The International Conference of Autoethnography 2026 will take place from Sunday 12th July to Tuesday 14th of July 2026 online (via Zoom) and in-person at The Engineer’s House, Clifton Village, Bristol, UK. Please scroll down the page for additional information, or navigate through the menu at the top of the page .
ICAE2026 Conference Theme:
Connections
David Bohm wrote: “Our future depends on whether we feel like part of this whole or whether we feel we’re separate.” Although these words were published nearly 50 years ago, they are more pertinent than ever in a climate of fracturing global connections and relationships. ICAE2026 invites you to address connections in and through autoethnography. Connections between diverse peoples, species, places, times, cultures and identities. Connections across disciplinary boundaries, theoretical perspectives, philosophical positions, and genres of inquiry. Connections across belief systems and ways of being. ICAE2026 invites you to story, perform, theorise and reimagine myriad connections within the human and the more-than-human world.
Bohm, D. (1980). Wholeness and the implicate order. Routledge. (p. 28)
KEYNOTES
We are delighted to announce our first keynotes will be Brazilian scholars Marcelo Diversi, Professor of Human Development, Washington State University Vancouver and Claudio Moreira, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Marcelo and Claudio have forged a formidable writing/research collaboration going back several decades. Their 2018 book “Betweener autoethnographies: A path toward social justice” won the National Communication Association, Division of Ethnography, 2019 Best Book Award .
Brief Bio Marcelo Diversi
My scholarship has focused on examining and deconstructing narratives of Us versus Them that have historically been used to exclude and dominate the Other. I have attempted to trouble the ideologies behind much of knowledge production about the Other, while interrogating dominant narratives of “deviance” and “free will.” I have tried to do so by advancing ethnographic narratives that highlight the encounter between researcher and collaborators (as opposed to the traditional detached observation and description of the Other from “everywhere”), and narratives that invite the reader to see themselves, even if ever fleetingly, in Other people’s lives. The central goal of my scholarship is to expose the social structures and mechanisms that officially justify exclusionary ideologies, policies, and practices, while also sharing ideas on how to move toward a more inclusive and kinder world for more beings.
Claudio Moreira
From the intersection of race, gender, and class, to name a few, I write Performance Autoethnographies looking at words, knowledge, concepts, and actions, which expose differences and also shape, marked bodies into the world. My work can be found at International Review of Qualitative Research, Qualitative Inquiry, Text and Performance Quarterly, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies. My two books, co-authored with Marcelo Diversi, are Betweener Talk: Decolonizing Knowledge Production, Pedagogy, and Praxis (Left Coast Press, 2009) and Betweener Autoethnographies: A Path towards Social Justice (Routledge, 2018).
KEYNOTES
Our second keynote will be given by Durell Callier & Dominique Hill who formed a collective to take forward lessons learned working in community.
To learn more about their work please see the following “Qualitative Conversations” where they talk about and perform some of their work and the creative process behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gGHqXTNPHA
Awards
Please consider nominating someone for one of our awards. Each year the ICAE makes a number of awards – these include
Lifetime Contribution
Please consider nominating someone you feel has made a substantial contribution to our field and those in it. That is, someone who has created opportunities for others, or given to our community with a spirit of generosity, care and compassion. Previous holders of the award include Kim Etherington, Carolyn Ellis & Art Bochner, Alec Grant, Gayle Letherby and Kitrina Douglas.
Please send nominations to trude.goril.klevan@usn.no
Film award and
Dissertation/thesis Award
please send nominations for these awards to Knut.Tore.Salor@usn.no
For registration and abstract submission please follow the links at the top of this page or contact our administration team at:
Pre Conference workshops
Pre-Conference Workshops
This year our pre-conference workshops include workshops on ethics, writing poetry and creative practices, information on these will be available shortly, please use the menu at the top of the page or follow this link https://boomerang-project.org.uk/workshops-2/
Venue
IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE
VENUE: The Engineer’s House, Clifton Village, Bristol
Cost of the in-person registration includes two course hot lunch and unlimited coffees/teas/fruit and biscuits each day.
Delegates can engage in as little or as much of the main programme as suits their interest and needs. There are numerous intimate spaces to share conversations, food or just to rest, along with areas for larger groups and collegiate dining.
Select this link to register https://boomerang-project.org.uk/registration/
Clifton Village is an area of the city bursting with contemporary independent cafes, bars, restaurants, and boutiques as well as typical cosy English pubs.
The venue is also situated adjacent to Clifton Gorge and the Bristol Suspension Bridge. It backs onto the Bristol Downs park, and a short stroll over the suspension bridge takes you into Ashton Park and Leigh Woods.
If you would like to register for the conference or submit an abstract please use the main navigation tools at the top of the page.
Looking for inspiration
If you have never attended our conference we invite you to gain a feeling for the diverse types of presentation, performances and contributions, via our YouTube conference page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWNYTUbli3wRLda7ZmbpqOQ/videos
How should I present my work at the ICAE conference?
There is (fortunately) not an unequivocal answer to this. We encourage you to present your work in a manner that communicates with the audience, in a form you feel comfortable with. We want this to be an inspiring experience for you and the audience. The ICAE is not an “ordinary research conference” where the aim is to present research findings in a scientific IMRAD structure. Thus, PowerPoint presentations with bullet points might not be the best way to share your work. We encourage you to find other ways of presenting – for example reading, performing, photo or film. Feel free – just remember to stick to the time frame.
