World Anthropological Union (WAU) 2025 Congress

Unearthing Humanity: Critical and Urgent Epistemic Redefinitions in World Anthropologies

Hybrid Congress | Antigua, Guatemala | November 3–8, 2025

The WAU 2025 Congress invites scholars, practitioners, and activists from around the world to submit individual paper proposals. The congress will take place in Antigua, Guatemala, from November 3–8, 2025, in a hybrid format. This call offers an opportunity to participate in a global dialogue that redefines the epistemic foundations of anthropology and responds to today’s urgent challenges.

Before submitting your proposal

Please carefully read the conference theme, the rules, and the list of panels.
The WAU 2025 Congress is designed as a fully hybrid event, providing participants the opportunity to engage either on-site in Antigua, Guatemala, or online from anywhere in the world. We are working to ensure a robust hybrid infrastructure that allows you to participate in the panel you select as if you were there in person, fostering real-time interaction and inclusive engagement regardless of your location. You can review the list of panels here: https://www.waucongress2025.org/panels/

All panels will be hybrid, enabling both in-person and online participation for presenters and attendees alike. This ensures that you can join and contribute to the discussions in your selected panel in the way that best suits your circumstances.

For panels that accept presentations in languages other than English, presenters must provide detailed slides in Englishduring their presentation to ensure accessibility for a broad audience.

Proposal Review and Selection

Panel conveners will review and evaluate all submissions to their respective panels. In addition, members of the Scientific Committee will assist conveners in this task, ensuring a thorough and fair evaluation process.

Proposals will remain pending until the end of the Call for Papers. Panel conveners will then make decisions on the proposals submitted to their panels and communicate them to the proposers through the online system. Papers that are neither accepted nor rejected but marked for transfer will be offered the opportunity to be re-housed into another panel or into open panels.

If you are submitting an individual paper and do not find a suitable panel, you may select the NO PANEL option when submitting your proposal. Papers submitted under this option will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee, and if accepted, will be grouped into thematic panels with other scholars and activists who share similar interests. This ensures that all accepted papers will have a space for presentation and engagement at the Congress.

Paper Proposal Submission Guidelines

• Each paper proposal must include:
• Panel Number (if submitting to a panel) or select NO PANEL
• Presenter(s)
• ORCID ID
• Email
• Affiliation
• Title
• Abstract stating the subject and objectives, highlighting its academic or practical relevance to anthropological sciences (maximum 300 words)
• Three to five keywords
• Indicate whether you will attend in person or online

Important Reminders

• You may submit only one paper for consideration (whether as part of a panel or as an individual paper).
• Presentations can be delivered in English or Spanish. No simultaneous translation will be provided.
• Each presentation will be allocated 20 minutes, including Q&A.
• Accepted papers may be submitted for inclusion in the WAU 2025 Congress Proceedings, which will have permanent identifiers and metadata.

Key Dates

Call for Papers Opens: March 17 (Monday), 2025

Submission Deadline: May 3 (Saturday), 2025

Notification of Results: June 2 (Monday), 2025

We look forward to your contributions as we collectively rethink the role and scope of anthropology in today’s world.