Fall Annual Conference

Call for Proposals

The New England Council of Latin American Studies (NECLAS) invites proposals for our annual meeting to take place on Friday November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2024. We anticipate that the conference will take place on the Hartford campus of the University of Connecticut.

Migrants from Latin America continually make headlines in the United States, whether in articles or soundbites about humanitarian rights, border threats, politically charged relocation, community action, or discussions of reasons for crossing the US border to request asylum. Photos of parents and children tragically drowned in the Río Bravo, of gangs next door, of migrants bused to northern cities and dumped on street corners confused and with no money, or quiet community action groups, all aim to create an emotional reaction in the American public, usually either sympathy or fear. In the process, Latinx peoples are demonized and their experiences obscured. Twenty to thirty years ago, Latin Americans came to the United States because of environmental tragedies or civil wars and the ‘pull’ of jobs. Today, the landscape has changed. Reasons for the ‘push’ of migrants include terrifying life-or-death situations, which most Americans misunderstand. Issues related to migration, immigration or refugees present a broad subject for exploration.

This year’s conference therefore explores migration, mobility, and refugee status in all their complexities. We welcome proposals for posters, panels, roundtables, professionalization workshops, and book presentations from across disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, visual and plastic arts, sociocultural linguistics, and translation as well as from the fields of law, business, public policy, social work, public health, and education, among others. We encourage faculty members to organize undergraduate or graduate student panels based on capstone projects or theses that tackle relevant conference topics and issues. We also encourage refugee and immigrant organizations to consider presenting.

The conference welcomes proposals outside the specific theme, including those related to U.S. Latino/a/x communities. Papers and panel presentations may be in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. We welcome submissions and proposals for posters, panels, roundtables, professionalization workshops, and book presentations from across disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, visual and plastic arts, sociocultural linguistics, and translation as well as from the fields of law, business, public policy, social work, public health, and education, among others. We especially encourage faculty members to organize undergraduate student panels based on capstone projects or theses that tackle relevant conference topics and issues.

Founded in 1970, NECLAS is an inclusive community that welcomes scholars, researchers, teachers, activists, students, and the general public with interests in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino/a/x Studies. Focused on the New England region, NECLAS works to encourage more effective training, teaching, and research related to Latin American and Latino/a/x issues, while facilitating exchanges within the region through lectures, fora, seminars, conferences, prizes, and publications.

Please send your abstracts and proposals to neclas.sec@gmail.com by June 15, 2024.

Please submit a membership fee and conference fee in order to participate in the conference.