THE SLAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The conference is the key event in our calendar, attracting 200-350 participants. It normally takes place during the Easter vacation in different locations each year.
Academic panels vary widely, from economics to music via anthropology, politics, history, literature, geography and film. We have a keynote speaker and social events which in the past have included visits to galleries, film festivals and which culminate in the conference dinner with salsa dancing.
PILAS runs workshops for postgraduate students at the conference and all panels are strongly encouraged to include at least one postgraduate speaker. Postgraduate attendance is facilitated by the conference bursary.
In years where the annual conference takes place face-to-face, funding is available to assist Latin American scholars who are presenting a paper with their travel expenses.
2025 SLAS CONFERENCE - University of Bristol
10-11 April 2025
In line with previous conferences, SLAS 2025 will be an opportunity for explorations of any aspect of Latin American Studies, from any disciplinary and theoretical perspective. We have an optional conference theme that speakers are invited to address:
Alternative Futures in Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin America and the Caribbean have long been home to political, social and cultural movements that envision possible futures beyond established consensus. From acts of anticolonial resistance to early twentieth-century artistic avant-gardes, from Afrofuturist and indigenous futurist movements to emergent political collectives across national and cultural frontiers, the region has a rich history of future-oriented thinking. At this moment of uncertainty regarding global ecological, political and social futures, we invite participants to consider alternative futures from perspectives including (but not limited to):
-
Technology and the digital humanities
-
Political ecology and the environmental humanities
-
Migration and mobility
-
Activism and human rights
-
The futures of the past and historical approaches to the topic
-
The politics of language and translation
The conference will be held in person at the University of Bristol. In addition to traditional panel sessions, we encourage participants to propose alternative formats, such as workshops, readings, video essays, roundtables, etc.
Proposals may be submitted via this form until 23:45 BST (UTC+1) on 15 October 2024.
Notifications of acceptance or rejection will be sent via email by 30 November 2024.
Organising committee:
Dr Paul Merchant
Prof Ed King
Dr Erika Teichert
Carlos Fonseca Grigsby
FUTURE CONFERENCES
Future conferences are planned for Leeds (2026) and Sheffield.
If you are interested in hosting a SLAS conference in the future, please contact the SLAS secretary. This document will give you a sense of the types of questions you might want to consider about hosting a conference.
PREVIOUS CONFERENCES
Details of previous conferences are available in History.
Photo: David Wood, Walls, Cuzco, Peru