Call for panels & roundtables

The call for panels and roundtables is now open and will close at 23:59 AEST (GMT/UTC+10) on 20 May. Please read the instructions below and then click the button that follows to reach the proposal form. The Call for Labs and the Call for Papers will open on 20 May.

Formats

AAS encourages the submission of proposals in three types of format. Please note:

• the Call for Laboratories (Labs) will open later (20 May)
• session length will be 105 minutes.

Panels structured in the traditional manner of containing five papers per session, or as a multimodal combination of conventional text-based papers with performative, visual, poetic or interactive interventions (also scheduled to fit within 105 minute sessions).

Roundtables in which a group of scholars (no more than 5) discuss particular themes/issues in front of (and subsequently with) an audience. While a roundtable can include short (5-10 min) provocations/presentations, the main idea is to create a lively debate, not to focus on any one presenter. In your roundtable proposal, you can list/name the participants in your long abstract, or you can leave the list open and take in 'provocation/presentation' proposals during the Call for Papers and choose five of those to be on the roundtable. Please append the format to the title of your proposal e.g. I wanna be good value [Roundtable]

Laboratories (N.B. The call for Labs will open on 20 May) are characterised by experimentation, collaboration, interaction or improvisation. They bring a focus to methods and process. Rather than exhibiting already finished work, the aim of laboratories is to organise collective research activities that are open-ended and cultivate possibilities for surprise, novelty and learning. Laboratories will be designed as interactive, reflexive sessions that prioritise exploration, rather than the discussion of already established research results. They can be used to tackle practical problems, to re-evaluate concepts, to find new theoretical and political directions, or to understand emergent cultural dynamics. Whether concerned with possibilities and limitations in current anthropological practice, or with cultural and political problematics in an unequal world, labs can provide space for addressing any aspect of our conference themes in creative, interactive, and open-ended fashion.

Rules

• AAS requires all accepted panels (both traditional and combined formats) to be open to paper proposals through the website: panels should not be organised as 'closed' sessions (roundtables can be).
• All panels/roundtables must have at least two convenors, so as to avoid cancelling the panel in case the one convenor cannot attend the event
• Delegates (those attending the conference) may only make one presentation each (please note that roundtable participation counts as being a discussant, not a presenter). It is allowed to be a co-author on multiple papers if you are not the one presenting them. In addition, a delegate may also convene once (be that a plenary, panel, lab or roundtable); and be a discussant or a chair in one plenary session, panel, or roundtable.
• Panel proposers do not have to be members of AAS, but as the conference participation fee for members will be notably lower than the non-member fee, there may be a financial incentive to join. Please see further on AAS membership here.
• All those attending the conference, including discussants and chairs, will need to register and pay to attend.
• The Local Committee will decide which proposals to accept.

The process

All proposals must be made via the online form. Proposals should consist of:

• a panel title
• a short description of no more than 300 characters
• and an abstract of no more than 250 words.

A proposal may also include the names of any chairs or discussants, although these can be added subsequently using the login environment, Cocoa. Please use the convention of Firstname Lastname (Institution). (Where convenors will take these roles, you need not re-enter their names.)

On submission of the proposal, the proposing convenor (not the co-convenors) will receive an automated email confirming receipt. If you do not receive this email, please first check the login environment (click login on the left) to see if your proposal is there. If it is, it simply means your confirmation email got spammed/lost; and if it is not, it means you need to re-submit.

Proposals will be marked as pending until Local Committee decisions are published on 20 May, when the conference administrators will inform you of the decision.

Panel length

• All panels will be limited to a maximum of TWO consecutive 105-minute sessions, each of which can hold a maximum of 5 papers/presentations. This allows the conference to accept more shorter panels giving more choice to both paper proposers and delegates.
• Consequently panel convenors may accept a maximum of ten papers/presentations in their panel. However accepting four papers per session will be acceptable.
• Roundtables will all have one 105-minute session.

Convenor responsibilities

It is the convenors' responsibility to ensure that all panel participants are well briefed and that the panel continues to meet AAS2019 requirements. To that end, convenors should not only communicate their decisions over proposals as detailed below, but also later in the process email the panelists to: inform them of the speaking order (albeit this is displayed on the public panel page), inform them as to how much time they have been allocated, remind them to register (the registration status can be seen in the login environment), inform them of any late changes or additional chairs/discussants, and give any other information related to the panel. If panelists withdraw, convenors should mark these withdrawals in the login environment.

Other useful information

Other useful information for later in the conference process, can be found here.