CFP for AAP-Sponsored Sessions at ATHE 2026

CFP for AAP-Sponsored Sessions at ATHE 2026

The ATHE 2026 conference theme is “ACTIVATING IMAGINATION IN/AND COMMUNITY,” a call to ask us to think deeply and courageously about the role of theatre and performance in shaping our shared presents and collective futures. The CFP is Here.

The conference will return in-person on July 22–26, 2026, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Timelines for Submission:

ATHE will have two rounds of submission. The First Round is for “fully formed sessions.” Meaning that each submitted proposal should be held by a session coordinator, have at least three presenters, a title, and a description of the session. (Presentation titles for each participant are optional):

1) First round submission portal open: November 3, 2025.

2) First round submission deadline: December 12, 2025 (11:59 p.m. Eastern)

3) Acceptance/Rejection letters will be sent in the Week of February 23, 2025.

ATHE will release a list of all of the sessions from the “First Round of Submissions” that opted in to the “Second Round of Submissions.” This is NOT the time to propose a new session. This submission process is open to individual participation in already accepted sessions.

4) Second round submission open: March 9, 2026.

5) Second round submission deadline: March 27, 2026 (11:59 p.m. Eastern).

If you plan to volunteer as a panel organizer/coordinator, submit a session, or present a paper, please contact either Dr. Weiyu Li (weiyu2128@gmail.com) or the panel coordinators (listed below in each session description) with all relevant information. I will pair papers with the proper sessions or form additional sessions based on interest and availability. For AAP-Sponsored Sessions Early Submission Deadlines:

1) Panel coordinator volunteer: November 14, 2025.

• (Please find the panel information below. The position currently marked as “Panel Coordinator Pending” will be open for volunteers.)

2) Individual paper proposal deadline: December 5, 2025.

3) Session proposal deadline: December 8, 2025.

Proposed AAP-Sponsored Sessions

Below are several sessions AAP is currently developing. These are only starting points, and we’d be delighted to include your new ideas and perspectives. Additionally, we are collaborating with other scholars in both AAP/ATHE and other Focus Groups to develop more panels, and we will send separate emails with those updates.

If you are interested in joining one of these sessions, please send either Dr. Weiyu Li or the session coordinator the following information:

• Your name, email, and institutional information as applicable.

• A 200-250-word abstract or description of your work and how you’d like to

  participate/what you would bring to this session

Feel free to contact me with any ideas you might have or submit them through the application

portal.

1) Globalizing Asia: Reimagining Community, Identity, and Representation

Presentation Session.

Panel coordinator pending.

What defines “Asian” theater, and how might we conceptualize Asianness within an evolving global artistic landscape? Historically, discussions of Asian theater have often been framed through binaries—West versus East, tradition versus modernity, and originality versus adaptation. Area studies frameworks have further divided Asia into discrete spaces defined by regime, nation, language, ethnicity, and culture. As theater studies increasingly adopt anticolonial and decolonial perspectives, the field calls for more nuanced understandings of

intercultural exchange, relational identity, and community formation.

This panel examines how “Globalizing Asia” forges new concepts of community and challenges rigid boundaries in both theory and practice. It seeks to explore emerging perspectives on evolving geopolitical relationships and dynamic patterns of cultural exchange, while fostering dialogue across Asian Studies, Asian Diaspora Studies, and Asian American Studies. In doing so, the panel also aims to facilitate inter-Asia, intercultural, and interracial approaches to theater studies. Together, we consider how “Globalizing Asia” reimagines performance, community, identity, and representation in a connected world.

Participants are invited to submit short papers (7-10 pages, double-spaced) grounded in fields such as Asian Studies, Asian Diaspora Studies, Asian American Studies, and Critical Racial Studies. Possible areas of inquiry include:

1. Practicing and studying Asian theater in the age of globalization

2. Performing, scripting, and teaching decolonial Asia

3. Performing Asia in diaspora

4. Forging Asian intercultural theater works or ensembles

5. Examining racial encounter and building solidarity through theater practice and scholarship

2) Internationalizing ATHE

Roundtable Session.

Panel coordinator pending.

This session brings together international scholars and theater practitioners based both within and beyond the United States. It aims to create a virtual space for dialogue between these participants, AAP members, and the broader community of theatre scholars and artists attending ATHE. Structured as a roundtable, the session will offer participants an opportunity to share research ideas, pedagogical approaches, and current inquiries. In doing so, it also raises a key question: How can we more effectively engage scholars from across the globe to advance the study and visibility of Asian theater?

3) Historical Reconstruction of Trauma and Change

Presentation Session.

Panel coordinator pending.

Historically, theater has played a crucial role in constructing communities—shaping power structures, ideological systems, and social identities. At the same time, when societies experience crises such as economic depression, pandemic, state violence, war, or revolution, theater often mirrors the resulting liminality. This liminal state reflects a growing crisis of legitimacy in authority and social values, preceding the emergence of new, cohesive ideologies or realities.

Rejecting the hegemonic order and seeking reconstruction, the theater of crisis resists conventional or theatrically “safe” forms. It frequently manifests as open-ended, episodic, fragmented, or deliberately anti-Aristotelian. Likewise, its characters, which are situated within or responding to collapsing ideological frameworks, defy coherence or stable definition. However, through its exploration of alternative artistic modes, the theater of crisis transforms these impossibilities into new creative possibilities, expanding the boundaries of performance and community.

This panel seeks to examine various historical forms of the theater of crisis and to investigate how such theaters embody moments of transition between negation and reaffirmation within their communities. It further aims to analyze the (re)shaping of representation amid shifting sociopolitical and historical power relations, and to consider how these performances engage with marginalized groups, voices, and visions, bringing previously excluded realities into sharper focus.

4) Theater Festivals and Community Building: Sites of Negotiation and Renewal

Presentation Session.

Coordinator: Dr. Man He (mh11@williams.edu)

Communal theater activities, ceremonies, and festivals have long served as powerful platforms for community building. By bringing together diverse participants in shared spaces of creation, spectatorship, and participation, theater festivals function as dynamic sites of community formation, negotiation, and renewal. They foster collective memory, social engagement, and cultural exchange through performance.

This panel explores how “theatre festivals”— including carnivals, conventions, competitions, and other related forms—operate within specific historical and cultural contexts. We ask how individual aspirations, communal energies, political currents, and financial realities intertwine with the very infrastructure and unfolding of theater festivals. By tracing how festivals shape cultural identities, open spaces of dialogue among diverse communities, and reimagine social bonds through performance, this panel seeks to shed light on the rich complexity of these theatrical gatherings and their enduring contributions to community building.

5) Workshop of Inclusion, Access, and Equity

Working Group.

Hosted by the AAP Anti-Racism Committee.

Theatre has long played a vital role in shaping cultural identities and reflecting societal structures. Asian performance traditions, in particular, have developed through diverse histories, identities, and social contexts. Teaching these traditions to students from varied backgrounds—both Asian and non-Asian—requires nuanced pedagogical approaches that take into account contemporaneity, regional specificity, and relational perspectives. This workshop addresses issues of access, inclusion, and equity, focusing on how these themes intersect with the multiplicity of identities and regional variations within Asian communities. It calls for reimagining curricula to better represent this diversity and to engage meaningfully with the challenges faced by marginalized voices.

This 90-minute workshop invites participants to share strategies for teaching Asian performance with an emphasis on fostering inclusive and equitable classrooms. The session will also feature a practitioner who will discuss their work through the lens of inclusion, access, diversity, equity, and intersectionality. The final segment will open the floor for group discussion, providing participants with opportunities to exchange experiences, identify challenges, and develop practices that support diverse and accessible learning environments.

6) Working-in-Progress Session: Publishing with Asian Theater Journal

Writing workshop.

Coordinator: Dr. Man He (mh11@williams.edu)

Asian theatre, performance, and theory remain notably underrepresented in major generalist theatre studies journals. This session seeks to address that gap by helping participants develop works-in-progress toward potential submission to the Asian Theatre Journal. Designed primarily for early-career scholars, the session invites participants to share ongoing research and receive constructive feedback directly from the journal’s editors. The focus group will emphasize the publication process, offering guidance and iterative feedback to support continuous improvement and readiness for submission.

7) Meet and Greet with AAP

Roundtable discussion.

Coordinator: Dr. Man He (mh11@williams.edu)

Come and meet other members and friends of the Association for Asian Performance. Learn

how to get involved, share research ideas, and meet new colleagues.

Contact Info:

Weiyu Li (Vice President for AAP/ATHE Conference Planner): weiyu2128@gmail.com

*CFP in pdf:

CFP for AAPATHE 2026.pdf

Download PDF • 177KB