APARRI 2026 Call for Proposals

Hope and Struggle: Navigating Today, Nurturing Tomorrow

The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) is the largest and longest running interdisciplinary conference series in the United States addressing issues of religion and race in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Since 1999, APARRI gatherings have provided opportunities for scholars and community leaders involved in work on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander religions to share research, exchange ideas, and build collaborative relationships.

As we gather in this year of unprecedented social and political challenge, we invite participants to reflect on sources of hope and struggle for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander religious communities. How have Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander scholars and religious communities grounded themselves in hope? How has hope anchored their collective struggle for meaning, fulfillment, and social change? When and where have we also witnessed the limits of that hope? How have Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander scholars and religious communities wrestled with the struggle of hopelessness and unfulfilled hopes?

Particular sub-topics of interest on hope and struggle include:

  • Praxis, e.g. how practitioners have actualized hope
  • Spiritual and theological foundations from different traditions
  • Resurgence of subversive, wayward and radical histories
  • Popular culture and cultural productions
  • Solidarity and partnerships in diasporic and transnational contexts
  • Social change through the arts, including poetry, film, visual culture
  • Movements for collective well-being, care and play
  • Teaching in and outside the classroom, e.g. pedagogy and public scholarship
  • The digital age; AI and its impact on religious communities
  • Confronting climate, migration and economic crises
  • Apocalypse and apocalyptic movements
  • Struggles against unjust laws
  • Different notions of hope across religious traditions
  • Histories of, and lessons from, unfulfilled struggle or disappointing hope
  • Transnational intimacies, narratives of repair

While APARRI does not require an exclusive focus on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander religious communities, proposals that center and prioritize these are preferred. Please note that conference proposals must engage some aspect of APA religions: papers about topics/interests in Asia or the Pacific (alone)–without connection to the Americas–will not meet minimum eligibility. Note also that our conference will be held fully in-person and thus will not be able to accommodate requests to present virtually (via Zoom).

Please note that there are 3 types of proposals you can submit. Please click on any tab below to learn more about the type of proposal:

These submissions can be on any topic relevant to the conference theme and call for proposals. If accepted, individual submissions will likely be organized into panels at the program committee’s discretion.

Presenters may organize their own panels around a common theme or topic. Given time limits, successful panels tend to have four individual presentations or fewer. This may include three presentations and comments from a discussant, or four presentations. Organizers and presenters should leave time for audience discussion and Q and A in planning their presentations.

These submissions are most suitable for advanced/revised dissertation chapters (beyond first drafts), articles nearly ready to submit for journal publication, and book proposals. Authors will spend 5-10 minutes introducing their work, followed by feedback from the respondent and audience. Workshop attendees are expected to read papers in advance.

For these workshops, full drafts must be submitted by May 25, 2026. Drafts should not exceed 25 pages, double-spaced, excluding footnotes or endnotes. Respondents will not read more than 25 pages of text. Although your pre-circulated paper might be accepted on the basis of your abstract, the committee reserves the right not to circulate submissions that appear to be first drafts or unpolished writing (and will remove you from the program if so).

Only conference registrants will have access to these pre-circulated papers.

Proposal Deadline: March 9, 2026 (11:59 PST)

Notification of Acceptances: April 3, 2026

Pre-circulated paper drafts deadline: May 25, 2026

Please click here for APARRI 2025 registration and housing information

SUBMIT FORM

Submission Guidelines

Please include the following information in your proposal:

  • Title of pre-circulated paper, panel, or presentation
  • Full name(s)
  • Affiliation(s)
  • Contact information (email, phone)
  • A 200-word statement describing your individual or group proposal
  • Indicate format of submission:
    • Pre-circulated paper
    • individual paper presentation
    • group panel (no more than four formal presentations, respondent or discussant optional)
  • Indicate your technology needs
    • projector (for laptop)
    • sound

The selection committee will review submissions and notify presenters by April 3, 2026.

Travel Support

Thanks to generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation and UC Berkeley, APARRI will be offering limited scholarships to cover domestic travel and lodging, with priority to scholars and graduate students who present at the conference. Participants may apply for scholarships with their conference registration.

APARRI is a scholarly community advancing the interdisciplinary study of Asian Pacific Americans and their religions. We offer opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and workshopping works-in-progress.