Summary
The submission portal will accept Late-Breaking proposal submissions from Wednesday, July 26 through
Friday, August 18 at 11:59 pm ET.
Late-Breaking Session Information Highlights
- Late-breaking submissions are topical, timely, and relevant to current events.
- A limited number of late-breaking sessions will be accepted, and the number of slots is dependent upon the
Annual Meeting venue’s spatial availability. - The Call for Proposals site will open on Wednesday, July 26 and will close at 11:59 pm ET on Friday,
August 18. - Accept/decline notifications will be sent to submitters during the week of September 11 (via email).
- All group proposals must be completed by the session organizer. Your participants will not receive an
invitation to log into the Submission Portal. Session Organizers are responsible for adding all the final session
information during submission.
Submission Criteria
Abstracts are considered “late-breaking” if the submission meets the following criteria:
- The topic must be directly relevant to current events. This year’s topical themes are listed below.
- Presentations must offer findings that were not available until after the March 29, 2023, General Call for
Proposals submission deadline. - Applicants may submit late-breaking abstracts even if they have had another abstract accepted for
presentation, but abstracts submitted prior to the submission deadline may not be resubmitted.
Late-Breaking Themes
The topical themes for this year’s AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting Late-Breaking Sessions are below:
- Reproductive rights
- Indigenous rights
- Race and social justice
- Anti-trans and anti-queer mobilization
- Rematriation/repatriation
- Language reclamation
- “Post pandemic” health care access
- Technology and artificial intelligence
- Police and state violence
- Gun violence and mass shootings
- War, conflict, and dispute resolution
- Borders, migration and displacement
- Climate change
- Labor politics (in and outside of academia)
- Governance, power and courts
- Global rise of fascism
- Other* (*A scholarship-informed, late-breaking topic.)
Review Criteria
All Late-Breaking submissions will be reviewed using the following questions:
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least and 5 being the most, to what extent does the Late breaking session:
- Connect anthropological knowledge to current events with a newsworthy hook?
- Make a strong connection to the main Annual Meeting theme, Transitions?
- Directly concern one of this year’s Late-Breaking themes OR make a compelling case for presenting insights
concerning another category of current events? - Promise a thoughtful, intellectually rigorous treatment of the subject matter from people with direct research
experience OR a position of formal responsibility for the subject in question?
Eligibility and FAQs
- Membership and Annual Meeting registration:
- Again, this year, AAA membership and Annual Meeting registration will not be required at the time of
submission, but will be required if you are accepted onto the program. - The deadline for all speakers/presenters to become members of AAA and register for the Annual
Meeting is Friday, October 6, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET.- Failure to register by the deadline will result in forfeiture of participation and removal from the
program. - Nonmember guests for late-breaking sessions may be permitted to present under compelling
circumstances.
- Failure to register by the deadline will result in forfeiture of participation and removal from the
- View meeting registration rates.
- Again, this year, AAA membership and Annual Meeting registration will not be required at the time of
- Does the One-Plus-One Live and Two Prerecord Max Rules apply? No. Individuals may apply to participate
on Late-Breaking Session submissions, even if they are serving in roles on accepted presentations. The
presentation policy that limits Annual Meeting presenting individuals to one major role and one secondary
role does not apply to Late-Breaking Sessions.
Timeline
- Wednesday, July 26: Submission portal opens for Late-Breaking Session submissions
- Friday, August 18, 11:59 pm ET: Submission portal closes for Late-Breaking Session submissions
- Wednesday, August 23: Late-Breaking Submissions undergo review.
- Week of September 11: Accept/decline notifications sent to submitters and Speaker Resource Center
launches for Late-Breaking - Friday, October 6, 11:59 pm ET: Deadline for accepted Late-Breaking Session participants to become a
member and register for the Annual Meeting. Participants who are not registered by this date forfeit their
participation in the Late-Breaking Session. - Friday, October 6: Deadline for Speaker Resource Center tasks
Proposal Categories/Submission Formats
There are six formats for Late-Breaking Sessions:
If you are submitting as an individual, you may choose either the in-person poster or virtual talk options.
If you are submitting as a group of four to seven people, you may choose either the Oral Presentation Session,
Roundtable/Town Hall, Conversation/Debate, or Interview options.
Submission Options for Individuals
In-Person Poster
An in-person poster is submitted by a single individual and can be a traditional poster or related mode of visual
display of content. Various modes of visual presentation are encouraged. If you are a poster presenter, this session
type is the one for you. They are subject to review by the EPC. Poster presenters are encouraged to upload their
posters to the Open Anthropology Research Repository for wider circulation.
Session format: In person, in Toronto – Live
- Session length: Place-based: 120 minutes (presenters can engage with attendees at their posters)
- # of session participants allowed: 1
Abstracts?
- Does it allow for individual abstracts? YES.
- Length of individual abstracts: 250 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
Role limits:
- Poster presenter: 1 (min) to 1 (max)
Virtual Talk (Pre-Recorded)
For submitters simply looking to present their work independently, this presentation format allows for uploading
slides as well as a voice recording, or a YouTube video for which a link is provided. During the review period, AAA
section program chairs and CASCA chairs review talk presentations and accept or reject them. Session content will be collected after
acceptance onto the program. Only an abstract is necessary at time of submission. Submitters are also encouraged
to upload their presentations and/or papers to the Open Anthropology Research Repository. Talks can only be
submitted to the virtual program.
Session format: Virtual – On-demand
- Session length: Virtual: Recordings have a maximum of 20 minutes.
- # of session participants allowed: 1
Abstracts?
- Does it allow for individual abstracts? YES.
- Length of individual abstracts: 250 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
Role limits:
- Poster presenter: 1 (min) to 1 (max)
Submission Options for Groups of Four or More
Oral Presentation Session (In-Person ONLY)
A lecture-based panel WITH seven (7), 15-minute timeslots for paper presentations and/or moderated
discussion.
Session format: In person, in Toronto – Live
- If your session doesn’t match this format, please consider submitting another type of group session type.
- Session length: 105 minutes (divided into 15-minute timeslots for paper presentations and/or discussants)
- # of session participants allowed: 6-13**
Abstracts?
- Does it allow for individual abstracts? YES. These must be provided by the individuals designated as paper
presenters. - Length of individual abstracts: 250 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
- Length of overall session abstract: 500 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
Role limits:
- Organizers: 1 (max)
- Chairs: 1 (min) to 2 (max)
- Discussants**: 0 (min) to 2 (max)
- Paper Presenters**: 4 (min) to 7 (max)
**Oral Presentation Session note: There are only seven (7), 15-minute timeslots designated for Oral
Presentation sessions. Organizers and chairs do not have timed roles, and therefore do not count toward the
timeslot limit. Discussant and paper presenter roles are timed, so you cannot exceed seven (7) total discussants
or paper presenters for this session type.
Roundtable/Town Hall
A discussion-based panel WITHOUT papers or timed 15-minute presentations.
Session format: In person, in Toronto OR Virtual – Both Live
- Session length: 105 minutes
- # of session participants allowed: 6-13
Abstracts?
- Does it allow for individual abstracts? NO.
- Length of individual abstracts: N/A
- Length of overall session abstract: 500 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
Role limits:
- Organizers: 1 (max)
- Chairs: 1 (min) to 2 (max)
- Discussants: 0 (min) to 2 (max)
- Roundtable Presenters: 4 (min) to 7 (max)
Conversation / Debate
Conversations or Debates are engaging sessions WITHOUT papers or timed 15-minute presentations. Participants
engage in a traditional-style debate led by one or two moderators, followed by a brief question and answer session
for audience members. No papers are presented in this format, and participation in a conversation or debate
session is weighted equally to that of delivering a paper presentation. These submissions are reviewed by the EPC.
Virtual Conversations or Debates will be presented, recorded, and captioned in real time. Participants must agree
to be recorded, and to have their recordings posted online through the end of December 2023.
Session format: In person, in Toronto OR Virtual – Both Live
- Session length: 105 minutes
- # of session participants allowed: 2-6
Abstracts?
- Does it allow for individual abstracts? NO.
- Length of individual abstracts: N/A
- Length of overall session abstract: 500 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
Role limits:
- Organizers: 1 (max)
- Moderator: 1 (min) to 2 (max)
- Speaker: 2 (min) to 4 (max)
Interview – In-person or Virtual Live
Interviews are one-on-one conversations in which a host interviews one person about a topic, engaging in a lively
discussion, followed by a question and answer session for audience members. This event should be conversational
in nature and should not include a recitation of papers. Participation in an interview is weighted equally to that of
delivering a paper presentation. Interviews are submitted during the general call for participation period as final,
fully-formed sessions. These proposals are peer reviewed, evaluated, and ranked by AAA/CASCA section program
chairs. If accepted, they are sent to the Executive Program Committee (EPC) to be included in the scholarly
program – but are subject to further review by the EPC.
Interviews will be presented, recorded, and captioned in real time. Participants must agree to be recorded, and to
have their recordings posted online through the end of December 2023.
Session format: In person, in Toronto OR Virtual – Both Live
- Session length: 105 minutes
- # of session participants allowed: 2
Abstracts?
- Does it allow for individual abstracts? NO.
- Length of individual abstracts: N/A
- Length of overall session abstract: 500 word maximum (and a 50 word minimum)
Role limits:
- Organizers: 1 (max)
- Interviewer: 1 (max)
- Interviewee: 1 (max)
