1. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting
Vol. 3, No. 2 Dec 2009/Jan 2010
Pp 98-99
Editorial Notes
Engaging in the SEA Community
I’ve recently returned from St. Andrews, Luckily, and thanks to heavy pressuring
Scotland and the Center for Social and from colleagues Charles Cho and Robin
Environmental Accounting Research’s Roberts, I finally made the effort to at-
(CSEAR) 22nd annual summer congress. tend a CSEAR summer congress, and
It was the third CSEAR-sponsored con- offering this with no sense of hyperbole,
ference I’ve been lucky enough to attend my life will never be the same. It is
over the last year, following the Austral- truly an exciting experience to be in a
asian CSEAR in Christchurch, New Zea- room with 40, or 60, or even as many as
land last December, and a much chillier 100 members of the academic commu-
than hoped for North American meeting nity, all of whom not only know what
in Orlando, Florida in January. Al- SEA research is, but who actually be-
though I am a relative neophyte with lieve in it. Beyond the sense of excite-
respect to CSEAR-sponsored get- ment, however, I have found the con-
togethers (I attended my first in the sum- gresses to be extremely rewarding along
mer of 2008), I concede that I’ve be- a number of fronts.
come addicted to the events.
First, atteujnding the CSEAR congresses
I’ve always believed that attending, and has led to a new appreciation of the
presenting, at academic conferences is breadth of topics researchers in our area
(or at least ought to be) a valuable pro- explore. At this year’s St. Andrews con-
fessional experience. But to be honest, ference, for example, participants could
I’d grown increasingly frustrated with choose from options as traditional as
the lack of interesting sessions at the social and environmental disclosure
regional and national American Ac- across a variety of settings to topics as
counting Association meetings that were innovative as charity ethical investing
the mainstay of my conference diet. The and even criticisms of the perceived con-
problem, of course, is that as a social formity in the SEA research agenda. In
and environmental accounting (SEA) Christchurch, I sat in on Glen Lehman’s
researcher, I find myself a member of a mind-challenging theoretical exploration
very small minority of the North Ameri- of the natural environment and its impli-
can, and even more specifically, the U.S. cations for SEA, while in Orlando I
academic accounting community. Often learned of issues associated with ac-
were the times that at regional meetings counting for garbage dumps (landfills).
the only paper with an SEA-related con- The point I am trying to make here, is
tent was the one I was presenting. that, while I have spent almost my entire
career focusing only on issues of social

2. 99 D. Patten / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 2 (2009/2010) 98-99
and environmental disclosure in the have introduced me to so many of what I
U.S., the SEA world is full of interest- am sure will be the SEA stars of the fu-
ing, challenging, and important issues ture. Interacting with “emerging schol-
begging for meaningful analysis. ars” whether they be Ph.D. students, lit-
erally from across the globe, or young
Beyond a broadened horizon of “what” fellows early in their academic careers,
to explore, the CSEAR conferences have has enriched me, not only in terms of
also enlightened me with respect to friendships, but in the hope that has been
“how” it might be done. I am, and have instilled that our relatively young sub-
always been a quantitative, large-sample discipline will not only survive, but ac-
researcher (after all, I’ve been raised in tually prosper.
the mainstream North American tradi-
tion). At the CSEAR meetings, I’ve In conclusion, journals such as Issues in
been exposed to more qualitative ap- Social and Environmental Accounting
proaches including, for example, case play an important role in the dissemina-
studies and discourse analysis. And tion of an increasing body of SEA re-
while I confess that it seems unlikely I search, and as evidenced by the broad
will ever pursue such non-quantitative spectrum of topics explored and ap-
research strategies myself (it’s hard to proaches taken in the articles included in
teach an old dog new tricks), having ex- this issue, the SEA world is becoming an
posure to them has helped to both better ever wider one. As such, I think it is
my understanding of the underlying is- particularly important for the newer
sues I am trying to explore, as well as members of our SEA community to be-
the limitations that my broader sample come active participants in the CSEAR
approaches suffer from. I’ve gained a world. I realize that a pilgrimage to the
greater appreciation of the importance home base of St. Andrews may not be
that multiple methods of research play in feasible for many, but the proliferation
developing a body of knowledge. In- of the more regional, and thus more ac-
deed, this seems to be something that the cessible, CSEAR conferences continues
mainstream North American research to grow (next June, for example, will see
journals ought to be exposed to, not only the hosting of the first ever CSEAR
with respect to SEA research, but across France at Université Paris Dauphine),
the entire accounting domain. offering opportunities for learning, for
engagement, and for friendship. And
Finally, and most importantly, however, while, in spite of my desires, I won’t be
attending the CSEAR conferences has making it to every CSEAR-sponsored
fostered in me, for the first time in my congress the future holds, I know I’ll
academic career, a belief that I am truly attend as many as I feasibly can. After
part of a community. Some of this, all, I’m addicted.
without doubt, has been the opportunity
to meet face-to-face so many of the stal-
warts who have made our area what it is Den Patten
– Rob Gray, David Owen, James Guth- Illinois State University
rie, Markus Milne, and many others. USA
But equally as rewarding, the congresses dmpatte@ilstu.edu

3. International Journals Call for Paper
The IISTE, a U.S. publisher, is currently hosting the academic journals listed below. The peer review process of the following journals
usually takes LESS THAN 14 business days and IISTE usually publishes a qualified article within 30 days. Authors should
send their full paper to the following email address. More information can be found in the IISTE website : www.iiste.org
Business, Economics, Finance and Management PAPER SUBMISSION EMAIL
European Journal of Business and Management EJBM@iiste.org
Research Journal of Finance and Accounting RJFA@iiste.org
Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development JESD@iiste.org
Information and Knowledge Management IKM@iiste.org
Developing Country Studies DCS@iiste.org
Industrial Engineering Letters IEL@iiste.org
Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Chemistry PAPER SUBMISSION EMAIL
Journal of Natural Sciences Research JNSR@iiste.org
Chemistry and Materials Research CMR@iiste.org
Mathematical Theory and Modeling MTM@iiste.org
Advances in Physics Theories and Applications APTA@iiste.org
Chemical and Process Engineering Research CPER@iiste.org
Engineering, Technology and Systems PAPER SUBMISSION EMAIL
Computer Engineering and Intelligent Systems CEIS@iiste.org
Innovative Systems Design and Engineering ISDE@iiste.org
Journal of Energy Technologies and Policy JETP@iiste.org
Information and Knowledge Management IKM@iiste.org
Control Theory and Informatics CTI@iiste.org
Journal of Information Engineering and Applications JIEA@iiste.org
Industrial Engineering Letters IEL@iiste.org
Network and Complex Systems NCS@iiste.org
Environment, Civil, Materials Sciences PAPER SUBMISSION EMAIL
Journal of Environment and Earth Science JEES@iiste.org
Civil and Environmental Research CER@iiste.org
Journal of Natural Sciences Research JNSR@iiste.org
Civil and Environmental Research CER@iiste.org
Life Science, Food and Medical Sciences PAPER SUBMISSION EMAIL
Journal of Natural Sciences Research JNSR@iiste.org
Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare JBAH@iiste.org
Food Science and Quality Management FSQM@iiste.org
Chemistry and Materials Research CMR@iiste.org
Education, and other Social Sciences PAPER SUBMISSION EMAIL
Journal of Education and Practice JEP@iiste.org
Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization JLPG@iiste.org Global knowledge sharing:
New Media and Mass Communication NMMC@iiste.org EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's
Journal of Energy Technologies and Policy JETP@iiste.org Periodicals Directory, JournalTOCS, PKP
Historical Research Letter HRL@iiste.org Open Archives Harvester, Bielefeld
Academic Search Engine, Elektronische
Public Policy and Administration Research PPAR@iiste.org Zeitschriftenbibliothek EZB, Open J-Gate,
International Affairs and Global Strategy IAGS@iiste.org OCLC WorldCat, Universe Digtial Library ,
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences RHSS@iiste.org NewJour, Google Scholar.
Developing Country Studies DCS@iiste.org IISTE is member of CrossRef. All journals
Arts and Design Studies ADS@iiste.org have high IC Impact Factor Values (ICV).