The Pacific Rim Center for Research on Special Education and Disability at UC Santa Barbara is organizing the 2012 Pacific Rim Special Education Research Consortium (PR-SERC) conference under the auspices of the UC Pacific Rim Research Programs and the Division of International Special Education and Services of the Council for Exceptional Children that represents the largest national professional organization of special education in the United States of America. The PR-SERC conference will take place on February 9-10 at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara. Registration information is available at the center’s website.

PR-SERC is a consortium involving researchers from over 20 universities in a dozen Pacific Rim countries including Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, U.S., and many Asia-Pacific countries and territories (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Marco, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.). The Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara has taken a strong role in initiating and founding this consortium. Associate Professor Mian Wang is the first acting chair of the consortium and is also, together with Professor Michael Gerber, the co-chair of the 2012 PR-SERC conference. The PR-SERC conference will also provide a space for renowned UC scholars to present their latest research to the international community in a joint conference session with the University of California Center for Research on Special Education, Disabilities, and Developmental Risk (UC SPEDDR) on February 10. That evening, UC SPEDDR will host its annual poster session reception. Its doctoral student conference will be held on February 11, where practitioners are invited to attend and presentations will be specifically aimed at practical research-based strategies to use in daily life and the classroom.

The conference presenters cordially invite all Gevirtz School faculty and graduate students as guests (no registration required) to attend the February 9 conference opening ceremony and keynote plenary session. Please RSVP before February 6 by email. The GGSE faculty and graduate students are also welcome to participate in other conference events with a special registration rate.

Rates for the UC SPEDDR meeting are available for half day (February 10 poster session or February 11) or full registration (February 10 poster session and 11), on site only. Please email Cori Fujii to reserve your spot for UC SPEDDR and/or submit your poster abstract to present at the poster session. See the UC SPEDDR Conference website for more details.