Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fifty people, the first president of the association would be Lester Frank Ward.
In the summer of 1905, George Washington University professor C. W. A. Veditz began a discussion among sociologists throughout the United States, writing to several dozen people to gauge the need for or interest in forming an sociological organization.
[4][7] Ultimately, a consensus was reached that the time had come for a society of sociologists in the U.S.[4] In early December, Veditz and eight others wrote to about 300 people inviting them to a special session during the American Economic Association (AEA) and American Political Science Association meetings later that month to discuss the potential formation of a sociological society.
On December 27, approximately 50 people, including one woman, gathered in McCoy Hall at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and, by its end, the group would motion to form a new society of sociologists.
The publication provides a brief overview of the founding and early years of the association, as well as highlights of key activities and events in the decades since.
[8] In 1953, during the annual meeting in Berkeley, California, each of the (living) past presidents of the society would compose a voice recording to address the coming generation of sociologists.
In conjunction with the Wikimedia Foundation and a research group at Carnegie Mellon University, the ASA developed its Wikipedia Portal in an attempt to achieve the initiative's goal through providing tutorials on how to contribute; video discussions of norms and procedures; and lists of articles and subject areas that need improvement.
[12] ASA style is a widely accepted format for writing university research papers that specifies the arrangement and punctuation of footnotes and bibliographies.
Based on an FBI investigation of an Animal Liberation Front break-in, federal prosecutors argued in court that Scarce may have engaged in conversations with individuals believed to be involved with the incident.
[25] ASA suggests in their public statements that the line should be drawn at name calling and that political commentators should instead rely on gathering evidence related to the topics and then drawing the proper conclusions.
[26] The statement by the ASA council cited the potential damage this ruling would have on social science research by stifling the ability to study controversial topics.
[27] From 2023 to 2024, in response to the war in Gaza sociologists organized to request that the American Sociological Association establish a stance calling for a ceasefire and pursuing divestment from arms.
[29] Beyond calling for "an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza", the adopted resolution specifies that the association "supports members' academic freedom, including but not limited to defending scholars' right to speak out against Zionist occupation.