2026 AAS Conference

Mparntwe/Alice Springs

10 - 12 June, 2026

Conference Theme

Lines, Layers, Depth

This is the first time an annual AAS conference is to be held at Mparntwe/Alice Springs. We want to take this opportunity to gather anthropologists from far and wide and introduce them to the splendour of Arrernte Country. We are also inviting delegates to participate in what makes Mparntwe/Alice Springs so special, providing an inspiration for the presentations, panels and plenary sessions. Our conference theme – Lines, Layers, Depth – pays homage to Mparntwe/Alice Springs, and the intertwining of its tracks of dancing Dreaming caterpillars, the contour lines of Alhekulyele/Mt Gillen against the desert sky, the telegraph line that marked Mparntwe on the maps of the colonialists, the lines of representation in desert art, and the intertwining storylines of and about Mparntwe/Alice Springs.

  • Mparntwe/Alice Springs layers stories of Dreaming dingos and thylacines fighting; stories of Arrernte ways of being in the world; stories about telegraph stations, pioneers, frontiers and massacres; stories about migrants who have come to live and work here over time; stories about violence, curfews and vigilantes; stories of military bases and technologies of war and surveillance; as well as stories of kin, Country and friendship, of art, music, and film. Mparntwe/Alice Springs is many-layered in so many other ways, as well – metaphysically, geologically, politically, socially, anthropologically. We live on layers of soil, rock and stone, permeated by water flows and cradling aquifers. Strata not just make up the ground beneath our feet, strata layer us in society and politics, think class, levels of government, the hierarchy of the court system, and more. 

    Layers are separate but interconnected, they themselves are part of something larger, they co-exist, build on each other, may rub against each other, feed or consume each other. Depth is created, re-created and deconstructed and created again, by combining lines, layers and spaces, not just in storytelling but also in music, visual arts, design, planning and, we suggest, in anthropology. 

    Our theme – Lines, Layers, Depth – is an invitation to think with Mparntwe/Alice Springs as a place. We invite participants to interpret the conference theme as widely, broadly, deeply as they wish, and encourage panels in their capacity to extend outwards from this notion. 

CALL FOR PANELS

if you are a current AAS member, click HERE to submit a panel (200 word max). PLEASE ENSURE YOU ARE LOGGED IN TO THE MEMBER PORTAL BEFORE COMPLETING THE FORM.

If you are NOT an AAS member and would like to submit a panel, please contact admin@aas.asn.au

Panel submissions close COB (AEDT) Friday, 30 January 2026.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui

Kauanui is a budding art curator, seasoned radio producer, and established scholar with an activist background who serves as the Eric & Wendy Schmidt Professor of Indigenous Studies and Anthropology at the Effron Center for the Study of America at Princeton University. Prior to her appointment there, she taught at Wesleyan University in Connecticut for 24 years. She holds a Ph.D. in History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Kauanui is the author of: Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity (Duke University Press 2008); Paradoxes of Hawaiian Sovereignty: Land, Sex, and the Colonial Politics of State Nationalism (Duke University Press 2018); and Speaking of Indigenous Politics: Conversations with Activists, Scholars, and Tribal Leaders (University of Minnesota Press 2018). Kauanui co-edits a book series with Jean M. O’Brien called “Critical Indigeneities” for the University of Carolina Press. 

  • Kauanui is currently in the midst of three scholarly projects: 1) completing a monograph book provisionally titled “Hawaiian Decolonization and the Dilemma of Feminism”; editing a book on Settler Colonial Fascism”; and guest-editing a special issue of Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, which explores the theoretical, generic, historical, and cultural dimensions of life writing, on “Global Indigeneities.” She has guest-edited a number of special issues of academic journals, including (most recently): “Unsettling Exceptionalisms: Thinking with and Through Israel-Palestine,” with Ather Zia for Fieldsites/Theorizing the Contemporary for Cultural Anthropology (2025); “Enduring Palestine: Critical Interventions in Native American and Indigenous Studies,” for NAIS (2025); and “The Politics of Indigeneity, Anarchist Praxis, and Decolonization,” for Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies (2021). Kauanui’s articles and essays appear in a range of edited books, and academic journals. She also serves on several editorial and advisory boards for a diverse array of journals.

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    She is the recipient of the 2022 American Indian History Lifetime Achievement Award by the Western History Association.  She is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society and has held numerous fellowships, including from:SAR, Smithsonian Institution, Rockefeller Archives Center, National Science Foundation, Fulbright (Māori Studies, University of Auckland), and Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury. And she has held an appointment as an Organization of American Historians (OAH) Distinguished Lecturer. Kauanui is one of the six co-founders of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA). 

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    From 2007-2013, Kauanui served as the sole producer and host for a public affairs radio show, “Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond,” which aired on WESU and was widely syndicated across a dozen U.S. states on Pacifica radio affiliate stations. Episodes are archived online: www.indigenouspolitics.com. In addition, with students Kauanui co-produced & co-hosted an anarchist politics program that ran from 2010-2013 called “Horizontal Power Hour.” All 59 past episodes are archived online: https://horizontalpowerhour.wordpress.com/. In 2014, Kauanui helped launch another program, “Anarchy on Air,” which aired through early 2020. Past episodes are archived here: http://anarchyonairwesu.tumblr.com/.

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Local Recommendations

Accommodation

We look forward to welcoming you to Mparntwe/Alice Springs!

Below are some accommodation options and discount codes exclusive to conference attendees. The majority of the conference activities will be held at the Alice Springs Convention Centre: 93 Barrett Drive, Alice Springs, NT 0870. We encourage you to secure accommodation as soon as possible as it is a busy time in the area with local events either side of the AAS Conference.

MAP

  • Alice on Todd Apartments - subject to availability
    Studio, $150.00 per night
    Deluxe, $180.00 per night
    2 Bedroom, $225.00 per night
    2 Bedroom Deluxe, $260.00 per night
    Call 08 8953 8033 to book
    *When calling to book, mention that you are attending the AAS Conference use the code “Yasmine” to receive the local rate.

    Stay at Alice Springs Hotel - subject to availability
    20% discount on Bar rate for Standard, Deluxe and Executive rooms.
    *Contact the hotel and mention you are attending the AAS conference and the discount code will be shared with you.
    BOOK HERE

    Desert Palms Alice Springs - subject to availability
    Double/twin (Queen + Single)  $180.00 per night

    Triple (Queen + Single + foldaway)  $195.00 per night

    Quad (4) (Queen + 2 Single)  $210.00 per night
    BOOK HERE

    Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Alice Springs - subject to availability
    15% discount for AAS conference attendees
    BOOK HERE

    Budget Accommodation

    YHA Alice Springs

    Alice’s Secret Travellers Inn

Things to do