Call for Nominations and Proposals Annual Meeting Program Chair

86th Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, NM (March 17-21, 2026)
87th Annual Meeting in Norfolk, VA (March 23-27, 2027)

The SfAA Board invites innovative, creative, and energetic proposals from individuals or teams interested in chairing future annual meetings.

The Program Chair and Committee significantly influence the focus and direction of the content of the annual meeting in collaboration with the SfAA Board of Directors.

The Program Chair is responsible for: 

Vision 
Developing a program theme that reflects the current state of the applied social sciences and imagining the future. The program theme articulates the spirit and intellectual core of the annual meeting program.

Team 
Recruiting, organizing, and managing the annual Program Committee. The Program Committee is an inclusive team that organizes sessions and mobilizes networks to generate support for the program theme. Meeting and coordinating with local organizations, including educational institutions, to facilitate participation.

Content & Schedule 
Reviewing abstracts and working with SfAA Topical Interest Groups, cosponsors, and the SfAA staff to assemble the program schedule. Connect with individuals and organizations in the meeting location to involve local partners, issues, artists, and vendors in the program.

Creativity 
Working with the Program Committee and the Board of Directors to support creative contributions to the program. 
The SfAA Office provides staff support for the Program Chair and Committee. 

Proposals should include:

1. A concept for a dynamic, inclusive, and welcoming theme to orient the intellectual program and to inform program planning and outreach (see previous themes here).
2. A summary of prior experience with program planning, managing and coordinating peers and colleagues, and/or organizational leadership.
3. A description of the extent and type of institutional support available (if applicable).

Submission Process: 

The priority deadline for the 2026 Program Chair proposals is November 1, 2024. 

Please direct questions and proposal materials to the SfAA Meetings Coordinator, Don Stull, at stull@ku.edu. Interested individuals may also reach out to previous Program Chairs for more information:

A. J. Faas (aj.faas@sjsu.edu), Program Chair for Santa Fe, 2024, “Enchantment and Transformation”
Juliana McDonald (jmcdo2@uky.edu), Program Chair for Cincinnati, 2023, “Applied Anthropology at a Crossroad.”
Jim McDonald, Program Chair for Salt Lake City, 2022, “The Revolutionary Potential of the Social Sciences”