The 37th Society for Animation Studies Conference will take place in the city of Pittsburgh (USA) from June 15 to 18, 2026 (with optional excursions to follow on June 19-20). It will be hosted by the Pennsylvania Expanded Animation Alliance (PA XAA), a consortium of faculty from local universities (including Carnegie Mellon University, Point Park University, Robert Morris University, and the University of Pittsburgh) in concert with the Children’s Museum Pittsburgh. The event will also be hybrid, with additional details to follow.

For this year’s conference, we especially welcome proposals that engage with the theme of “The Animate Experience.” While this theme presents many productive interpretations, this conference will attempt to raise questions about animation as a philosophical inquiry and as a way of processing extreme experiences that lead to such psychological states as affect and trauma. We particularly encourage submissions that explore the potential and limitations of animation as a means of coping with experiences for animation makers and animation audiences and as a vehicle for social emotional learning.

We invite proposals on any animation-related topic but encourage in particular proposals that engage with the theme of the Animate Experience. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Animation as affective practice: Haptic and/vs digital

Animation as witnessing: Translating experience through animation

Mediated empathy: Creating safe distance or bringing closer to the event

Beyond indexicality: Abstraction and emotion

Vicarious resilience: Animation as a vehicle for (learning) coping

Animation and pedagogy: Animation in the classroom

From screen to community: Animation and its role in the public dialogue

Representation of experience: Hollywood and/vs independent animation

Documentary animation: Documenting the undocumentable

Animation and the Anthropocene: Animating environment

We welcome the following submissions:

Papers, Microtalks and Panels:

Individual conference paper: 300-word abstract, 3-5 bibliographic references, 2-3 keywords, and 100-word author biography

5-minute micro talk: 150-word abstract, 2-3 bibliographic references, 2-3 keywords, and 100-word author biography

Panel: 500-word panel summary, plus 300-word abstract and 3-5 bibliographic references per paper, and 100-word author biography per panel member. Proposed panels should comprise 4 panellists.

Please note that each person may only submit a proposal for ONE of the above categories. Multiple submissions from the same individual will be rejected.

Please submit your paper, micro talk, OR panel proposal: via Oxford Abstracts http://submissions.animate-experience.com/

Animated Works

Screening: We will hold a screening of animated works from SAS practitioners as part of the conference proceedings. Submissions should be no longer than 10 minutes in length. Please include a link from which the proposed animation can be downloaded, supplemented with a project description of 350-500 words, 2-3 keywords, and a 100-word artist biography. Please also confirm that you, as the creator of the work, have the necessary rights to screen the animation at the conference Please submit screening proposals here: screening@animate-experience.c https://forms.gle/cHwSaKGi772Tw92c7

Exhibition: We will host a gallery exhibition of short and or interactive animated works as well as production materials (stills or objects) from SAS practitioners & students as part of the conference proceedings. Animated artworks should be no longer than 2 to 7 minutes in length, interactive animation length should be no longer than 30 minutes. Please include a link from which the proposed animation can be streamed/downloaded, supplemented with a project description of 350-500 words, 2-3 keywords, and a 100-word artist biography. Please also confirm that you, as the creator of the work, have the necessary rights to exhibit the animation at the conference gallery.

Please submit exhibition proposals here: exhibition@animate-experience.com https://forms.gle/cHwSaKGi772Tw92c7

Screening and Exhibition proposals may be made IN ADDITION TO a paper, micro talk, or specialist panel proposal.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59pm (EST) on Monday, January 5, 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the end of February 2026.

If you have any questions, please email the team at information@animated-experience.com

Please note that, as of the time of the Conference, you will have to be a member of the SAS. To learn how to “Join Today” please refer to this page: https://v4.animationstudies.org/register/

About Us:

The Pennsylvania Expanded Animation Alliance (PA XAA) is an educational non-profit corporation dedicated to cultivating a proactive, resilient, and mutually supportive animation ecosystem in our region. We champion workforce development rooted in interdisciplinary collaboration; Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) education; as well as expanded animation practices that go beyond conventional screen-based formats to explore immersive, performative, and pragmatic experiences across diverse aspects of life.

As part of a broader creative movement across Pennsylvania, PA XAA positions the state as a welcoming environment to connect, experiment, and together take the risks that will sustain our creative communities. We offer a civic and community hub for open conversation and artistic expression, amplifying the region's strengths as an affordable, idea-rich landscape—supporting innovation that redefines creativity, fuels entrepreneurial growth, and embraces evolving possibilities of animation in cultural, educational, and economic domains.

We envision the region as a national hub for forward-thinking animation - where artists, technologists, educators, and entrepreneurs come together to explore new forms of storytelling, interactivity, and research-driven creative practice. Inspired by the principles of expanded animation, we foster both dialogue and work that combines traditional techniques with emerging technologies to redefine the medium and its possibilities.