Call for Abstracts
Indigenous Relationality Workshop
At the annual meeting of the Prairie Political Science Association (PPSA)

September 14, 2019
Treaty Seven, Banff, AB

We invite scholars, students, artists, activists and community leaders to submit presentation abstracts for the Indigenous Relationality Workshop (IRW) held during the PPSA annual meeting. The IRW hopes to create a gathering place for people to come together and discuss the complexities and lived realities of Indigenous relationality in our fields of research and community contexts.

We encourage abstracts focused on Indigenous kinship relations, Indigenous gender and sexuality, land and water based education, Indigenous diplomacies, Indigenous political orders, community engaged research, community leadership, self-determination and sovereignty.

In particular, we would like to strongly encourage abstracts from artists, makers, curators, and arts professionals interested in presenting their work and sharing how Indigenous frameworks of relations have informed their practices. We are also interested in the place of the word “relation” in the arts, especially the intersecting theories of relationships between the human and non-human, relation-making, and terms such as ‘relationality’. We intend to devote a full hour-and-a-half panel to examining the intersection of ‘relation’ and arts practices.

While the IRW emphasizes scholarly rigour and community engagement, we also hope to create a gathering place that encourages good relations among participants. To this end, we seek to build a workshop that fosters networks of trust and a culture of collegiality. Most importantly, we seek to build energy and momentum for participants who are seek to create sustainable and substantive Indigenous self-determination.

This gathering is designed to be a training ground for emerging scholars and community leaders. The IRW will also foster an environment where presenters from various backgrounds can receive constructive feedback. This will include a focus on creating a supportive environment for graduate students and non-academics. We hope participants will create new connections between people and ideas while fostering relationships that spur creativity and strengthen the resolve of this cohort.

The workshop will be held at the stunning Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. We hope our third annual Indigenous Relationality Workshop builds upon the success of last year that had 21 workshop participants and an average panel attendance of 30 people.

Please include the following in your abstract:

• Email subject: IRW 2019 Abstract
• Name and Institutional/Community Affiliation
• Personal bio of no more than 50 words
• Presentation Title
• Abstract of no more than 150 words

Please submit abstracts to daniel.voth@ucalgary.ca by no later than Friday, March 29, 2019.

All workshop presenters and attendees will be required to register for PPSA, through the PPSA website (www.prairiepsa.com).  PPSA registration includes conference fees, two nights stay at the Banff Centre, four meals on-site, on-site child care and parking at the Banff Centre.  Graduate student rates are available.