Summer Institute in American Philosophy
Borders, Boundaries, Breakthroughs
July 6-11, 2026 | Concordia College | Fargo-Moorhead, Minnesota, United States
CALL FOR PAPERS
SIAP will be held at Concordia College in Fargo-Moorhead on July 6-11, 2026. Straddling the Minnesota and North Dakota border and separated by the Red River of the North, Fargo-Moorhead is a growing urban core in a rural, prairie setting on the Northern Great Plains. The F-M area has a rich indigenous and immigration history, is home to three higher educational institutions, and is an agricultural hotspot. It is just 45 min to Minnesota lakes country, 2 hours to Canada, and 3 ½ hours to the Twin Cities. It boasts breweries, restaurants, museums, theaters, and outdoor recreation opportunities.
This year’s theme is Borders, Boundaries, and Breakthroughs. We invite submissions in any area of American Philosophy at SIAP. Presentations may either be traditional papers or may fit a variety of other presentation formats. Information about keynote speakers and plenary sessions will be shared as they develop!
Traditional Papers
Papers in all areas of American philosophy are welcome, but we will particularly favor papers whose topics are related to the themes of the plenary seminars and the work of our keynote speakers.
Instructions: Please submit an abstract of 500 words describing the paper in detail. Final papers should be of a length suitable for a brief presentation of about 20 minutes.
Books-In-Progress
Those working on book manuscripts in some area of research pertinent to American philosophy are invited to discuss their idea with seminar participants. This includes fresh ideas for books just underway as well as books nearing completion, but does not extend to author-critics sessions on recently-published books.
Instructions: Please submit a 500-word abstract describing your book manuscript, the content of your presentation, your ideas for the format of the presentation.
Dissertations-In-Progress
Graduate students preparing dissertation proposals, in the dissertation-writing phase, or approaching their dissertation defense are invited to present their work at special dissertations-in-progress sessions. This is a tradition at SIAP and one of the most exciting venues to showcase new work that is being developed in American Philosophy at various graduate programs across the country and internationally.
Instructions: Please submit a 500-word abstract describing the content of your dissertation. We will work with you in advance of the session on general guidelines for preparing the presentation and what to expect. In addition, please note: we have a limited number of travel grants available to graduate students at the conference who will be presenting, so please indicate your interest upon your submission if you would like to be considered for a travel grant which will cover the entire cost of housing as well as registration fees (leaving the remaining costs of travel to your home institution or other support). These grants are generously funded by the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy.
Experiments-In-Progress
We invite presentations on projects, collaborations, group work, public philosophy forays, field philosophy work, and other philosophical experiments for the purposes of discussion at SIAP. Some examples in the past have included a roundtable presentation concerning the development of open access scholarship in American philosophy, discussions oriented toward the design of philosophical travel courses, and experiential, embodied practices. These sessions will be limited in number and are intended to provide opportunities for innovative forms of work, thought, and scholarship in the American tradition.
Instructions: Please submit a 500-word abstract describing your project, the content of your presentation, your ideas for the format of the presentation, a justification of the project terms of larger issues of outreach and scholarship, and any A/V or logistical needs you might have.
Submission Instructions
Please specify in your submission the type of presentation from the list below, according to instructions. Email your submissions to tvarner@cord.edu. The subject line of your email should read: “SIAP 2026 Submission: [format type (e.g., Traditional Paper, Dissertation-In-Progress)]. Submit attachments as a pdf only. The submission deadline is February 28th, 2026.
