Who Can Participate?
Our conference is open to everyone with relevant topics relating to the archaeology of power and authority. There is no need to be affiliated with a school or institution or be a practicing archaeologist. All we are looking for is an 150 word abstract that can form the basis of a 20 minute presentation. While the conference attracts many of the top researchers in the field the Chacmool conference has had a long history of involvement from undergraduate and masters students as well as the interested public and professionals from other disciplines.
The Chacmool Conference is a primarily undergraduate organized and run event, yet undergraduate students and masters candidates don't always realize that they can participate as presenters, not just as conference volunteers or attendees. You needn't already have a published paper to your credit or be a professional archaeologist. What you do need is an eight to ten page double-spaced paper that describes the result of analysis you have carried out on an archaeological dataset. You may present those results in a twenty minute talk as part of a regular session, or as a 1.5 m by 0.78 m poster in a poster session.
The prospect of presenting in front of professional archaeologists who regularly attend academic conferences can be a daunting one, but presenter's nerves aside, there's no need to feel overwhelmed. You'll be presenting new research just like everyone else, which means you will know your own work best. Better yet, you'll be presenting to a mixed audience - Chacmool Conference attendees include many members of the interested public, and other archaeology and anthropology students, as well as professionals.
Participating in a poster session can be a less intimidating alternative to a regular session talk, and this year's Chacmool Conference Committee is working hard to set up at least one such session. If you've participated in a science fair in the course of your highschool career, you already have a good sense of what a poster session would be like, except there won't be judges and ribbons.
Chances are you have already heard in class that presenting a paper is good experience. At the Chacmool Conference it also makes you eligible for the Bea Loveseth Memorial Award and may lead to the publication of your paper as part of the conference proceedings. Whether you come to the conference as a presenter or an attendee, it's far from all work and no play. This year the conference is opening and closing with a reception, and there are many informal opportunities to socialize with other conference participants and see some of the sights in and around Calgary.
Finally, the Chacmool Conference has some of the most affordable registration fees for students. So maybe we'll see you in November!