CALL FOR PAPERS

On the GRATEFUL DEAD

The Grateful Dead Studies Association (GDSA)

at the

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

48th Annual Conference, February 17-20, 2027

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

https://swpaca.org

Submissions open: September 1, 2026

Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2026

Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 7th annual meeting of the Grateful Dead Studies Association at the 48th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA has hosted a Grateful Dead area since 1998 and offers nearly 70 subject areas: https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/.

Papers and presentations on all aspects of the Grateful Dead are welcome, from their music and history to their broader cultural impact and continuing reception. More than 27 fields and disciplines participate in Dead studies and all perspectives and theoretical approaches are welcome. This year we are especially interested in proposals on the work of Bob Weir. 

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app.

For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general (including submitting proposals for roundtables and preformed panels), please see the FAQS & Resources tab on https://swpaca.org/. Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words and a brief summary of 100 words or less.

For information on how to submit a proposal for a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs & Resources link.  

The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2026.  

SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2026. More details are here: https://swpaca.org/graduate-student-paper-awards/.  SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as contingent faculty: https://swpaca.org/travel-awards-students-faculty/.

Registration and travel information for the conference is available at https://swpaca.org/albuquerque-conference/. 

In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dialogue/.

If you have any questions about the Grateful Dead area or the GDSA, please contact the area chair, Nicholas Meriwether, Executive Director of the GDSA, at deadstudies@gmail.com. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@swpaca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.

This will be a fully in-person conference. If you’re looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2027 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2027.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!