Welcome
Thank you for your interest in submitting a proposal for a breakout presentation at the 2026 Our Cultural Landscape, Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Annual Culturally Responsive Education Conference, which will be held in Downtown Juneau, Alaska, at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on August 4th-6th.
Our theme is Learning from Our Ancestors, Shaping Our Future.
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) welcomes proposals for in person presentations that aim to advance the following vision of the conference. The overarching objective of the conference is to serve as an uplifting, welcoming space for participants to explore learning about and contributing to academic and professional discourses essential to the generation of knowledge and the progress of Native arts, culture and languages.
Among a growing constellation of SHI activities concerned with perpetuating and enhancing Southeast Alaska cultures, the institution aims to foster an animated conversation among diverse participants about "integration of Indigenous culture, values and knowledge into public policy, institutions and programs serving Alaska Natives to sustain the cultural vitality of current and future generations.
It is our intent to move beyond the lecture format. We ask our speakers to plan intentional interactions as a part of the presentation. We encourage presenters to consider incorporating a variety of presentation tools, interactive strategies, and methods used to engage and inform audience participation.
Proposal Details & Preferred Considerations
- Share learning about how to
- participate in relevant discourses in the light of the traditional tribal values “Learning from Our Ancestors, Shaping Our Future”
- explicate the principles of culturally responsive education and demonstrate their applicability to the issues facing our communities
- develop an outward-looking culture and actively contribute to collaborative learning processes with institutions, educators, partners and community members “Thriving in arts, education systems, language and innovation”
- Encourage conference participants, to the extent possible, to consider themselves as
- active, rather than passive recipients, during the conference and session
- part of an ongoing learning process that is consistent with the vision of SHI
Additional considerations include:
- Whether the proposed presentation will:
- Engage with relevant discourses and literature in a given field (i.e. content that is not limited to Western sources)
- Correlate Alaska Native concepts/community experience to insights and questions in a given field of study
- Offer solutions in an exploratory manner and identify questions for further inquiry
- Demonstrating overall clarity of thinking
- Diversity of content, such as, but not limited to, presentations that
- Addressing challenges facing present-day society
- Demonstrating original biographical or historical scholarship drawing on archival or other primary sources
- Examining under-represented issues in Alaska Native scholarship(s).
- The diversity of presenters, ensuring, for example, that
- There is diversity among those presenting
- Collaborative projects are included
- First-time presenters, especially faculty and language learners, are included
Important Dates
- March 2nd, Monday
- Call for Presenters OPENS for submissions
- May 1st, Friday
- Call for Presenters CLOSES for submissions
- May 15th, Friday
- Accepted proposals are notified via email by kayelina.publico@sealaskaheritage.com.
Any suggested changes to presentations are communicated. - June/July TBA
- Presenter Orientation (Mandatory, Virtual)
- June 30th, Tuesday
- Deadline for booking flights for out-of-town presenters.
- August 3rd, Monday
- Presenters’ Welcome Reception at the Sealaska Heritage Institute
- August 4th-6th, Tuesday-Thursday
- CRE Conference at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall
Checklist & Summary
In making your proposal, please:
- Read the CRE Conference objectives listed above
- Clearly identify and articulate your presentation’s topic and objective(s)
- Answers to open ended questions should be 2-4 sentences in length
Please contact Kayelina Publico (kayelina.publico@sealaskaheritage.com) for assistance or questions.
Ready to submit? Submit Your Proposal Here