This year's annual meeting will host a number of sessions that focus on history in the community colleges. The Community College Humanities Association (CCHA) will sponsor a session on Friday, January 7, 2:30–4:30 p.m. in the Sheraton's Douglas Room. Presenters will report on an NEH-funded CCHA research institute on cities and public spaces and discuss two 2005 programs for community college teachers: a summer seminar at the Library of Congress on urban spaces, starting in February 2005, and the summer 2005 CCHA-NEH Andean World Summer Institute. Following this session, the AHA will host a reception for community college faculty 5:30–7 p.m. in the Sheraton's East Ballroom A.

On Saturday morning, community college historians from Washington state invite you to join them as they expand on an earlier discussion that began with the premise that most students enrolled in higher education survey courses in history—particularly in community colleges—are not going to become history majors. Survey classes may represent the last formal study in history these students may experience. Given that context, community college history faculty need to define the core ideas and outcomes they expect students to understand well and to retain over time, including the major themes and ideas they think students need to know; the skills that lifetime learners of history should acquire; and effective ways for meeting these outcomes in history classes. This conversation expands on a discussion begun in April 2004, initiated by Bill Moore, director of assessment, teaching and learning of the Washington State Community and Technical Colleges and hosted by Michelle Marshman from Green River Community College.

While the previous conversation centered on teaching history in Washington State Community and Technical Colleges, the state's community college historians think it is time to widen the conversation to include community college faculty from across the country. We hope that many of you who have been involved in similar initiatives elsewhere and those of you who have worked on developing national history standards will join us to hear what we have to say and to add significantly to our conversation. The meeting will take place 9:30–11:30 a.m., on Saturday, January 8, in the Convention Center's Room 310.

Also, on Friday afternoon Terry Taylor, historian and dean from Shoreline Community College, will provide a community college perspective on the job market in "The Job Hunt 2005" (Session 30), a session co-sponsored by the AHA Professional Division, the Task Force on Public History, and the Committee for Graduate Students. The session will take place in Convention Center Room 609, 2:30–4:30 p.m.

— Maureen Murphy Nutting is chair of the Local Arrangements Committee. She teaches history at North Seattle Community College.