Welcome to the 55th Canadian Archaeological Association Conference! This year the conference will be jointly hosted with the Maw-lukutijitk Saqmaq / Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs and will be a hybrid conference, in-person with virtual options. Our theme is “Gathering Perspectives”, a strength of archaeological practice, the character of this discipline as it has grown, as well as its current state of practice. This historic gathering, this historic mawiomi, is a welcoming of archaeologists by Mi’kmaq to a Mi’kmaw community in Mi’kma’ki, hoping for the outcome of this shared and historic experience to change us all for the better as we gather our perspectives closer to each other with respect, appreciation, and commitment to a fresh path forward to travel along together. 

Call for Session Proposals

Please consider organizing a session at the upcoming meeting. Sessions may be hosted online or in-person. Sessions may be of two types:

1. Invited sessions: The session chair(s) invite specific people to address a specific topic or theme. These sessions may be held as a panel or as a traditional delivery of individual papers. Additional papers may be included as posters. Session chairs do not need to have a full slate of presenters lined up when they submit their proposal.
2. Themed sessions: The session consists of volunteered papers organized around a particular theme. Session chair(s) will be asked to select and arrange papers from those volunteered for the session; additional papers may be included as posters.

Guidelines for Session Chairs

Session formats:

1. We are committed to an inclusive conference format where both online and in-person papers are welcome and accommodated.
2. Time allocation for presented papers will be 15 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for questions
3. Minimum number of papers for a session is 6.
4. Invited speakers may be presenters or co-authors on additional papers or posters in other sessions.
5. Session chairs may present one paper in their own session.
6. Session chairs may be presenters or co-authors in other sessions.
7. Panel format sessions will require a minimum of 4 panelists and a maximum of 10.
8. Panels can be organized for up to 3 hours, with time requirement stated in proposal.

Session proposals:

1. Session proposals should consist of a plain language title and a 300 word (maximum) description of the session.
2. Session chairs should include their name, affiliation, and email address in their proposal.
3. Sessions may be organized by no more than 3 chairs.
4. Session proposals may be submitted in English, French or Mi’kmaw.
5. Session chairs must be members in good standing of the Canadian Archaeological Association at the time the proposal is submitted and at the time of the conference.
6. Session chairs must register for the conference and are expected to chair their session.
7. An individual may be a chair for up to two sessions.
8. Chairs, please consider diversity as you prepare, especially in terms of career stage and background of the presenters.

Evaluation:

1. After the deadline, session proposals will be reviewed by the Program Chair and a subgroup from the organizing committee.
2. If there are several session proposals on the same or very similar themes, chairs may be asked to combine sessions
3. Submission of a proposal is not a guarantee of acceptance.
4. Session proposals will be listed on the conference website by February 25th.

Session organization:

1. After the abstract deadline, session chairs will be asked to organize presentations into a logical order to fit the theme.
2. After the abstract deadline, the Program Committee may direct additional volunteered papers to sessions if they are a clear fit with the theme. Session chairs may accept these additional papers or not.
3. Presenter conflicts between sessions will be resolved by the Program Committee.

Proposals must be received no later than midnight (MDT) on February 17th March 1.