APPLYING TO HOST A NAISA CONFERENCE

Note: we are not receiving proposals until late Spring 2026.

Submitting your Proposal for Hosting NAISA in upcoming years 

If your local academic community is interested in becoming a Local Host Committee (LHC) in any upcoming year, we would like to invite you to submit the following:

1. Basic description of the location where you would like to hold the conference (i.e. a city convention center, a hotel, a university campus), along with estimated financial cost, or lack of cost, to use the location.
2. Proposed dates. 
3. Basic information on the main hotels that you would recommend for the lodging of the conference attendees within the area (i.e., specific city). 
4. Information on the preliminary composition of the Local Host Committee (current number, institutional affiliations, etc.), including the presence of Indigenous academic members in the committee. 
5. Expected and committed local support (from academic institutions or units, organizations, communities, business, etc.).
6. Specifics of the proposed conference venue, including:
   • Number of possible concurrent sessions/range of room capacities (17 breakout rooms minimum, some of which should accommodate at least 80 people)
   • Space available for potential vendors and book exhibits
   • Spaces for the NAISA Council’s business meeting and presidential address, welcome reception, or other additional gatherings (seating for 300 minimum)
7. Even though the focus and main responsibility of the LHC is to organize the actual academic conference, describe the potential for engagement with Native or Indigenous communities and organizations in the region. Feel free to add any potential extra component that should be part of the cultural milieu of the conference (e.g., Indigenous art exhibits, etc.).
8. Airport/airlines and other transportation options to the proposed site.

Submit your proposal to: admin@naisa.org

• Please submit a document of no more than five pages. 

Additional Guidelines

Responsibility for planning and hosting the annual NAISA Conference involves the NAISA Council and a Local Host Committee (LHC). 

Role of the NAISA Council

The NAISA Council organizes and oversees the program of each annual NAISA conference, including selecting the theme of the Conference, constituting the Program Review Committee, and managing the entirety of the submission review process. Council selects a group of external reviewers to join the review work, drawing from members of the association as well as the chairs or leading members of the Local Host Committee (LHC). Once this review process is completed, NAISA Council decides on the number of accepted submissions and gives shape, in content and form, to the final conference program.  

For each annual NAISA conference, the NAISA Council also liaises with a private agency (INMEX) to contact local hotels and arrange contractual terms with them on behalf of the association. When possible, the NAISA Council convenes at the site of the upcoming annual meeting to complete the program review process and collectively decide on the final accepted submissions. On this occasion, the NAISA Council and the Local Host Committee also meet jointly to finalize arrangements for the upcoming conference. This joint on-site Council meeting should be scheduled in December or in early January, that is, six months before the upcoming conference, although timing can be varied depending on specific circumstances that may alter the usual timeline. 

Role of the Local Host Committee

A Local Host Committee (LHC), in continuous coordination with the NAISA Council, will have responsibility for implementation of the logistics of successful organization and materialization of the conference. 

Pending prior approval of the NAISA Council, a LHC will oversee on-site organization of the NAISA conference, including specification of the conference's beginning and ending dates, main venue, and budget. 

A LHC will also secure conference sponsors. As a society of ideas, scholars and knowledge producers, NAISA and the annual NAISA conference constitute an academic forum in which we exercise intellectual autonomy and sovereignty. Both the NAISA Council and LHC must strive for the accomplishment of said mission by ensuring that no sponsor should intervene in or influence the content and form of the conference. 

LHC’s primary responsibility is the materialization of the NAISA annual meeting as an academic conference, yet we also welcome any effort of the LHC to make space and time for community-based activities during the conference. NAISA envisions these efforts as important ways to always promote and develop good relations with the Native lands and communities in which its annual meeting takes place. The LHC is not expected or required to plan and organize the referred community-based activities but rather it could simply facilitate their addition to the NAISA conference programming. 

LHC Proposal Submission and Approval

In evaluating and accepting or rejecting proposals for local hosting of NAISA's annual conference, the NAISA Council takes into account such circumstances as: the conditions of the proposed venue to safely meet and freely conduct our scholarly gathering, the amount of local and regional support (financial as well as in-kind support), proximity to Native and Indigenous communities, the size of the conference facilities, and the ease of access to NAISA members–-especially for members from abroad. The Council will also consider a facility’s compliance with basic conditions that can ensure accessibility for all NAISA members interested in attending the annual meeting, including persons with disabilities. We affirm that provision of a safe and non-discriminatory environment is critical for enabling NAISA to welcome all members regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, or class. 

As soon as NAISA Council approves a proposed venue for the NAISA conference and endorses an LHC's proposal, the following steps will be followed:

1. The LHC will proceed to confirm the dates of the conference and will also propose a conference theme. 
2. The NAISA Council and the LHC will collaborate on drafting a Call for Submissions for the upcoming annual conference in the chosen location.  
3. The NAISA Council will provide the LHC with specific guidelines for conference planning and the execution of specific planning roles, tasks, and responsibilities. 
4. Based on this, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be co-signed by the NAISA President and the LHC. 

Organizing the NAISA Conference

The President, Council, and officers of NAISA will be a permanent source of support for the Local Host Committee, available to discuss every aspect of the annual meeting’s organization. Past experiences demonstrate that continuous engagement in dialogue and collaboration with the LHC is the best formula to ensure a successful conference. 

We welcome Local Host decision-making on matters that most affect the local community of scholars, students, and businesses, especially the recruitment of volunteers, whether to offer amenities such as childcare or food on-site, the conference agenda, and site of individual sessions. 

Flexibility to adjust the format of our annual meeting, contingent on the characteristics of the local environment as well as the broader context in which it takes place, is always an important principle in our work. At the same time, we are committed to the conference as an annual event.