2026 NEAA Annual Conference
Rowan University | April 17-18, 2026
Before we begin, we would like to thank Board Member Michael Zimmerman and Bridgewater State University for hosting our 2025 Annual Meeting, “The Anthropology of Fun and Play.” Thanks to the hard work of Michael, the rest of the NEAA Board, and our student volunteers, the 2025 Annual Meeting was a great success, and we look forward to seeing you again at the 2026 Annual Meeting.
The Northeastern Anthropological Association is pleased to announce that our 2026 annual meeting will be at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ from April 17-18, 2026.
The annual meeting invites students, undergraduate and graduate, scholars and practicing anthropologists to share their research in a multidisciplinary setting that relates to the topic of that year and to contemporary issues in anthropology.
NEAA 2026 Annual Conference
Announcing the 2026 Theme:
Collaboration, Cooperation, and Connection
More on the Theme:
Humans are social animals who have used cooperation, collaboration, and connection as practices for survival for millennia, and which remain useful and necessary today. In all the subfields of the discipline we work with individuals, families, communities, nations, and other social groups. Despite these ongoing practices of engagement, and the knowledge gained from these practices, we still grapple with critical questions about collaboration, cooperation, and connection.
What can cooperation, collaboration, and connection tell us about our current condition?
How can anthropology contribute to addressing social concerns?
What is the role of collaboration, cooperation, and connection in creating an anthropological practice that responds to the needs of the communities in which we live and work?
For this year’s annual meeting, we invite any interpretation of what collaboration, cooperation, or connection means within anthropology and its cognate disciplines, including other fields that can enrich what a focus on working together can provide. Please join us April 17-18th in Glassboro, NJ at Rowan University to contemplate and discuss how these themes can help us rethink our place as anthropologists in the world and in relation to one another.
How to Participate and Join the Conversation
The NEAA meeting is open to everyone (faculty, students, partnering organizations and advocacy groups, artists, etc.) and we strongly encourage your participation, either as a paper presenter, panel organizer and/or discussant, an artist anthropologist wishing to share your creative work, an organizer of a film viewing and discussion, or as a member of an organization wishing to share the work you do and how anthropologists might get involved! Working and advocating in the present is extremely diverse, so let’s ensure that the 2026 NEAA meeting reflects that diversity!!
While all anthropological topics are relevant to working and advocating in the present, those interested in submitting a paper/panel/artistic work/etc. can use the Conference Theme to guide their ideas for submission.
Consider Submitting your Scholarship in any of the following categories:
Interactive workshops
Research Posters
Organized Roundtables
Paper Discussion Panels
Please reach out to NortheasternAnthro@gmail.com with any questions regarding submissions and participation. We would love to hear from you!
Submissions:
Submissions will Open later this Fall. Keep your eyes peeled for an Announcement later in the Semester!
Stay tuned for more details as we prepare for another exciting gathering of anthropology scholarship!