American Anthropological Association

Promoting Your Scholarship: Strategies for Wider Impact
2025-10-29 15:30 - 16:45 (America/New_York) | IL
Join acclaimed anthropologists Anand Pandian, Barbara King, and Tracie Canada for an inspiring conversation on bringing scholarship to the public. Drawing from their own successes—featured in outlets like The New Yorker, NPR, USA TODAY, The Guardian, and more—they’ll share strategies for connecting with audiences beyond academia, from museum exhibitions to national media. Discover how to amplify your voice, reach new readers, and make your work matter in the wider world.
Panelists

Anand Pandian (Johns Hopkins University), author of SOMETHING BETWEEN US: The Everyday Walls and How to Take Them Down
Barbara King (professor Emerita, College of William & Mary), author of Animals’ Best Friends and How Animals Grieve
Tracie Canada (Duke University), author of Tackling the Everyday: Race and Nation in Big-Time College Football (UC Press)

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2025 AAA Annual Meeting
2025-11-19 - 2025-11-23 | IL
Join us for the 2025 AAA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, as we delve into the theme of “ghosts.” We welcome our colleagues to embrace the creative potential of the spectral to examine the ways that the past haunts the present, and that the immaterial becomes tangible to inflect the everyday.
Join anthropologists from all over the world in a program with general sessions, flash presentations, poster sessions, workshops, and a film festival, as well as receptions, tours, and other special events.

The Louise Lamphere Internship Program Applications Open
2026-01-02 08:00 - 2026-03-15 23:59 (America/New_York) | IL
Applications for the 2026 Internship Program are NOW OPEN through March 15.
The American Anthropological Association offers internship opportunities for talented anthropology students each year as they pursue their professional goals and aspirations. Internships are six weeks in length and usually extend from mid-June through mid-July. The Association provides housing and a meal/travel stipend.
All U.S. undergraduate students that are current juniors or seniors at the time of application are eligible to apply for the program. The 2026 Louise Lamphere Internship will run from June 8–July 17. Applications close March 15, and applicants will be notified in early April.

AES 2026 Spring Conference Registration
2026-01-15 | IL
Register for the 2026 American Ethnological Spring Conference to take place May 1 – 3 at the University of Victoria, British Columbia Canada.
Submissions due January 15, 2025.
Forty years ago, George Marcus and Michael Fischer declared the 1980s an “experimental moment in the human sciences,” urging anthropologists and other human scientists to rethink ethnography as a site not only of representation but of intervention, invention, and critique. Today, in the context of ecological crisis, political rupture, technological transformation, and epistemic reordering, we ask: what does experiment mean today?
This conference invites scholars to reflect on experiment as both object and mode of anthropological inquiry. How do anthropologists collaborate, compose, and critique in experimental ways? What does it mean to “experiment” with form, with method, with theory, or with the infrastructures of scholarly work? And how might experiment be situated—ethically, politically, historically—in relation to those whose lives and knowledge we engage?
We welcome proposals that explore (but are not limited to) the following themes:

Experimental ethnography: form, aesthetics, genre
Collaborative and co-creative fieldwork practices
Indigenous experimentation
Speculative anthropology and future-oriented inquiry
Archives, objects, and materiality as sites of experiment
Multispecies and more-than-human experimentation
Interdisciplinary knowledge creation and experiments across disciplinary boundaries
Experimental publics: art, activism, and engaged scholarship
Technologies and infrastructures of knowledge production
Risks, failures, and ethical entanglements of ethnographic practice
Experiments in pedagogy and teaching anthropology

We encourage contributions in diverse formats, including academic papers, roundtables, and workshops.
Join us as we ask: What does it mean to experiment in and with anthropology today?
More information
Registration & Submission Guidelines
To register and submit proposals for the conference, the following steps need to be taken prior to the submission deadline: January 15, 2025

Register for the AES Spring 2026 Conference. You need to register for the conference before submitting your abstract.
Once you register, you will receive a link to the submission form in your confirmation email. The submission form should only be completed by:

an individual proposing a paper presentation
the organizer of a panel, roundtable, author-meets-critic, or other organized panel structure. Panel participants do not need to fill out the submission form.

Initial acceptance decisions will be communicated by February 1, 2026, and the program will be released closer to the conference date.

For inquiries, contact AES.

Call for Work and Family Researchers Network Predoctoral Preconference Applications
2026-01-15 | Concordia University, 1450 Guy Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3H 0A1, Canada
On June 17, 2026, the Work and Family Researchers Network will hold a Pre-Doctoral Preconference at Concordia University in Montreal Canada during its 8th Biennial Conference. The Predoctoral Preconference will provide workshops intended to help graduate students form meaningful connections with diverse scholars, learn about publication strategies, as well as how to engage with stakeholders such as organizational leaders or policy advocates. Questions can be directed to organizers Wen Fan (wen.fan@bc.edu) and Jaeseung Kim (jkim1203@o365.skku.edu). Space is limited. Applications close January 15, 2026. Those selected to attend the preconference will be notified in February 2026. Information about the 2026 WFRN conference and the preconference application can be found at this link: https://wfrn.org/2026-work-and-family-researchers-network-conference/.

Ina Rosenthal-Urey Mentorship Award Applications Open
2026-01-15 08:00 - 2026-03-15 23:59 (America/New_York) | IL
Applications for the 2026 Ina Rosenthal-Urey Mentorship Award are NOW OPEN through March 15.
Established by a gift from Elizabeth Briody and Marc Robinson, this award pairs undergraduate anthropology majors with mentors from both academia and practice, who will support them in learning about their educational and career options after graduation. Mentees also receive a $500 award ($250 at the start of the program and $250 at the end) and complimentary AAA and NAPA membership.

African Critical Inquiry Program Workshop and Awards
2026-01-19 - 2026-05-01 | IL
CALL FOR PROPOSALS TO ORGANIZE A WORKSHOP
Closing Date: Friday 1 May 2026
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: IVAN KARP DOCTORAL RESEARCH AWARDS
For African students enrolled in South African Ph.D. programs
Closing Date: Friday 1 May 2026
The African Critical Inquiry Program (ACIP) seeks to advance inquiry and debate about the roles of public cultural domains and institutions in shaping identities and society in South Africa after colonialism and apartheid. The program has two components:

The first, an annual ACIP Workshop in South Africa, provides interdisciplinary, cross-institutional contexts to address issues central to such debate and to develop comparative, critical frameworks that can yield fresh insights, innovative and informed practice, and lively interchange for those working in and on institutions of public culture in Africa.
The second component, the Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Awards, fosters work by the next generation of scholar-practitioners.

In these ways, ACIP strengthens public scholarship and institutions of public culture in South Africa and enhances our understanding of these vital sites of cultural production and social action. Details about the workshops and research awards will be posted as they become available.

AAA OpEd Project Applications Open
2026-01-31 00:00 - 2026-02-27 23:59 (America/New_York) | IL
Thanks to a generous grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the American Anthropological Association is once again offering members the opportunity to take part in “Write to Change the World” workshops organized and facilitated by The OpEd Project – a think tank and leadership organization that accelerates the ideas and impact of underrepresented voices. They are a community of journalists and thought leaders who actively share knowledge, resources, and connections with stunning results. The workshops are 100% virtual with participants joining across an enormous range of identities, voices, and ideas.
The AAA will cover the full registration cost for selected participants. In addition, AAA will coordinate post-workshop support by pairing participants with experienced coaches and mentors who can provide feedback on topics, drafts, and publication strategies.
To be considered (AAA membership required), please submit the following by February 27, 2026:

Your background and contact information
A short writing sample (750 words or fewer) written for a general audience (publication not required)
A brief paragraph explaining why this workshop matters to you and how it will help you amplify your work

Please send all information to Jeff Martin.

AAA Prizes and Awards Nominations Open
2026-02-02 08:00 - 2026-03-01 23:59 (America/New_York) | IL
Prizes and Awards
AAA offers a number of prizes and awards that you can apply for yourself or nominate someone else.
Nominate or Apply Today

Virtual High School Internship Applications Open
2026-02-02 08:00 - 2026-03-13 23:59 (America/New_York) | IL
Applications for the AAA 2026 Virtual High School Internship Program are open February 2 – March 13, 2026.
Each summer, the American Anthropological Association offers virtual internship opportunities for high school students interested in learning more about anthropological research. The internship will run for four weeks, approximately 10 hours a week.
Interns work on a primary and secondary project during their time in the program, related to their interests. The primary project involves researching contemporary anthropological scholarship and adapting it for a 6th-12th grade audience. Secondary projects rotate each year but typically focus on accessibility or public education.
Questions about the internship can be sent to Ellen Christensen.

2026 UnEssay Competition
2026-02-19 | IL
Anthro Day Unessay Competition
Submissions for the 2026 Anthro Day Unessay Competition are now OPEN through Anthro Day, February 19, 2026.
This contest encourages students to think critically about an anthropological question, but unlike a traditional essay contest, students can be creative and respond to the prompt in a way that is meaningful to them.
Notification and Prize
Entries must be submitted before midnight on Anthropology Day, February 19th.
Due to the high volume of applications, the winners of the unessay contest will now be notified via email by February 27, 2026 to ensure that every submission is properly reviewed. The winning unessay(s) will have their content published by the American Anthropological Association in Anthropology News and will receive a $50.00 gift card.
Submit Your Entry
Submissions for the 2026 Unessay Competition should be sent to Marketing@AmericanAnthro.org with the subject line, “2026 UnEssay Submission”.

Anthropology Day
2026-02-19 | IL
Anthropology Day
February 19, 2026
Celebrate. Engage. Inspire.
Help us celebrate what anthropology is and what it can achieve by hosting an event in your community, on your campus, or in your workplace or by supporting the American Anthropological Association with a charitable gift today!

SAC Spring 2026 Conference "Fear and Loathing…in Las Vegas: A Journey of Fun and Folly in the Face of FOBO"
2026-03-29 - 2026-04-01 | IL
Get ready to experience the exhilarating spirit of Las Vegas as its iconic zest for life fuses with an engaging exploration of deeper themes at the 2026 annual conference of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness!
Beyond the Glitz
The “Las Vegas” themed meeting is not just about the glitz; it’s about exploring the underlying principles that make for a vibrant, thriving, and truly connected community. The Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness is dedicated to studying consciousness phenomena in cultures around the world. This electrifying event, made possible by the dedication and support of our community, aims to delve deeper into themes such as:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): The conference will examine the relationship between AI and consciousness, exploring how the development of AI challenges or deepens our understanding of ourselves. It will also consider the impact of AI on human learning and wisdom in this new era of AI knowledge.
The interplay of individual and collective consciousness in spaces designed for entertainment and spectacle.
The anthropological roots of play, celebration, and risk-taking across cultures, drawing on research into how different cultures engage with these elements of human experience.
How to build radical inclusiveness in diverse groups, drawing lessons from unexpected places.
Dealer’s Choice. After all, it’s Vegas and you can talk about what you want, whether it stays here or not!

Embrace the Unexpected
Come ready to embrace the unexpected, share unique perspectives, and discover how to cultivate both joy and meaningful connection in your life and work. Join us in 2026 for a conference that promises to be both intellectually stimulating and personally enriching.
This meeting description was brought to you in collaboration with AI.
Registration & Submission Instructions
Register for the conference Submit a proposal for a paper, panel, other presentation, or logo
Learn more about the conference
Book a reduced room rate at the Palazzo (you do NOT have to book a room for the entire duration of the meeting)
Submission Deadline
January 31, 2026 @ 8:00 PM Eastern Time
Acceptance Notifications
February 10, 2026
More Information
Please contact Stephanie Fox, Tiffany-Ashton Gatsby, or John Baker

2026 SEA 46th Annual Meeting
2026-04-09 - 2026-04-11 | Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
Register Learn More

The Anthropology of Dwelling

2026 SACC Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting
2026-04-11 09:00 - 2026-04-12 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | IL
Engaging Communities and Collaborating Across Disciplines: Anthropology in the Community College and Beyond
Register Learn More

Society for American Archaeology 91st Annual Meeting
2026-04-29 - 2026-05-03 | Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Consistent with its mission to advance archaeology, preservation, and practices, the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) organizes the largest gathering of archaeologists in the Americas.
Join the community at the SAA 91st Annual Meeting, taking place April 29–May 3, 2026, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco, California.
This premier event offers an unparalleled opportunity to

Share groundbreaking work
Engage in dynamic discussions
Build lasting professional connections
Get the latest research, newest ideas and best practices

What to expect:

Networking with archaeologists from across the United States and more than 45 countries worldwide
Hundreds of general sessions, symposia, forums, lightning rounds, and posters
Excursions, receptions, and career-development events like the CRM Expo and workshops
Nearly 100 exhibitors showcasing the latest publications, tools, and products

Whether a student, early-career professional, or seasoned scholar, the Annual Meeting is where the field comes together to learn, connect, and inspire the future of archaeology.
Join the SAA
Members receive a discounted meeting registration rate and can present on the program. Join today to participate in the robust conversations at the annual meeting, in publications, and among the SAA committees and task forces.
Questions? Email meetings@saa.org

2026 Spring Conference of the American Ethnological Society
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-03 | The University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, British Columbia, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
The 2026 Spring Conference of the American Ethnological Society,
will be held at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia from May 1-3, 2026 and is hosted by the Department of Anthropology and the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives.

The 2026 conference will be hosted in person at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The conference will take place May 1-3. An interactive map of campus can be found HERE.

Experiment as test or as exploration: modes of agency in the face of subjection

The Chinese language distinguishes two types of experiment: 试验 (shìyàn) and 实验 (shíyàn). The first, 试验, is a controlled test that typically takes place in a laboratory. The second, 实验, refers to open-ended trial-and-error in the real world. The actor in 试 验 (experiment as test) has full control over the subject matter, but the actor in 实验 (experiment as exploration) is part of the trial and is ready to be transformed. Socialism, as the slogan goes, is a great 实验 in the real world. The two types of experiment represent distinct modes of agency. While tests demand discipline, vigilance and willpower, exploration requires attentiveness to the multiple, potential alternatives that already exist and an openness to adjust oneself to them.
Individual willingness to maximize economic benefits through hard work has been indispensable to China’s post-1980 economic development. However, this developmental model appears to have reached its endpoint. This has precipitated a widespread sense of subjection, especially among contemporary university students and young professionals (20- to 40-year-olds) who will shape China’s future. They are eager to free themselves from a life dominated by the single-minded pursuit of development yet find it difficult to imagine a meaningful life undefined by economic goals. They feel powerless because their desire for alternatives has yet to find an effective mode of agency that makes concrete changes. My ethnographic inquiry, facilitated through public conversations and social art activities, suggests that members of this cohort are embracing experiment-as-exploration in their lives. This may suggest an emerging counter movement to both neoliberal economy and authoritarian governance.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Xiang Biao

Xiang Biao is the Director of the Department of the Anthropology of Economic Experimentation at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Previously, he was a Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. He has worked on migration and social change in China, India, and other parts of Asia. He is now exploring a “common concerns” approach in social research. His book Global Body Shopping was awarded the 2008 Anthony Leeds Prize by the Society for Urban, National, and Transnational Anthropology (SUNTA). Biao Xiang studied sociology at Beijing University and received his PhD in social anthropology from the University of Oxford, UK.

The Future of Anthropology Departments: Enrollment, AI & Building Sustainability
2026-06-16 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | https://americananthro.org/event/the-future-of-anthropology-departments-enrollment-ai-building-sustainability/
The Future of Anthropology Departments: Enrollment, AI, and Building Sustainability webinar will provide AAA members with an opportunity to hear directly from the authors of The Academic Humanities Today: Opportunities & Challenges—Findings from Conversations with Department Chairs about the report’s key findings and implications for humanities and social science disciplines in higher education. The session will also create space for members to discuss how the report’s themes intersect with challenges facing anthropology departments and programs.
REGISTER HERE
Speakers:
– Dr. Chelsea McCracken
– Dr. Claire Baytas
The report is based on focus groups with 30 humanities department chairs and identifies major concerns and responses related to:

declining enrollments and majors
administrative pressures and budget models
faculty burnout and staffing challenges
public perceptions of the humanities
interdisciplinarity and recruitment strategies
AI and changing pedagogies
the need for stronger public-facing advocacy and marketing for the humanities

The webinar will consist of:

30-minute presentation by the report authors
30-minute moderated Q&A and discussion with members

Speaker Bios:
Claire Baytas is a Senior Analyst at Ithaka S+R, a division of the non-profit ITHAKA that does research and strategic consulting related to higher education. At Ithaka S+R, Claire’s work has spanned across various topics related to teaching, learning, and research at academic institutions, such as generative AI’s impact on the education and the status of the humanities. Prior to joining Ithaka S+R, Claire completed a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Chelsea McCracken is a researcher at Ithaka S+R, where her focus of study is the academic research enterprise. In addition to the Academic Humanities Today report, her recent publications cover the topics of open source research software, academic freedom, research data services, and AI in biomedical research. Her prior work experience includes roles in academic libraries, healthcare market research, education and child welfare policy, and as a tenure-track professor of interdisciplinary studies at Utah Tech University. She holds a PhD in linguistics from Rice University and a BA in French and mathematics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
REGISTER HERE

2026 Work and Family Researchers Network Conference
2026-06-17 - 2026-06-20 | Concordia University, 1450 Guy Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3H 0A1, Canada
Work and Family Researchers Network next conference will be June 17-20, 2026 at Concordia University in Montreal Canada. The WFRN will host preconference events on June 17, including Predoctoral Workshops and Early Career Fellowship Workshops. Information on applying to participate in preconference events is presented below. The main conference of presentations and plenaries will take place June 18-20.
Concordia University is located at 1450 Guy Street Montreal, Quebec Canada. Registration is in the John Molson School of Business (JMSB) also known as the “MB building”.
The 2026 conference theme is Centering Care Across the Life Course.
Care is foundational to human well-being and to the functioning of our workplaces, families, and societies, yet it remains chronically undervalued. The 2026 WFRN Conference theme “Centering Care across the Life Course,” will explore how we can place care at the core of work, family, and policy conversation, ensuring that care and caregiving responsibilities are supported equitably.
This theme emphasizes care not only as caregiving responsibilities (for children, elders, and others with needs across the life course), but also as relational labor that sustains healthy families, workplaces, and communities. Whether expressed through care work in families, professional care work, informal caregiving, or relationship-building at work, care deeply shapes individual trajectories and well-being, workplace experiences, and organizational cultures.
Achieving a care-centered society requires both structural reforms and cultural shifts, ensuring policies reflect the needs of diverse caregivers while also building public and political support for care as a shared societal responsibility. This conference invites scholars, practitioners, policymakers, journalists and other stakeholders to explore solutions that prioritize care, in all its forms.

2026 AAA Annual Meeting - On the Verge
2026-11-18 08:00 - 2026-11-22 15:00 (America/New_York) | IL
We will convene the 2026 AAA Annual meeting November 18-22 in Saint Louis, MO with the theme “On the Verge,”
an intentionally capacious theme that speaks to this moment and its many problems—the climate crisis and its tipping points, encroaching authoritarianism, the transmutations of racial biopolitics, the fate of neoliberalism, the development and spread of artificial intelligence, teetering institutions, to name a few—while also provoking reflection on what is left behind and what is up ahead. “On the verge” draws attention to both endings and beginnings, while inhabiting the space in between.

A verge is a threshold between one thing and another that calls to mind edges, borders, brinks, and boundaries of all sorts and types: material, epistemological, moral, political, temporal, epochal, conceptual, structural, systemic and so on. But, more than that, to be on the verge is to be located somewhere specific within a transformational space. “On the verge” therefore has an energetic quality. It is an anticipatory—even suspenseful—state of heightened attunement, whether tied to reflection and diagnosis, or to action, engagement, and intervention.
“The verge” can be a generative place of invention, discovery, new ideas, new practices, new publics, new alliances, and new collectivities. Yet, when it comes to the new and emergent, “on the verge” suggests the tentative and preliminary more than the fully baked. It prompts us to look for nascent potential and to be courageously experimental.
“On the verge” speaks to some features of anthropology, too. That’s because anthropology, as a discipline, seems constitutionally “on the verge.” One of the lessons of interpretive anthropology is that cultural understanding is something to be striven towards in spite of the fact that it inevitably falls short. Thus, striving to understand the perspectives of others—their lived experiences and forms of life—or to glimpse possible futures is always an exercise in being on the verge, and anthropology has long been committed to the view that “the verge” is worth the effort. Similarly, practicing anthropologists make a profession of speaking from and across boundaries of all sorts, working on the verge of epistemic communities and institutions, with their practical demands for knowledge, while reflecting on the terms of response to urgent demands for justice. Anthropology is therefore perennially on the verge, inviting us to consider what it means when the verge turns out to be an enduring place.
Relatedly, “on the verge” directs attention towards critical junctures. But what if change comes without a decisive and identifiable inflection point? The sense of being on the verge can therefore be misleading, masking transformations that are well underway. Such a perspective therefore prompts us to scrutinize our own assessments, intuitions, and positioning, and ask, can the sense of being on the verge be illusory? In other words, are we still (or were we ever) on the verge?
Participants are encouraged to respond to this call with papers, panels, posters, and creative presentations that engage with “verges” of all sorts. Our hope is that participants will tinker with this theme and make it their own, bringing the full breadth of anthropological knowledge and research to share, and creating a dynamic conference. We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!
