96th annual SWAA conference – Spring 2027 – Fresno, California!

Theme: “Humans: Structure and Possibility”

Join us in Fresno for SWAA 2027!

This year’s theme is Humans: Structure and Possibility.

Importantly, human agents (positioned unequally) build structures, just as they alter, challenge, and sometimes transform them. How and with what effects do people engage with structures (of politics, economy, society, culture) that simultaneously constrain, enable, and channel their efforts to make meaning and take action? Structure and agency are entwined in a dialectical dance, partners, not opponents. Let us come together and trace the human struggle to think, see, and act at multiple scales, from the widest possible structural frame to the most quotidian – yet equally consequential – human doings. We need all the examples of human agency and efficacy we can muster. To engage in the possible is to hope and the people with whom we work offer us this every day. So let us seek out human creativity and agency in the darkest times and let it shine.

For SWAA 2027, let’s remember that it is possible to imagine, and yes to build, meaningful, prosperous, and joyful worlds.