

1. Discussants: If someone is invited to participate as a discussant or respondent in your session, they must be a current ASOR academic member and register for ASOR’s Annual Meeting. While discussants do not have an official peer-reviewed paper on the program, they should complete an abstract submission form with the title “Discussant,” to ensure that they have an official listing on the academic program. It is essential for the success of a session involving a discussant that the discussant receives a draft of the papers at least one week before the Annual Meeting. It is the responsibility of session chairs to facilitate this exchange.

2. Session Schedule: The schedule will be followed strictly. Let presenters, discussants/respondents, and panelists know of this practice. If a participant in the session does not attend and does not submit a paper to be read or finishes early, do not begin the next presentation until the printed time. Fill “gaps” with discussion or a break; the session should not be rearranged or otherwise modified. It is essential for the success of the papers and the ensuing discussion that presentations not be allowed to run beyond the time allotted for them.

3. Changes to Schedule: Announce any changes to the schedule at the beginning of the session and at the time of the change.

4. Troubleshooting: Ask if there is an ASOR assigned Session Assistant in the room to help, use the Audio-Visual Support number listed at or near the podium, or contact the ASOR registration desk while at the meeting if you have problems, such as:

– The room is not set up according to special requests that the chair may have arranged in advance of the meeting.
– You require technical support
– There are not enough chairs
– Another group is in your room at the time you are scheduled

ASOR Program Committee: You can always contact ASOR’s Program Committee (PC) with questions or concerns as you plan for the meeting. E-mail the PC Co-Chairs, Allison Thomason and Kiersten Neumann.