CFP

ADS2027: American Dialect Society Annual Meeting 2027

January 6-9, 2027

Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ads2027
Abstract registration deadline	July 31, 2026
Submission deadline	July 31, 2026

Topics: lexicography american dialects and languages linguistics

American Dialect Society Annual Meeting 2027

San Francisco, January 6-9, 2027

Call for Papers

ADS will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America Wednesday, January 6 through Saturday, January 9, 2027, in San Francisco, CA. (Please note the shift to start on a Wednesday.) The meeting will be held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

Friday, July 31, 2026, is the deadline for 20-minute paper and poster proposals, as well as innovative panel proposals.

We invite presentations on any aspect of all languages and dialects used or found in North America (as well as associated islands in the Pacific and the Atlantic) and in the Caribbean Basin, and the languages that influence them: spoken, signed, or written, modern or historical, Indigenous or introduced, common or rare. We also encourage topics related to lexicography, linguistic atlas projects, linguistic landscapes, language and society, and public language-awareness programs.

Posters: We will have one in-person poster session; there will not be an online session.

Panels: We welcome ideas for timely panels that address key questions or challenges in the field and encourage creativity with the format. Typically, panels are allotted an hour and a half to present and may be structured as, for example, facilitated conversation among featured speakers, interactive sessions between presenters and audience members, or research presentations. If you have questions or would like to propose an especially timely panel, please contact Anne Curzan, acurzan@umich.edu.

SUBMITTING PAPER AND POSTER PROPOSALS (due July 31, 2026)

Abstracts of no more than 500 words as a PDF will be submitted, reviewed, and processed for ADS2027 via the EasyChair system using the following website:

https://easychair.org/cfp/ADS2027

Important: You should only include the title of the study at the top of the abstract and indicate if the proposal is for a paper or poster. Do not include your name or other identifying information on the abstract. Abstracts that include author’s names will not be considered. Do not send the same proposal to both ADS and LSA, and do not submit proposals based on research that has been previously presented at ADS or elsewhere (e.g., NWAV).

Submissions are limited to two per author, which may include one paper and one poster, one of which must be co-authored. If you submit two co-authored proposals with the same or different co-author(s), only one proposal can be for a paper and the other must be for a poster.

Three important notes about submitting through EasyChair:

EasyChair publishes conference proceedings too, so you’ll see the option to upload a complete paper — just ignore that option.
EasyChair is based in England and its clock keeps Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), so submissions will close automatically at 23:59 GMT, which is not a North American end of the day. We recommend submitting your abstract on or before July 31 because the system will not accept late submissions.
EasyChair will not allow you to upload an abstract longer than 500 words, including title, references, etc.; if the system won’t accept your submission, check to see if you’ve inadvertently exceeded the word limit.

Proposals will be reviewed anonymously by a minimum of two reviewers. If your proposal is accepted, you’ll be asked for an abstract of no more than 100 words for the LSA program.

NOMINATIONS & APPLICATIONS FOR AWARDS (all due Friday, October 30, 2026)

Travel grants for students: Four travel grants of $1000 each will be awarded to students whose papers or posters have been chosen for the program. Nominations from the student’s advisor or other professor in the form of a letter to ADS Vice President and Program Chair, Anne Curzan (acurzan@umich.edu), are due by Friday, October 30, 2026. Nominations will not be accepted after this date.

Travel grant for an ADS member: The annual Audrey Duckert Memorial Travel Award of $1000 to attend the Annual Meeting will be given to an ADS member. Audrey Duckert was a long-time member of ADS and co-founder of the Dictionary of American Regional English. The recipient will be chosen by ADS President, Joe Salmons (jsalmons@wisc.edu). Applications in the form of a letter to President Salmons are due by Friday, October 30, 2026. Applications sent after this date will not be considered.

Presidential Honorary Membership Awards: American Dialect Society members are invited to nominate outstanding students for a Presidential Honorary Membership. Each year the American Dialect Society president awards three of these memberships. The award includes four years of complimentary membership and recognition at the ADS 2027 annual breakfast where recipients can attend free of charge as honored guests of ADS. Any student, graduate or undergraduate, is eligible. Any American Dialect Society member may nominate a candidate by sending an explanatory letter of recommendation to ADS President, Joe Salmons (jsalmons@wisc.edu). Relevant attachments may be included with the recommendation. Nominations received after Friday, October 30, 2026 will not be accepted.

DETAILS ABOUT THE 2027 ADS ANNUAL MEETING

Presenters must be current members of the American Dialect Society. You can join here: https://www.americandialect.org/membership.

Audio-visual equipment: A projector with sound will be available for all presentations, along with a microphone. If you will need other equipment, please indicate that on the abstract.

Schedule: The meeting will begin on Wednesday afternoon, January 6, with the Executive Council and annual business meeting, followed by program sessions. The Word of the Year (WOTY) nominations will be held Wednesday evening with the WOTY vote in the early evening of Thursday, January 7. The Annual ADS breakfast will be held on Friday, January 8, including the Presidential Address and awards ceremony. The meeting will end early afternoon on Saturday, January 9.

WOTY: As we have done for a quarter of a century, we will choose candidates for Word of the Year on Wednesday and vote for our WOTY the next day. Nominations for WOTY can be submitted all year long to woty@americandialect.org.

Session chairs: If you’re interested in chairing a session, contact Anne Curzan, acurzan@umich.edu.

Best poster Award: ADS will give an award for the best poster presentation by a student. The selection criteria will include research excellence, exemplification of the Society’s mission, depth and thoroughness of analysis, innovation, style, anticipated impact, and social relevance. The recipient of the award will be decided by a committee consisting of the Vice President and two other members of the Executive Committee. The recipient will receive $100 and a year’s free membership in the ADS.

The Roger Shuy Best Paper of the Year in American Speech Award: This award honors the author(s) of one outstanding paper that has appeared in the American Dialect Society’s journal, American Speech, in the previous year. The selection criteria for the award are the following: research excellence, exemplification of the mission of the journal, depth and thoroughness of the analysis, innovation, style, anticipated impact, and social relevance. The recipient of the award will be decided by a committee consisting of the Society’s president, its past president, the editor of American Speech, and the managing and associate editors of the journal’s pedagogical section. The award was originally funded by and continues to honor Professor Roger Shuy. The recipient will receive a $100 award, presented at the ADS annual breakfast, which the recipient can attend free of charge as an honored guest of ADS.

Meeting and hotel registration: ADS members are eligible to reserve rooms and register for the meeting at LSA member rates. Again, if you are not a member you can access membership information at https://www.americandialect.org/membership. ADS members will need to register for both ADS and LSA through the LSA website. Registration for the ADS breakfast can be done at the same time through the LSA website.