Since its founding in 1981 at Florida State University, the Southeast/Caribbean Section (SEMSEC) will meet for the first time in the Caribbean region. The Dominican Academy of Sciences (Academia de Ciencias de la República Dominicana) will host the 2012 annual meeting from March 9-11. The program chair is SEMSEC vice president Rebecca Sager, and the local arrangements chair is Martha Ellen Davis, coordinator of the Social Science Commission of the Academia de Ciencias.

It is appropriate that the members not acquainted with the Caribbean or Latin America begin in Santo Domingo, capital of the first colony in the New World. The Academia is located on Calle Las Damas, the oldest street of this first colony. The colonial zone of Santo Domingo and environs offer many options for lodging, eating, and live musical performance, from merengue to “son” to Latin jazz and more. Local musicians, musicologists, and students will be incorporated into the program.

The dates selected fall at the end of some major universities’ spring breaks and at the beginning of others’, such that attendees can come prior to or stay following the meeting. Options for educational and cultural travel will be made available.