2026 Call for Graduate Students

Southern Economic Association®
96th Annual Meeting

November 21-23, 2026
Marriott Marquis Houston
Houston, TX

Call for Graduate Students

The Call for Graduate Students opens January 1, 2026.

The Southern Economic Association® (SEA) will host its 96th Annual Meeting in Houston, TX at the Marriott Marquis Houston, November 21-23, 2026 (Saturday to Monday).

The SEA recognizes the importance of opportunities for young scholars to establish a habit of attending professional meetings and subjecting their work to the criticism of other professional researchers working in their fields. To facilitate these opportunities, a number of sessions at the SEA 96th Annual Meeting will be designated as SEA Graduate Student Sessions.

Universities with a Ph.D. program in economics are invited to nominate one advanced graduate student, preferably a student who will be on the job market, to participate in one of these sessions. The SEA will arrange for a professional discussant to comment on each invited student’s paper. Each SEA Graduate Student Session participant will receive:

  • Complimentary conference registration (valued at $50)
  • Complimentary online student membership (valued at $40)
  • A $100 travel stipend
  • A Submission Fee Waiver for Southern Economic Journal (valued at $60).

To be eligible to receive these benefits, each invited student must submit a paper approximately one month prior to the meeting, which satisfies the following criteria: 25 pages or less (including tables), 12-point font, double spacing, and 1-inch margins. A link to relevant online appendices is acceptable.

Department chairs or graduate program directors interested in nominating a student should provide the following information to the SEA Graduate Student Program Manager, Bryan McCannon (Illinois Wesleyan University), at bryan.c.mccannon@gmail.com:

  • Student Name, Affiliation, and Email Address
  • Paper Title
  • Two (2) JEL Code Classifications (JEL Classification Codes Guide)
  • Paper Abstract (1,000 characters or less).

The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

Download the Call for Graduate Students