Welcoming Reception

Keynote Dialogue

Visions and Futures: Amazonia from the Roots

More attuned to the immersive experience of fieldwork than the scholarly exchange in a conference room, the academic program of this SALSA 2023 Biennial Conference will develop organically amid the populations, environments, institutions, and nations that are at the heart of SALSA’s values and mission. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas (Brazil), and Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana are three universities strongly committed to broadening border cooperation and the participation of Indigenous and traditional peoples in research and higher education. We aim to host a conference that puts diversity, transnational cooperation, symmetric dialogue, and intercultural exchange at its center, as these are experienced and sustained in Lowland South America, in all academic and social activities. The indigenization and decolonization of anthropological knowledge are central to this aim, so various aspects of this conference will be designed to achieve these core aims. We have made room for a category of ‘Special Events’, in addition to the age-old Thematic Panels and Workshops, that open up new modes of exchange beyond academic interests (public policy issues, Indigenous peoples and higher education systems, frontier integration, and so many others). These Events encourage members to feel and reflect on how we go about co-producing and sharing knowledge with research participants, communities, collaborators and policymakers. In keeping with SALSA’s convivial tradition of hosting ‘Conversations in the Lobby’, SALSA 2023 will turn this event into ‘Conversations in the Maloca.’ We seek to  integrate Amazonian styles of conversation into open-ended, reflective discussions about the future and vision of SALSA— and more closely approximate the legacy of Steven Rubenstein, which gave birth to this SALSA tradition.

We invite SALSA members to think creatively about the content and form of their proposals for Thematic Panels, Workshops and Special Events. This may be by facilitating symmetric exchange with Indigenous/traditional intellectuals and participants as well as with scholars and practitioners in other fields, or by reflecting about the changes taking place in the region. We hope you feel encouraged to think widely and inclusively about conversational partners, and the meanings, methodologies and relevance of our research in Lowland South America today.

Welcoming Reception

Conversations in the Maloca

Keynote Dialogue

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