The University of Otago’s Social Anthropology programme is pleased to announce the ‘Call For Papers’ for the 2023 ASAA/NZ Conference, which is being held in Dunedin on 22nd - 24th November, with the theme of ‘Engaging Anthropology’.
Social Anthropology is a field of diverse application, interest, and scope. In this conference we invite participants to think about ‘engaging’ anthropology, in two senses. First, who are anthropologists engaged with – what communities, stakeholders, and power structures, are we are connected to, and what possibilities do these relationships generate? Second, what does it mean for our work to be engaging to others – who are we communicating to, and how do we make anthropological knowledges meaningful and accessible to them?
In line with this theme, we now invite submissions of papers relating (but not limited) to the following provocations
What different genres of writing and communication work for communicating anthropological knowledges?
How and where is anthropology being applied outside of academia, and with what challenges and opportunities?
How do we continue to develop our pedagogies towards meaningful engagements for students, both inside and outside of the classroom?
In what ways do our relationships with participants, and other stakeholders, shape the progress and outcome of our research? What ethical and practical questions facets of these engagements must be considered?
How might we engage our research with the body, the senses, the material, and/or the more-than-human world?
How do digital tools and technologies shape new (or old) forms of social and political engagement in the contemporary world?
How should we engage (or dis-engage) with the past - including with fraught social histories in our field sites, and in our own discipline?
How does anthropology engage with multiple knowledge systems, and research frameworks: including mātauranga Māori, and kaupapa Māori, and other indigenous frameworks?
Along with papers that engage with these conversations about the purpose and practice of anthropology, we also invite papers presenting on your current or recent research work, in any area of the field.
Conference Format
This will be a hybrid conference. We warmly encourage you to travel to be with us in person, if possible, but it will also be possible to present virtually. Registration, when it opens, will include options for in-person and virtual attendance.
Paper Format
Papers will follow a standard 20 minute format, and you are encouraged to speak for a maximum of 15minutes, to leave time for questions at the end.
Though papers can be submitted individually, the organisers may group these around similar topics and themes, in the conference programme. If you wish to propose and coordinate a session or panel around a particular topic, please get in touch with the organising committee via email (engaginganthropology2023@otago.ac.nz).
If you have ideas for a non-standard conference contribution you might like to make (e.g. an interactive workshop, visual display, film, or other) please also get in touch with the conference committee via email (and instead of submitting an abstract, in the first instance) so that we can confirm if and how we can support this at the venue.
Submitting an Abstract
Please submit a 200-250 word abstract of your contribution and a max 100-word bio. Please send us your abstract as a Word document. Use your surname in the document title. Send your abstracts or any enquiries to the conference email address: engaginganthropology2023@otago.ac.nz
Key Dates
Please submit abstracts (or get in touch with the organisers about non-standard presentation ideas) by Friday 14th July.
The organisers will aim to confirm acceptance of papers in early August.
Registration will open on 1st August (accompanied by more information about the programme, venue, key events, and accommodation options). Early bird registration rates will close on 29th September, and all presenters (and other attendees) must confirm attendance by completing registration and payment by 1st November.
Registration Fees
TBC. We will be offering early bird rates, ASAA/NZ and AAS member rates, student rates, and a different fee for in-person and virtual attendance.
Contact information
We are very much looking forward to receiving and reading your abstracts! Please also send any questions you have to: engaginganthropology2023@otago.ac.nz
Hannah Bulloch, Susan Wardell, and Greg Rawlings (on behalf of the 'Engaging Anthropology' conference committee)
Social Anthropology Programme
University of Otago
