Dear CAE members:

The AAA website is now open for submissions for all types of events and sessions. If you’re not familiar with the options available to you, please take some time to explore the information at the Annual Meeting Conference Website

• See AAA Information about types of submissions here
• Read an overview of the Meeting Participation Rules and Policies here
• See a useful Call for Papers FAQ here
• Log in to the AAA system to submit your proposal here.

Here again is a summary of the key deadlines and information:

*Invited sessions, “innovents” and public policy forums:* *March 15th*
All invited session proposals, innovents, and public policy sessions must
be submitted directly to AAA through the web submission process. To
submit, go to the above link and follow the guidelines posted there. We
will have two invited sessions to award in CAE this year (possibly more if
we manage to co-sponsor 1-2 sessions with other sections). CAE executive
officers will review the proposals and then forward our recommendations to
the AAA for their review. Results will be announced April 4th. If your
session is not given invited session status, it will automatically be
considered for the volunteered sessions. “Innovents” are fairly new. They
are designed for activities that take place outside of the normal
conference meeting days and/or location. Participation in an innovent
counts as a primary role, just like a paper presentation. Public policy
forums are reviewed by the AAA Committee on Public Policy (not by CAE). All
of these formats are described in more detail on the above link.

*Volunteered sessions, individual paper and poster presentations, special
events, roundtables, and media submissions: April 15th*
Submit directly to the AAA via the above link. These proposals will be
reviewed by CAE reviewers. Each proposal is read by two reviewers, and then
rankings are sent to the AAA for their review. Results will be announced
by July 15th. For those new to the process, if you wish to organize a
session it is a good idea to post a 2-3 paragraph summary of your topic on
the CAE listserve and invite others who might be focusing on the same area
to submit paper ideas to you.

For either deadline, keep in mind that:

• AAA has a *strict participation limit: one paper and one other role (discussant, chair, etc.) per person. Learn more about Participation Roles & Responsibilities here.
• Everyone listed as a participant has to be a member of AAA and pay the registration fee up front when you submit your session proposal*. In a few cases, AAA considers *waivers* of the membership requirement (but not the registration fee) for scholars from other disciplines or anthropologists from other countries besides the US or Canada. Waivers must be requested through the AAA at the time that you register. CAE does not have any special pull in this regard.
• It’s a good idea to get everyone in your session to *register online early (about 7 days in advance of the deadline is recommended)*. This way, you will be able to complete the session submission smoothly. If anyone in your session is not registered, AAA can bounce the whole session. Register to the AAA conference here
• You can submit your session in draft form and continue to revise it up until the deadline.
• If your session is not accepted, you may request a *refund* of the registration fee by contacting the AAA.

Cosponsored sessions: If you wish to submit a co-sponsored session, it’s best to first discuss your idea with someone who is an active member of the other section, say, Society for Linguistic Anthropology. Ask that person if he or she would like to be a co-chair of the session. This way you have buy in from both CAE and the other section. Then let me know so that I can also coordinate with the program chair of the other section.

2012 meeting theme: Read about the meeting theme, borders and crossings, on the AAA website. If your session is relevant to the theme, be sure that this comes across clearly in your proposal. Not every session has to be relevant to the theme; however, the likelihood of acceptance will probably be enhanced if you do tie it in somehow, assuming your proposal is strong in other ways as well.

I’ll be sending a few more reminders and updates as we get close to the deadlines. I hope you’ll forgive the repetition, but this is important because new members join CAE and the listserve throughout this period and may have missed important info communicated earlier.

Feel free to email me if you have questions as you develop your proposals:
rosemary.henze@sjsu.edu

All the best,
Rosemary Henze, 2012 CAE Program Chair