Info Page
Conference format and timetable
The conference will run for four days, with day one slightly shorter than the three following days. The Firth lecture/Keynote will take place on the opening day, but there will be a plenary event on each following day. All keynotes/plenaries will address the conference theme.
ASA2025 is a fully hybrid conference: all plenaries, lectures, panels, roundtables, and events will be streamed on zoom. Delegates on registration will be able to choose between online participation and face-to-face participation.
Formats: panels, roundtables, laboratories
This conference has panels in various formats:
- Panels are structured in the traditional manner of four papers per session. Panels with more than the fours papers accepted may have additional sessions allowed at the discretion of the Scientific Committee.
- 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. Roundtables will be limited to one 90-minute session.
- Laboratories are characterised by experimentation, collaboration, interaction or improvisation, bringing the focus to research methods, the ethnographic process and the mode of expression in presenting results. 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 themes in creative, interactive, and open-ended fashion.
contact: conference(at)theasa.org
Rules
- The ASA requires all accepted panels to be open to paper proposals through the website, therefore panels should not be organised as 'closed' sessions (however, roundtables can be)
- All panels/roundtables must have at least two convenors, so as to avoid session cancellations if one convenor cannot attend the events
- Delegates (those attending the conference) may only make one presentation each (please note that a roundtable contribution counts as being a discussant, not a presenter). You may 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.*
- You do not have to be an ASA member to propose a panel, roundtable, paper or lab. However, conference registration for members will be notably lower than for non-members, so there may be a financial incentive to join the Society.
- All those attending the conference, including discussants and chairs, will need to register and pay to attend.
- The Local Committee will decide which panel, roundtable and lab proposals to accept.
*Multiple roles in the conference
Each participant is permitted to present a paper once, convene once (either a lab or a panel), be a discussant once (in a panel, lab or roundtable), be a chair once (in a panel, lab, or roundtable). Please note that roundtable participants are considered discussants.
*Multiple paper submissions
An individual is not permitted to present more than one paper (it is allowed to be a co-author in more papers, as long as one is not presenting those). Once the papers have been marked up, all those who submitted multiple proposals and had those accepted will have to email conference(at)theasa.org and inform us which paper(s) they wish to withdraw. If one of your multiples got accepted and another was set to transfer, we will withdraw the transfer paper on your behalf.
Convenor responsibilities
It is the convenors' responsibility to ensure that all session participants are well briefed and that panels, roundtables and labs meet ASA2025 requirements. To that end, convenors should not only communicate their decisions about proposals to their session, but also later in the process email the participants to: inform them of the speaking order (this will also be displayed on the website panel page), inform them as to how much time they have been allocated, remind them to register to attend the conference (the registration status of participants can be seen in the login environment), inform them of any late changes or additional chairs/discussants, and any other information related to the session. If participants withdraw, convenors should mark these withdrawals in the login environment. Some more useful information for convenors is available below.
How to update your contact information
Log in from the Log in link top-right in the toolbar above and once logged in, click Logged In and Manage Account in the drop-down. You can add both a short bio and an avatar. You’ll want to ensure your name and institution are as you like them for your conference badge, before you arrive.
Online participation
Online contributors must ensure that they have a strong enough connection to present online. If this is not the case, it is possible for contributors to send a recording to their convenors; this can also be done as “in case” the internet connection has problems on the day, or any other tech issues they may be having from home. The conference admins on conference(at)theasa.org can also help organise a transfer. More detailed information on online access will be added to a dedicated page in due course.
Communication between authors/convenors
While convenor/author email addresses are not displayed on the panel pages for privacy reasons, the in-built secure email messaging system allows site visitors to email convenors with queries.
How to share your panel page with others
Click on the panel header to expand the panel details and then click on the circular share icon to find different options: email, Twitter, etc.
Paper transfer process
Papers which are neither accepted nor rejected, but marked for 'transfer', will be given the opportunity to be rehoused into other panels. The conference organisers will contact the authors of the ‘transfer’ proposals asking them to modify their abstracts to fit another panel of their choosing from a list of those with space for additional papers (panels with fewer than the allowed maximum of eight papers).
The authors will then inform us of two panels they wish to apply to (in order of preference). We then forward the title, short and long abstracts to the panel convenors asking them to consider the proposal. If rejected by the first panel, we contact the second choice. Transfers rejected by both panels will then be set to 'rejected'.
If the proposal is accepted by either panel, we will inform the authors and ask them to edit the proposal on the system to match the edited abstract sent to the convenors; this is not done automatically.
If an author has more than one paper set to transfer, only one may be used to propose during the transfer process. Authors with an accepted paper and a paper set to transfer will have their transfer paper automatically withdrawn.
We aim to resolve all transfers by the end of December.
Registration and Funding
All participants - panel convenors, authors, chairs, discussants, organisers, keynotes, plenary speakers, guests, volunteers, committee members and those without any specific role - MUST register in advance of the event. Registration is open at early bird prices from 13 January 2025 to 17 March 2025: this is also the time for active participants (authors, convenors etc.) to confirm their participation by registering. After 17 March 2025, unregistered content will be withdrawn and prices will increase.
There will be a call for funding from 17 January 2025 to 17 February 2025. The call will be limited to ASA student members residing in the UK only. Outcome will be announced by 27 February 2025.
Accommodation will not be included with registration, but discounted options will be made available for booking by delegates.
Distribution of papers over sessions
Distribution of papers over sessions No panel session should include more than four papers, but can include fewer - this is a convenor decision. For example, a panel with six accepted can be split over two sessions as 4+2 or as 2+4, etc. Convenors can indicate the distribution by “dragging and dropping” papers in the desired order, in the system. Convenors should allot each presenter a maximum of 15+5 minutes for panels of four papers, but 20+5 minutes for panels of three papers.
Logging in to look up the fate of your panel
We are hoping to have decisions on the panel selection to convenors by 28 September 2024, but sometimes emails fail (or humans do), so you can check your panel acceptance status by logging into the system from the conference website (see the Log in link with the human head icon in the top right of your screen). Once logged in, click on the Logged in drop-down menu, select Conferences, select the conference from the drop down menu called ‘current’, and find the conference paper to check its status. If it says ‘pending’, the decision is yet to be made. Accepted/rejected speak for themselves and panels cannot be set to transfer.
Convenors can use this same Log in space to edit their proposals as well as their personal details (add new institution, correct a spelling error etc.) - see next item.
Number of sessions
Each panel will be allocated an appropriate number of 90 minute sessions based on how many papers it accepts: this will be specified once the calf or papers has closed. All roundtables will run for one session.
Adding co-authors, co-convenors, chairs and discussants
If you did not specify colleagues when proposing the panel/paper, you can add them through the system. You can do this by clicking on the green ‘add convenor/author/discussant/chair’ button at the bottom of each list of participants and adding their name in the box that appears. Remember to click on the green ‘save’ on the right hand side, or the bottom of the page, in order to save your changes.
Participants will appear as ‘proposed’ and not be visible on the public programme until they create an account and accept their role via the email sent to them.
If you have difficulties with this, please email the conference administrators with names and email addresses and role they’ll play, and we will email them a request to add their details so we can add them to your content.
Logging in to look up the fate of your paper
We have asked convenors to email authors about their decisions after the call for papers deadline (20 December 2024), but sometimes emails fail (or humans do), so you can check your paper acceptance status by logging into the system from the conference website (see the Log in link with the human head icon in the top right of your screen). Once logged in, click on the Logged in drop-down menu, select Conferences, select the conference from the drop down menu called ‘current’, and find the conference paper to check its status. If it says ‘pending’, the decision is yet to be made. Accepted/rejected speak for themselves and you can read more below as to what ‘transfer’ means.
Authors can use this same Log in space to edit their proposals as well as their personal details (add new institution, correct a spelling error etc.) - see next item.
Editing your paper
Paper authors can use the login link in the toolbar above to edit their proposals.
Pre-circulation of papers
ASA has no rule about this, but many convenors are keen to pre-circulate completed papers. To facilitate this and save on email traffic, if requested by convenors, authors can upload PDFs of their papers within the online system, which will then show as downloadable files beneath the abstract on the public panel page on the site. There is currently no option to restrict this to panelists/delegates (although this feature is in the development pipeline).
Timing of presentations
Each panel/workshop session slot will be 90 minutes long, accommodating a maximum of four presenters. Convenors should allot each presenter a maximum of 15 +5 mins for panels of four papers.
Communication between authors/convenors
Convenor/author email addresses are not shown on the panel pages for privacy/anti-spam reasons. However there is an in-built secure email messaging system which has been updated to give more reliable delivery. If you cannot work that, please email conference(at)theasa.org to obtain relevant email addresses.
Any queries with the above please email conference(at)theasa.org.
Accessibility guidelines
Capacities for vision, hearing and sustained interaction in large crowds vary between people, and wax and wane for each of us from hour to hour and over the course of our lives. Conference participants are encouraged to follow these common accessibility guidelines, so as to make their presentation and other activities within the conference as accessible as possible.
Besides ensuring all colleagues are equally supported in their desire to participate, maximising the accessibility of presentations and discussions helps reach a wider academic audience.
Recognising the diversity of experiences, we accept that you may need to interpret/ignore these guidelines, in interest of your own health.
On-site accessibility, best practices for delegates, convenors and presenters - read more here.
