SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JUNE 1, 2026, 23:59 (EDT)

Conference Overview

What does it mean to choose one another? In times of uncertainty and disconnection, friendship offers a vital yet underexplored domain for anthropological inquiry. This two-day conference invites anthropologists and allied scholars to explore friendship as a generative force—a voluntary bond that fosters belonging, sustains communities, and nurtures forms of care that enrich civic and educational life.

Friendship has long occupied an ambiguous place in anthropological thought, overshadowed by kinship, exchange, and formal political structures. Yet friendships create worlds. They anchor neighborhoods, enliven classrooms, bridge communities, and cultivate mutual understanding across differences. A humanistic approach invites us to attend to these relationships with curiosity and care, asking how friendship shapes who and how we become.

We view friendship as a nondelimited process, experience, and culturally distinctive form, replete with creativity. We approach friendship as it ricochets between other locally salient categories—kinship, neighbor, colleague, stranger, acquaintance—and as a phenomenon fundamentally inseparable from hierarchy, resistance, local ways of knowing, rebellion, and community (Pena 2022; Bell and Coleman 1999).

What can multimodal approaches—sound, image, poetry, performance, film, digital ethnography, and beyond—reveal about the textures and labors of these bonds that conventional academic prose cannot?

We especially encourage submissions that engage friendship in educational settings, explore how friendships strengthen communities, or reflect on the methodological and ethical dimensions of studying intimacy and trust.

Submission Categories

We welcome proposals for:

• Traditional Paper Panels (Individual)

• Roundtable Discussions (Limited to 5 people: 1 chair plus 4 discussants)

• Multimodal Materials

Submission Rules & Policies

Standard Limit: You may submit only one proposal for either a Traditional Paper Panel or a Roundtable Discussion. You may also submit one Multimodal material in addition to a Paper or Roundtable. 

Possible Themes:

1. Friendship in schools and learning environments

2. Intergenerational and cross-cultural friendships

3. Chosen family and networks of care

4. Friendship as community infrastructure

5. Digital and online friendships

6. Collaborative and friendship-based research methods

7. The aesthetics and sensory dimensions of being together

Multimodality: You may submit one Multimodal material without a Paper or Roundtable. Multimodal materials include ethnographic film, sound works, poetry, visual art, digital ethnographic projects, and experimental formats. 

Multimodal Abstract Guide: Multimodal installation submissions must address the following in no more than 250 words:

1. Research Description — What is your research about? Clearly articulate the ethnographic or anthropological inquiry grounding your work.

2. Installation Objective — What do you want to impart to your audience about this research? State the central message, question, or experience you aim to communicate.

3. How the Installation Meets the Objective — Describe how the installation achieves your stated objective. Explain the relationship between form and content.

4. Materials Description — Provide a description of your materials, media, and equipment.

Technical and Logistical Requirements:

• Size Limit: Installations must not exceed 36 inches in width, 24 inches in depth, and 30 inches in height.

• Audio/Film Duration: Audio or film submissions must not exceed 15 minutes.

• Self-Provision: Presenters must bring their own materials and equipment.

• Self-Curation: Presenters are responsible for curating and setting up their work.

Process: We have created a separate form for Multimodal material.

Registration Fees

• AAA SHA Members: No Payment

• Non-Members: Scholars: 35 USD

• Non-Members: Students: 10 USD

Note: Payment is required only after you receive formal approval of your proposal. Once approved, payments must be processed through the American Anthropological Association website. (Link will be provided)

Performances
Our call for the ethnographic performances, which will take place in the evening of Friday, October 2nd, will be published in late August. To see our photos from the Salon in New Orleans, please visit our Instagram account.