Roots, Rootlessness, and Uprooting by Rosalind Rini Larson

 

The American Folklore Society invites you to submit a proposal for its 135th Annual Meeting to be held virtually October 11-12, 2023 and in Portland, Oregon, November 1-4. The theme of the conference is Roots, Rootlessness, and Uprooting. The proposal window is March 1-31.

The 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society will bring hundreds of US and international specialists in folklore and folklife, folk narrative, popular culture, music, material culture, and related fields, to exchange work and ideas and to create and strengthen relationships and networks. 

The theme, “Roots, Rootlessness, and Uprooting,” points to historic, natural, and social processes of connection, creation, and removal. Our work, like all living things, naturally grows out of various personal and professional ecosystems, taking root in specific institutions, communities, and traditions that are themselves subject to organic processes like atrophy and entropy, erosion and abrasion. These processes of natural deterioration, as well as more intentional and violent removal, can uproot not only our work and practices but the communities we rely upon and serve. How do folklorists and culture workers respond to various change-agents, be they individuals or structures, embodied or ephemeral, natural or artificial, dramatic or subtle? Furthermore, how does one grapple with the extractive and othering histories of the field of folklore, as well as those embedded in practices of ethnography and collaboration today?

Of course, in addition to this topic, AFS encourages participants to explore the full dimensions of their scholarship regardless of subject. Prospective participants may submit proposals for papers, panels, forums, films, and diamond presentations, or to propose new presentation formats. 

AFS is committed to maintaining and improving the accessibility of our annual meeting. To support presenters who can’t travel to Portland, individual presenters and chairs of pre-organized sessions will have the opportunity to select between virtual or in-person presentation modes when they submit their proposals. Chairs may also apply to be considered for one of the limited number of hybrid slots in Portland. Registration provides access to both the fully virtual (Oct. 11-12) and in-person (Nov. 1-4) portions of the annual meeting. Virtual attendees can expect access to some Portland-based programming in the form of streamed keynotes, a limited number of hybrid sessions, and more session recordings.

You can find more information about the meeting at 2023 AFS Annual Meeting. Instructions for submitting proposals will be added when they are available.

 

Contact information:

Roz V. Rini Larson
Annual Meeting and Programs Director
812-856-2333
annualmeeting@afsnet.org
rrinilarson@afsnet.org