CALL FOR PAPERS

The Western Anthropology Graduate Society (WAGS) jointly with the Anthropology
Undergraduate Society at Western University (London, ON) are pleased to announce
Western Universitys 3rd Annual Anthropology Graduate Student Conference
entitled: Confronting Categories to be held from Friday, March 6 through
Sunday, March 8, 2015.
History, womens studies, geography, sociology, political science, First Nations
studies, as well as archaeology, linguistic, biological, and socio-cultural anthropology
incorporate a wide range of techniques and strategies in order to explore the human
experience. These disciplines converge in the use of categories to conceptualize and
make sense of human behavior and cultural practices. We invite abstracts that will
facilitate scholarly discussion and critical thinking in one or more of three major areas
of academic research as it relates to the application of categories in the social sciences:
How do the humans and nonhumans we study classify the observable world
around them and why?
How does the use of categories in academia help or limit us in communicating
our ideas? (i.e., what information is lost when we divide our data into
categories? What information is gained?)
Which categories and labels still present in anthropological research (and other
academic disciplines) are rooted in colonial thought, and how can we best
decolonize the discipline(s)?
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This conference provides the opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to
reflect critically on how categories influence their own research, as well as broader
academic and applied contexts.
We invite you to submit paper abstracts for 15-minute oral presentations by Saturday
January 10, 2015 to uwoanthconference@gmail.com. Please include your name and
affiliation, paper title, abstract (up to 250 words), and 3-4 keywords.
Suggested ideas for papers include but are certainly not limited to:
- methodology
- research design
- data collection
- indigenous issues
- identity, self-categories/labels
- deconstructing categories in a particular research
area/topic
- politics, knowledge, and power
- colonialism and globalization
We highly encourage students from outside of London,
Ontario to make submissions. Non-London residents whose abstracts are received by
the deadline (January 10, 2015) and are accepted will be eligible to apply for the
Western Anthropology Conference Student Travel Bursary.
Updates, the program, keynote speaker(s), bursary guidelines and eligibility, and other
resources will be posted on the conference website:
http://anthropology.uwo.ca/graduate/association_clubs/wags_annual_graduate_stud
ent_conference.html.
Please circulate widely to interested parties and direct any questions to
uwoanthconference@gmail.com.
Thank you very much!
Western Anthropology Conference Committee 2014-2015
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