Proposals are due Jan. 15th, 2026.
The Canadian South Asian Studies Association/Association canadienne d’études sud-asiatiques (CSASA-ACESA) announces its Fifth Annual Meeting to be held at York University in Toronto, Canada, on June 11-12, 2026. The format will encompass entirely in-person sessions as well as online and hybrid sessions. Exceptionally, the Canadian Federation for Social Sciences and Humanities will not be hosting a Congress this year, so our Annual Meeting will be independently organized with a new fee structure and registration at Congress will not be required. Please save the date and forward this call for submissions widely.
For questions about CSASA-ACESA 2026 Annual Meeting, contact the members of the organizing committee—
| Julie Vig, York University CSASA-ACESA President julievig@yorku.ca | Andrea Farran, McGill University CSASA-ACESA Treasurer and Vice-President, andrea.farran@mcgill.ca |
| Arafaat Valiani, University of Oregon/University of Calgary Steering Committee Member arafaat.valiani@ucalgary.ca | Sloane Geddes, University of Toronto Conference Convenor kathryn.geddes@mail.utoronto.ca or sloane.geddes@gmail.com |
| Bilal Haroon, York University Conference Convenor bilalbaf@yorku.ca |
Individual, Panel, and Roundtable Proposals:
Study of South Asia offers an invaluable lens to engage with complex issues in our globalized world in historical and contemporary terms. We invite colleagues to submit individual paper proposals, fully formed panels, roundtables, and creative submissions on topics related to social scientific and humanities-oriented study of South Asia. Individual proposals, panels, roundtables and creative submissions that represent a diversity of views are especially solicited. Researchers at all stages, including those working on MAs and PhDs, are encouraged to apply. Proposals and papers may be written in English or French.
Theme:
CSASA-ACESA seeks submissions that showcase new research on South Asia-centred research and diasporic South Asian communities worldwide. We are particularly interested in scholarship that critically engages with discourses on pre-/de-/post-coloniality, anti-casteism, and the colonial legacies of South Asian Studies as a field. CSASA-ACESA especially welcomes submissions dealing with these topics in relation to premodern South Asian histories, languages, and material cultures, and invites colleagues to highlight analytical tools that their scholarship on South Asian Studies can offer to wider scholarly discourse.
Proposal Format and Length:
Individual Papers: Paper abstracts should be a maximum of 250 words; accepted proposals will be matched with other thematically-related submissions.
Panels: Full panel submissions should consist of three or four presenters, a moderator, and a respondent. Panel proposals should include a title and a thematic abstract (150 words), along with individual presentation proposals (250 words each) for every participant.
Roundtable: Full roundtable submissions must be comprised of at least three speakers (and no more than five), and a moderator. Roundtable proposals must include a title and a thematic abstract (250 words), accompanied by a list of all participants with an outline of their proposed contributions (100 words each and a 100-word speaker bio).
Creative Proposals: We invite creative approaches, including but not limited to film, photography, posters, audio, and so on; please include a title and abstract (250 words) describing the research topic and proposed creative format.
Submissions and Deadline:
To make a submission, please register and make an account at the CSASA-ACESA Fourwaves submission page here. After you have logged in, please complete your submission there. Proposals are due by January 15, 2026; notifications will be sent by.
You do not need to be an association member to submit a proposal for our Annual Meeting, but membership dues must be paid by February 15, 2026, by accepted presenters to be confirmed on the programme.
Membership:
For 2026, the Annual Meeting fee is CAD$150 for non-members; CAD$50 for members. CSASA-ACESA Membership fees remain unchanged, at CAD$70 (regular rate) and CAD$35 (reduced rate). To renew your membership, please send payment; to apply for a new membership, send your brief bio and five keywords about your South Asia research to csasa.acesa@gmail.com.
Payments from Canadian bank accounts should be sent by Interac transfer to csasa.acesa@gmail.com; payments in any other currency should be sent to Paypal.me/andreafarran.
Please consider submitting a proposal. We hope to see you in Toronto in June!