When: Thursday, March 12, 2026, 8:00am – 2:30pm Pacific Time
Virtual, register for zoom link
Cost: Free
Call for Papers, Panelists, and Participants
Qualitative methods in geography are grounded in values that shape how knowledge is produced, with whom, and to what ends. In a world of shifting political landscapes, systemic inequality, and heightened uncertainty, these values are especially consequential for the communities we engage and the relationships we build through our work. Qualitative research unfolds in complex relational contexts, demanding ongoing commitments to care, accountability, reflexivity, and solidarity. Across diverse methodological practices, qualitative geography brings the messiness of human experience to the forefront while highlighting the ethical, emotional, and political labor of research conducted under conditions of precarity, risk, and instability.
This mini-conference brings together qualitative geographers to explore how to design, conduct, and teach methods that are both rigorous and responsive to the political, ethical, and social challenges of our times. Through two paper sessions, a panel, and a hands-on workshop, participants will exchange tools, strategies, and reflections across career stages, research topics, and regional contexts to strengthen qualitative approaches grounded in care, collaboration, and resistance:
8:00 AM PT – Paper Session I: Qualitative Inquiry in Shifting Political Landscapes
9:30 AM PT – Paper Session II: Pedagogy, Practice, and Politics: Teaching Qualitative Methods in Hard Times
11:00 AM PT – Panel Session: Responsive Methods for Resilient Futures: World Building and Qualitative Geography
1:00 PM PT – Hands-on Workshop: Aligning Values and Methods in Qualitative Geographic Research
We invite participants from all career stages, including students and early-career researchers, as well as those engaged in teaching, methodological innovation, or applied qualitative work. Scholars located in the Global South and who are unable to attend the AAG 2026 Annual Meeting in San Francisco are highly encouraged to submit an abstract. We welcome contributions that address methodological challenges, ethical and relational considerations, pedagogy, collaborative research, and strategies for sustaining rigorous and values-driven inquiry in challenging contexts.
Submission Guidelines:
Paper Sessions: Submit a 250-word abstract, indicating which session your submission best fits. Plan for your paper presentation to be 15-minutes long.
Panel Session: Submit a 250-word description of how your work fits within the themes of the panel. Panelists will have 5 minutes each to introduce themselves and their work followed by discussion and Q&A.
Workshop participants: After registering via the google form, send a 1-page description of your current research project (e.g. thesis or dissertation), highlighting the method(s) you would like feedback on and any questions you have or challenges you are facing to Gabriella Subia Smith (gsubiasmith@berkeley.edu) by March 1, 2026.
Submissions from diverse methodological, topical, and regional perspectives are encouraged.
Deadline: Monday, February 23, 2026
Register and submit your abstract here:
Join us for a day of presentations, discussions, and workshops to reflect on and advance qualitative geography that is responsive, ethical, and transformative in times of uncertainty. Please contact Gabriella Subia Smith (gsubiasmith@berkeley.edu) and Peter Kumer (peter.kumer@um.si) with any questions.
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