Program Proposals

Each year’s program originates in proposals submitted by individual members of the SAA and approved by the SAA’s Board of Trustees. Proposals are accepted only from current SAA members with a doctoral or terminal MFA degree.

No SAA member should submit more than one program proposal in any given year or be part of more than one proposal in a year. To be considered, completed proposals must be submitted on the SAA’s online forms. If you have any difficulties with the forms themselves, contact [email protected].

Members of the Program Committee are happy to consult on the crafting of competitive proposals, provided they are contacted 6-10 weeks before the proposal deadline. Please consider contacting them (via links given below) before clicking on the links to the SAA’s proposal submissions forms.

The deadline to submit a program proposal for the 2026 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado is 15 February 2025.

Proposing a Seminar or Workshop

Eligibility:

Proposals are accepted only from current SAA members with a doctoral or terminal MFA degree. Previous experience in participating in an SAA seminar or workshop is required. A previous policy prohibiting seminar or workshop leadership in successive years has been lifted. SAA members may propose to lead a seminar or workshop in the year immediately following one in which they have spoken on an SAA panel or led an SAA seminar or workshop.

Guidelines:

SAA seminars should open a number of pathways into a subject, recognizing that the seminar meeting is an occasion for focused but open discussion of written work completed in advance. Advance work in SAA programs may involve readings, online discussions, shared syllabi, performances, and pedagogical exercises, as well as research papers. For descriptions of seminars and workshops from previous years, consult any of the June Bulletins uploaded to the SAA Archives page.

Required Information:

1. The name of the proposed seminar or workshop leader(s), with university affiliation as applicable, and e-mail address(es).
2. The title of the proposed seminar or workshop.
3. A description of the objectives of the proposed seminar or workshop, including potential issues to be raised or practices to be modeled (maximum 2,300 characters, including spaces).
4. A short description of the proposed seminar or workshop (maximum 500 characters, including spaces), to be included in the June Bulletin.
5. A short biographical statement or statements for the proposed seminar or workshop leader(s), including a description of previous experience with the SAA (maximum 750 characters per person, including spaces).
6. Audio-visual equipment, data projectors, and internet access are not generally provided for seminars and workshops. If the proposed program relies upon equipment and services, these should be requested and described in the proposal.

Proposing a Panel or Roundtable Session

Eligibility:

Proposals are accepted only from current SAA members with a doctoral or terminal MFA degree. Dissertation candidates are eligible to speak on SAA panels. No one may speak on an SAA panel more than once in any three-year period.

Guidelines:

Paper panels, roundtables, and other formats for public discussion should address topics of current interest and general appeal for the SAA membership. While the traditional format has been three 20-minute papers per session, the SAA invites proposals for other formats for engaging important ideas and issues.

Requirements:

1. The name of the session organizer, with university affiliation as applicable and e-mail address.
2. The title of the proposed session.
3. A description of the objectives of the proposed session (maximum 2,300 characters, including spaces).
4. The names of each presenter or participant, with university affiliation as applicable and e-mail address.
5. The title for and a brief description of each presentation or paper (maximum 1,400 characters each, including spaces).
6. A short biographical statement for the session organizer and each presenter or participant (maximum 750 characters per person, including spaces).

Suggesting a “Futures” Panel

The Shakespearean Futures initiative is a multi-year series of panel sessions exploring the material and institutional conditions of intellectual work, professional life, and the SAA. “Futures” panels are focused on topics that involve analysis of the broader realities that shape academic methodologies and institutions (for example: race; contingent faculty and labor; first generation academics; transnationalism and globalization; disability and access; inequalities related to gender, class, sexual identities, and religion; new technologies; funding changes). 

The initiative aims to enhance member outreach through a tripartite structure. (1) Prior to the annual meeting, session leaders may encourage dialogue on that year’s topic by soliciting questions for discussion, posting recommended readings, and/or inviting online exchange. (2) The conversation at the conference will build on this conversation and may employ formats designed to enhance dialogue. (3) Following the conference, session leaders may engage in further outreach, by collecting feedback, developing follow-up recommendations for Board consideration, or offering agenda items for the General Business Meeting.

To propose topics for development, contact members of the Program Committee (below).

2026 Program Committee

Wendy Beth Hyman, Oberlin College (chair), with Adhaar Desai, Allison Deutermann, Sarah Dustagheer, Joey Gamble, Bernadatte Myers, Noémie Ndiaye, and Adam Zucker

Click here to submit a proposal.

Deadline: 15 February 2025.