Becoming Good Ancestors

Our annual meeting is now just one week away. Prepare by choosing your sessions on the schedule (this will also give the session moderators ways to reach you, if necessary), and then reading any of the papers for that session in advance (they are already linked online to each session). You can check out the pre-conference issue of the journal (Volume 117, Issue #2), and you can consider the various candidates standing for election.

Soon we will also publish a more complete agenda for the business meeting.

At the business meeting during REA2022 we will elect a new slate of committee chairs and members. The ballot for this election is now available online. Please come to the business meeting at the conference to vote!

We are less than one month away! We are looking forward to Becoming Good Ancestors with you. 

Did you know there was a pre-conference issue with the theme? 

If you are a member, go check out the submissions by logging into the member site and heading over to Taylor and Francis. There you will find submissions by

• Patrick B. Reyes, “Pedagogy of the Ancestors.” Program chair and incoming REA president. 
• Patricia Bonilla, “A Pedagogy of Surviving.”  
• Carmichael Cruthfield, “An Essay: Becoming Good Ancestors.” 
• Anthony Ephirim-Donkor, “Becoming a Good Living Ancestor.”
• Mary Love, “Becoming Good Ancestors.”
• Maureen O’Brien, “Discovering Good Ancestors, Hoping to Become One.”
• Ina ter Avest, “Being and Becoming Good Ancestors: Doing the Unthinkable, Turning Death into Life.”
• Dori Grinenko Baker, “Learning to Walk with My Ancestors.” 

And if you have not offered a trial membership to the journal, which would give the scholars you nominate access to these articles and more, then do so here! (You must be logged in and a current member, then the nomination form shows up at the bottom of the schedule page.)

We look forward to seeing you at Becoming Good Ancestors, July 5-9 online. 

No-No Boy Project is an immersive multimedia work blending original folk songs, storytelling, and projected archival images all in service of illuminating hidden American histories. Taking inspiration from his own family’s history living through the Vietnam War as well as many other stories of Asian American experience, Nashville born songwriter Julian Saporiti has transformed years of doctoral study into an innovative project which bridges a divide between art and scholarship. By turning his archival research and fieldwork into a large repertoire of folk songs and films Saporiti has been able to engage diverse audiences with difficult conversations performing with a revolving cast of collaborators everywhere from rural high schools and churches to Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Kim Anderson is an associate professor at the University of Guelph, and is affiliated with the Department of Family Relations and Human Development in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. Anderson is an Indigenous (Metis) scholar with a research focus on Indigenous mothering, Indigenous feminism, Indigenous masculinities, and Indigenous knowledge in urban settings.

The schedule for REA2022 is now available and you can use it to sign up for sessions today! If you REA membership is paid through July, you can attend REA2022 at no extra cost, so sign up for sessions now.

This year will be our second annual meeting in a row to be held entirely online. The REA Board is eager to use this moment as an opportunity to expand our visibility and to invite people who might otherwise not know much about our organization to come to the meeting. If you are a paid member of REA, you can also nominate someone else for a free trial membership, which will include access to the Annual Meeting and to the electronic version of our journal. Just look for “Nominate a Scholar” at the bottom of the schedule after you log in. Spread the word! Post the REA2022 flyers! This is a unique opportunity to share our energy, passion, and wisdom in the field.

Following extensive consultation, including both a membership poll and significant discussion amongst both the REA Steering Committee and the REA Board, we have decided to once again hold our annual meeting in an online format.

We decided to move to an online-only meeting for three reasons: (1) to ensure the design and delivery of an effective and creative annual meeting, (2) to provide wide inclusivity, and (3) to promote equally wide accessibility. We have made this decision out of an abundance of care and concern for the health and well-being of our members, and the many travel and quarantine challenges members face across the globe.

Given the theme this year, Becoming Good Ancestors, we encourage you to bring your ancestors and papers to the table. As a reminder, the call for proposals has been extended through February 28. We look forward to hosting you online at the REA Annual Meeting 2022.

The Call for Proposals submission process is now open for use. Please read the guidelines carefully before submitting your response to the call.

Please download and post this flyer with details about the REA Annual Meeting 2022, Becoming Good Ancestors. Feel free to send it to your colleagues or post on social media.

Color 8.5 x 11 inch flyer:

Black and white 8.5 x 11 inch flyer (best when making plain copies):

Widescreen JPEG for use on slides:

This website is being launched in time to share with members at REA2021. Please remember that everything here is still in draft form until the REA Board meets and approves the theme and call. Feel free to let us know of any issues you see with the site any time.

UPDATE: The theme and call for proposals have been accepted by the board.