Post-National Transformations: Culture and Politics in the Greater Latin America and the Caribbean

Fourth Spring Conference in Mérida, Mexico

March 20 – 22, 2013

The Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology announces a new spring conference format. The meetings will be held every two years, preferably in Latin America and the Caribbean, beginning in Mérida, Mexico in March 20-22, 2013. The call for abstracts for the Fourth SLACA Spring meetings is based on the theme selected for the conference: Post-National Transformations: Culture and Politics in the Greater Latin America and the Caribbean. We invite SLACA members in any discipline of anthropology and in other sub-disciplines to propose sessions within this broad theme, reflecting the different sub-disciplinary understandings of related issues. The Conference Committee will accept a select number of papers.

Selection procedure

The Conference Committee will pre-select up to 30 papers to be presented at the conference’s thematic session on March 20-21. The main session will be split into six consecutive parts, over two days. All presentations will be allotted 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for comments and questions. Additional papers will be selected as posters or as presentations for concurrent sessions on March 22. The papers addressing related topics will be presented in concurrent sessions on the third day of the conference, following the same format, and there will be a poster session for papers selected by the committee to be displayed as posters. Participants submitting abstracts may indicate that they want to present in the poster format. To ensure acceptance, the committee must receive complete paper drafts by January 6, 2013. The editor of the Journal for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology will invite authors to submit revised papers for a special issue of the journal. Also, we have invited the editors of leading Mexican national and regional anthropology journals to attend and to consider inviting the submission of papers. We are hoping that the conference will result in several special issues, in various journals. The final program will include the names of the editors and the journals they represent.

Conference location

Mérida is a small city of about 1 million inhabitants. The capital city of the state of Yucatan, it is located in the NW of the peninsula, just 20 km away from the Port of Progreso. The city has an international airport and a developed hotel infrastructure, hotels ranging from very economic rates to Grand Tourism and boutique inns. The state of Yucatán in general, and the city of Merida in particular, are considered today among the safest in the country. The weather during the month of March tends to be less humid and the temperatures can be around 25 C (somewhere around 75 to 80F). Most services are available, and Mérida is one of the first cities in Latin America to have free WiFi connection in public areas, including restaurants, hotels and parks. There are free concerts over the week, and although the food is somewhat different from that of the rest of Mexico, one can also find Mexican food and drinks.

Conference organizers and contact

Gabriela Vargas-Cetina (Autonomous U Yucatán) gvcetina@uady.mx, Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz (Autonomous U Yucatán) siayora@uady.mx.