The American Folklore Society
The American Folklore Society

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Are You Done? Essentials of a Complete Proposal

The proposal window for the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society will open soon.

Proposals for the 2026 Annual Meeting are due April 15 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Preorganized Sessions

  • Session title
  • Sponsors, if any
  • A long (500-word) abstract for the session as a whole, which will be sent out for blind review. Do not name any panel participants.
  • A short (100-word) abstract for the session as a whole, which will appear in program materials if the proposal is accepted. Use AFS style. 
  • All sessions: the name, affiliation, and email of each presenter, submitted by the presenters themselves, with permission to publish (or not) their personal information
    • Chairs will need to indicate their panelists in their session proposal, and then staff will link presenters to your session.
    • Presenters will also need to submit their own personal information and permissions to publish it (or not).
  • For paper/media/mixed sessions: presentation information for each associated presenter, submitted by the presenter (see below)
  • Optional:
    • Scheduling notes: if we should know of any scheduling conflicts, tell us now.
    • AV notes: Will you need speakers, a projector, internet, etc.? Request them now, if necessary.

Paper/Media Presentations

  • Presentation title
  • Presentation mode (virtual or in person)
  • a short (100-word) abstract, which will appear in the program book if the proposal is accepted. Use AFS style. 
  • a long (500-word) abstract, which will be sent out for blind review. This is required of all presentations that are submitted for individual consideration; it is not required for presentations that are part of pre-organized sessions.
  • Media proposals must include the duration and a copy or sample of the work if possible: if it is available online, put the URL in the Notes to Staff field; if not, request additional mailing instructions from AFS staff.
  • Optional:
    • Keywords approved by the AFS Ethnographic Thesaurus that describe the content of your session as a whole. See Using Keywords in Annual Meeting Proposals before you register and submit your proposal.
    • Scheduling notes: if we should know of any scheduling conflicts, tell us now.
    • AV notes: will you need speakers, a projector, internet, etc.? Request them now, if necessary.