The Society for Applied Anthropology, which will hold its 2018 annual meeting in Philadelphia in April, is inviting participants from all disciplines to submit abstracts for sessions, papers and posters by the Oct. 15 deadline.

Participants are asked to consider how they can contribute to and build “Sustainable Futures,” which is the theme of the meeting, said program chair Carla Guerrón Montero, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Delaware.

The theme, she said, “brings to the forefront the ways in which anthropologists and other applied social scientists and professionals are tackling the most pressing issues of our times: among others, migration and displacement, climate change, technological processes, travel and mobility, access to education, the preservation of natural and heritage resources, health care and well-being, and global economic and political crises.”

The conference welcomes applied social scientists from all disciplines and is especially open to students presenting their work, Guerrón Montero said. Because of that inclusiveness and the proximity of Philadelphia, she said she hopes faculty and students from UD will have a strong presence at the meeting.

Guerrón Montero also is working to increase the participation of social scientists from outside the United States.

The meeting, to be held April 3-7, will designate its first day as “Philadelphia Day,” with all sessions and activities having a particular relevance to residents of the city and nearby region. Sessions that day will be open to the public at no charge.

For more about the conference, including information on how to register and how to submit abstracts, visit the website.

About the society

The Society for Applied Anthropology was founded in 1941 to promote the investigation of the principles of human behavior and the application of these principles to contemporary issues and problems.

With a current membership of more than 2,000, the society sponsors two major journals, Human Organization and Practicing Anthropology, and has become the pre-eminent international organization in the field.

Unlike most other professional associations, the society represents the interests of professionals in a wide range of work settings, including academia, business, law, health and medicine, public service and government. Its members are from a variety of disciplines — anthropology, sociology, economics, business, planning, medicine, nursing, law and other related social and behavioral sciences.