Call for Proposals

Working-Class Studies Association Annual Conference

The Power of Working-Class Action and Thought

18 – 21 June 2026: Laramie, Wyoming

27 June 2026: online

The Working-Class Studies Association calls for proposals for its annual conference, which will be held in two formats: an in-person gathering in Laramie, Wyoming, from 18 – 21 June 2026 and online, 27 June 2026.

The WCSA is an international, interdisciplinary organization—we invite presentations from a wide range of perspectives, disciplinary backgrounds, and experiences, hoping to build on WCSA’s tradition of hosting conferences where academics, activists, artists, educators, thinkers, organizers, and practitioners meet.

Located in the High Plains of the Rocky Mountains, Laramie, Wyoming has a rich labor culture and history. As the current home of Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone peoples and the ancestral home of the Northern Arapaho, Eastern Shoshone, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux, and the White River Utes; women and men who were and are cowpokes, homesteaders, miners, and ranchers; freed people who fled enslavement; immigrant and coolie workers who built railroads and work in fields and factories; diverse artists and writers, the Rocky Mountain region has always been and continues to be a place where workers mix. The city of Laramie is home to the University of Wyoming, the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice, the rich archives of the American Heritage Center, robust public art projects, among other resources for scholars and students of working-class life and culture. Laramie offers incomparable opportunities to visit nearby national parks and local natural areas during its breathtaking, humidity-free summers.

The in-person portion of the conference will take place in the historic Laramie Plains Civic Center. The facility is the oldest school building in the state of Wyoming, originally built as the East Side School in 1878, expanded by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, and is now a vibrant community hub.

How to Apply

The Working-Class Studies Association invites proposals for individual presentations, panels, performances, and exhibitions, from a variety of disciplines and perspectives. Educators, independent scholars, organizers, practitioners, and students are all welcome to apply. Proposals should speak to the conference theme, The Power of Working-Class Action and Thought, or to aspects of working-class culture, art, experience, and history, from local and global perspectives. Such topics may include, but are not limited to:

• The intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality
• Class culture: art, ephemera, literature, music, performance
• The labor movement and its histories, problems, possibilities
• Indigenous approaches to work
• Labor in the Global South, North, on land and water
• The history and future of work
• The relation of work and environment
• Working-class immigrant experience
• Rural and urban working experience
• Education and class
• Working-class locations and spaces
• Religion and class
• Conflict within and among classes

Please submit proposals by 3 February 2026. Applicants will be notified of results by 20 February 2026. All presenters must be WCSA members to register and present at the conference. Please limit proposals to no more than two per person.

Proposals must be submitted via this form and must include:

• Name, affiliation, and contact details for all participants
• Title of proposed presentation, panel, poster, or performance. Panel proposals must include a confirmation of willingness to participate from all proposed members
• Abstract of approximately 250 words
• Indication of intention to present in-person or as part of the Zoom track

Grants & Fellowships

The Working-Class Studies Association has a small number of travel grants available to assist low-income attendees. Please follow this link to apply.

The Young Scholars and Activists Fellowship (YSAF) aims to assist early career activists and students with conference costs. Please follow this link to apply.

Questions & More Information

Please email inquiries to Scott Henkel, WCSA conference committee chair, at wcsaconference2026@gmail.com.

Information about registration, accommodations, and logistics will be included in the message applicants receive in response to proposals.