CALL FOR PAPERS

34th Annual Conference of the Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao (UGAT)

Anthropological Association of the Philippines

 in partnership with

University of San Carlos (USC) and the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC)

Theme

“Culture” and “Well-Being”: Conceptualizations, Appropriations, Implications

 University of San Carlos, Cebu City

 October 25-27, 2012 

The attainment and promotion of “well-being,” couched in various terms, has always been the default goal in a range of initiatives focused on human amelioration and social transformation.  Over the years, there has been a proliferation of culturally constituted constructions and indices of “well-being” propounded by certain public, private, and religious institutions.  This engenders the question of how responsive and responsible these conceptualizations and appropriations are in relation to the sensibilities and needs of communities in whose lives these entities intervene. As well, this question provokes ethical and practical concerns that anthropologists and related practitioners must address.

This year’s conference invites paper and panel proposals that will generate analyses and insights that critically engage processes and outcomes associated with the multiple ways by which “well-being” is construed and deployed in actual initiatives, keeping in mind the tensions and contradictions that these inevitably generate.  Of interest to this conference would be ethnographic contributions, that flesh out actual engagements with the different sectors in Philippine society, such as the fisher folks, organized labor, women, indigenous peoples, informal settlers, differently-abled persons, senior citizens, youth, and LGBT, among others.   It should be noted that this conference fundamentally negates the false dichotomy between academic and applied orientation of ethically engaged anthropological practice. 

Some suggested topical areas:

- Poverty Reduction

- Peace and Conflict Resolution

- Women’s Welfare and Empowerment
- Health and Care-giving (e.g., older people, differently-abled, children, people with chronic illness)
- Care for the Environment
- Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation
- Migrant Workers’ Welfare
- Citizenship (social, political, economic, cultural, sexual, etc.)
- Consumer Rights and Welfare
- Indigenous Rights and Ancestral Domain Management
- Teachers’ and/or Students’ Rights and Welfare
- Workers’ Rights and Welfare
- Health and Workplace
- Creativity and Artistic Expression
- Development Policies and Programs

As in the previous UGAT conferences, paper and panel proposals that lie outside the conference theme, especially those coming from practitioners in the other subfields of anthropology, are welcome and will be considered under the rubric “Special Topics.”

GUIDELINES ON ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS

1.   Abstracts should strictly be not more than 250 words, 12 font size.

2.    Authors must indicate the topical area in which their paper/panel proposals may fall.

3.    Abstracts should be written in a style that is accessible to non-academic audiences.

4.    Submissions should include the author’s name, institutional affiliation and contact information (e-mail address, telephone number, and mailing address).

5.    Abstracts should be sent to ugat.conference@gmail.com by 15 AUGUST 2012.

6.    For students, please indicate your intent to join the Student Paper Competition. The best entry will be considered for publication in the Aghamtao, the official journal of UGAT.

7.    For other inquiries, please contact the UGAT Conference Secretariat at +63 9062285977 (Ms. Lauren Villarama) or e-mail address ugat.conference@gmail.com.

Please visit www.ugat.org.ph