49th Annual Conference on South Asia Virtual Conference 2021 – submissions due by April 5, 2021
Dear ACSA (Annual Conference on South Asia) Community,
Read the Submission Guidelines: https://southasiaconference.wisc.edu/conference-submission-guidelines/
We hope you are all safe and well, and we are excited to announce that the second competition for panels, roundtables, and single papers for the 49th Annual Conference on South Asia will open on Monday, February 22nd, 2021. Due to anticipated UW-Madison restrictions on large gatherings, the Conference will be held virtually this year, with more details to follow.
If your panel, roundtable, or single paper submission has already been accepted, we will honor your previous submission for the upcoming conference. While the second competition will be smaller than the previous call, we invite new or revised submissions by Monday, April 5, 2021. in accordance with Conference policy. Please note conference policy barring multiple submissions, as well as the limitations on the number of panels within which each individual may appear.
We would also like to provide you with some updates on the Equity & Diversity work undertaken by the Center for South Asia’s Advisory Committee, which oversees Conference programming and policy. While making the Conference more inclusive and accessible is an ongoing effort, the following changes will be made to the upcoming Conference in order to address major gaps at the Conference:
-A special panel on international education needs at MSIs and community colleges
-Programming which targets junior scholars such as professional development panels on publishing and the establishment of a mentorship program.
We encourage faculty members to volunteer their time to this program in order to ensure that our collective Conference participation results in meaningful changes to the field.
While we are unable to make changes to the current registration fee structure, the Advisory Committee will re-asses the Conference fee structures in future years to help reduce the financial burden for international scholar and graduate student participation. Beginning with the 50th Annual Conference on South Asia, we will also introduce special topics in the call to ensure that work on and by marginalized groups is included in the Conference programming. Additionally, we strongly encourage panel submissions to demonstrate diverse gender representation and a balance of scholars across career stages. We will also work with our partners at the Concourse to explore video-conferencing options that increase access and participation for international scholars and those unable to attend in-person. Finally, we will implement a totally blind review in the next competition, which will extend not only to panels, roundtables, and single paper submissions, but to symposium submissions as well.
We look forward to welcoming you virtually this fall, and please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Andrea Fowler, Conference Coordinator
Feel free to contact our Conference Coordinator Andrea Fowler or our Conference Assistant Anubhav Kumaria at conference@southasia.wisc.edu with any questions or comments.