Hybrid: all* panels and plenaries will be available to both face-to-face delegates and those online in Zoom, whether that be listening or presenting.
(*unless there are physical barriers to online access, e.g. a walking workshop)
The programme will run 31 Aug – 4 Sep 2027. The first two days of the Congress will include a keynote event and a series of parallel panel sessions that discuss selected themes. There will be a closing plenary roundtable.
Two-stage call
This will be a two-stage call: in the first instance we solicit proposals for open panel proposals, roundtables, workshops and mixed format proposals. We are not requesting/accepting fully-formed panels (already populated with constituent papers) rather an open panel presents a topic/theme, which if accepted, will then be publicised at the Call for papers (the second stage).
All panels must be proposed via online form, providing:
- the format(s) of your proposal (see below)
- a panel title
- if associated with a WCAA task forces, append the TF name in square brackets to the panel title;
- if associated with an IUAES commissions, append the CM name in square brackets to the panel title. )
- names and email addresses of the (at least two) panel conveners
- a short abstract of <300 characters
- long abstract, or description, of fewer than 250 words
- you may add names of any chairs or discussants, although these may also be added subsequently.
Formats: panels, roundtables, workshops, combined formats
This congress has panels of various formats:
- Traditional panels: with up to five paper presentations per one 105-minute session, panels can have up to two sessions (maximum ten papers).
- Roundtables: a group of scholars (usually no more than five) discuss themes/issues of general scholarly interest in front of (and subsequently with) an audience for the duration of a single 105-minute session. While a roundtable can include short (5-10 minute) provocations/presentations, the main idea is to create a lively debate, not to focus on any one presenter.
- Unlike panels and workshops that must be open to all possible proposals, roundtables can be ‘closed’ with pre-agreed participants, with their names listed in the long abstract. However, roundtables can also be ‘open’, taking in provocation/presentation proposals during the Call for Papers from which participants get selected after the Call has ended.
- Workshops: these are conceptualised as practical events containing collective research activities, guided interactions and free-format exchanges leading to specific public outputs. They may include elements of performance, various collective indoor or outdoor activities, exhibitions, or interactive media displays. A workshop can have up to two 105-minute sessions.
- Panel AND roundtable: a two- or three-session event combining paper presentations in the first session(s) with a roundtable in the final one. Rather than concentrating on the content of each paper, the roundtable conversation should be a general discussion on the theme of the P&R.
- Panel AND workshop: a two- or three- session event combining presentations with collective activities, practical tasks, and/or performances.
Poster sessions
Poster sessions offer an opportunity for those who do not wish to present orally, or whose work is not yet at the paper presentation stage. Posters must conform to the same basic requirements as outlined for the panel sessions. Sessions will run throughout the Congress, with dedicated slots when poster presenters will be available at their respective display to answer questions/discuss their topic with colleagues. All posters must also be uploaded on the site (not necessarily at proposal stage, but before the conference) and there will also be an online session provided for poster presentations by colleagues attending virtually.
The Call for Posters will open at the same time as the Call for Papers.
Rules
- All panels must have at least two convenors. At least two of the conveners should be from different institutions and/or countries so as to encourage exchange and cross-fertilization. At least one convenor (or a chair) must attend face-to-face (f2f).
- WAU requires all accepted panels to be open to paper proposals through the website: panels should not be organised as ‘closed’ sessions.
- Session length will be 105 minutes for panels, workshops, roundtables and combined formats. Each traditional panel may accept a maximum of ten papers over two sessions. No panel or workshop may run for more than two sessions of 105 minutes, and roundtables may run for a single 105-minute session. Combined formats can have up to three 105-minute sessions.
- WAU Working Groups, WCAA task forces, or IUAES commissions are encouraged to propose group-related panels. In such cases, the Working Group (task force or commission) name should follow the panel title in square brackets, e.g., Beds are Burning [WG/TF/CM – Place Wisdom]
- Working Groups, task forces or commissions should invite members to submit proposals and all WAU Working Groups are guaranteed to have at least one panel (of any format) accepted. Task forces and commissions will be carefully considered.
- The Congress will be hybrid, with panels taking place in Lisbon and online in Zoom. Convenors proposing panels/workshops should consider this in their design. Any panel conveners choosing to attend virtually must ensure that they have stable and fast internet access. If your internet connection tends to be unstable and you have been unable to share screen via Zoom, etc., please ensure that you find a co-convenor who can travel for the face-to-face event. If the remote convenor is then unable to lead the panel, the co-convenor will be able to take over.
- An individual may have each conference role only once during the conference, i.e., convene one panel OR one workshop OR one roundtable OR one combined format; present a paper or a poster once; be a discussant once (either as a roundtable participant or a discussant in a workshop or a traditional panel or a combined format); be a chair once (in any of the formats). Consequently, you may only make a single proposal as a convenor, and colleagues can only be proposed once as discussant/chair.
- While adherence to the conference theme is not the main criterion for panel selection, WAU encourages conveners (those proposing/organising a panel) to make an effort to address the questions and ideas outlined in the theme description.
TRACKS
- Imagining power: knowledge, inequality and epistemic struggles;
- Imagining worlds: space, mobility, circulation and belonging;
- Imagining futures and pasts: crisis, memory and temporalities;
- Imagining anthropology: theory and practice
- Imagining bodies: subjectivities, affects and social difference;
- Imagining gender, race, ethnicity and identities
- Imagining health and well being
- Imagining religion and multiple spiritualities
- Imagining care: relations, dependencies, labor and social reproduction
- Imagining more-than-human worlds: metapersons, divinities, multispecies relations, alternative environments
- Imagining resources and supplies: environments, climate, extractions, material futures, wars.
- Imagining otherwise: technologies, aesthetics and experimental practices
- Imagining AI: identities and alterities
- Imagining past populations: bioarchaeology, health and historical lifestyles
- Imagining human evolution: adaptation, diversity and lineages
- Imagining life as it is and as it ought to be: the good life
Note: The abstract proposal process is securely managed via NomadIT. You will be prompted to log in or create a new account, which requires email verification. Please keep this page open in a separate tab for easy reference.
