Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year!
I write to invite you cordially to attend the 2012 Pacific Rim Special Education Research Consortium (PR-SERC) Conference which will be held on February 8 – 10, 2012 in Santa Barbara. Over the past two years, the PR-SERC has developed into a key network for advancing special education and disability research and practice in the Pacific Rim. Since the inaugural PR-SERC conference held in Beijing in 2010, it has drawn scholars from more than a dozen countries and territories such as: Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam around the Pacific Rim and elsewhere to build up collaboration in research, academic exchange, and professional training.

This year’s PR-SERC conference welcomes two distinguished plenary speakers, distinguished professors Ann and Rud Turnbull from the Beach Center on Disability, University of Kansas. Three themed panel sessions feature some international renowned scholars from the Pacific Rim regions who will share their particular insights on the themes such as: Inclusive education: From research to practice; (2) Early identification and intervention; and (3) Family support and family well-being. In addition, the second day of the conference overlaps with the annual conference of the University of California Center for Research on Special Education, Disabilities, and Developmental Risk (SPEDDR). A panel session on Friday will feature 4 outstanding UC SPEDDRR scholars: Peter Mundy from the MIND Institute at UC Davis, Bob Koegel from UCSB, Connie Kasari from UCLA, and Randi O'Connor from UC Riverside. The conference will have multiple concurrent paper presentation sessions and one combined poster session in which we still seek proposals from interested participants. This year’s PR-SERC conference is jointly sponsored by the University of California Pacific Rim Research Programs, the Office of the Dean, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), the University of California Center for Research on Special Education Disabilities and Developmental Risks, and the Division of International Special Education and Services of the Council for Exceptional Children.

I hope that you share our excitement about the upcoming conference. I look forward to your participation in an excellent academic exchange and professional development opportunity for all who work with children with disabilities in the Pacific Rim. We are grateful for your continued leadership in the field of special education.
See you in Santa Barbara!

Mian Wang Ph.D.
Director of the Pacific Rim Center for Research on Special Education & Disability
Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbra, CA 93106 USA