2025 AAHHE Conference Theme

Reconciling Our Past, Challenging the Present, Shaping Equitable Futures: Advancing the Next 20 Years of Latinx/a/o Communities

This year marks a pivotal point in AAHHE’s history: the 20th anniversary of our annual conference. AAHHE has come a long way since its inaugural gathering in San Antonio, TX where the conference theme ‘Designing the Future/Diseñando el Futuro: Hispanic Higher Education in the 21st Century’ challenged participants to reflect on how they were building a better tomorrow for Latinx/a/o communities. Our current conference theme—developed 20 years later—plays upon concepts of healing, legacies, and community to encourage attendees to build upon those who have come before us, while challenging each other to further carve out equitable and critical futures. In this, we are looking to embrace intergenerational and interdisciplinary wisdom to move our organization and communities forward. We are looking to bring together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from across academic disciplines to participate in this collective imagining. 

Reconciling Our Past. The transformation of higher education and the global landscape more broadly over the last 20 years has showcased the growing Latinx/a/o community. Latinx/a/o student populations are continuously rising, leading to the growth of Hispanic-serving institutions and commitments at other institutions to serve the intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas (albeit still limited in their scope). Academic disciplines have also been evolving to incorporate the cultural knowledges of the intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas across politics, media, and more. 

This part of our theme inspires us to interrogate the changes that have happened to cause these shifts, reflecting on the people and groups that were vital to these movements. Thus, we encourage attendees to create space for collective remembering of the social, cultural, political, and individual legacies that have gotten us to this place. In doing so, we welcome loving critiques of the past, while situating analyses in the social, cultural, and political contexts in which advocacy emerged. In doing so, we recognize that people are coming to the conversation of reflection and reconciliation at different places. We hope to work with conference attendees as we think about the successes that we have had, but also to heal from the intra- and inter-community challenges along the way. 

Challenging the Present. As we look to the future, we would be remiss to not acknowledge the tremendous power that exists among us at this 20th annual conference. This facet of our conference theme requires attendees to consider the talents, struggles, and opportunities that we can collectively tackle at this gathering. Existing in the current moment means not shying away from the issues facing our communities—both external and internal to them, but rather, embracing and challenging them with the hope of transforming higher education landscapes for the future. The present includes:

  • A changing sociopolitical climate that continues to target intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas in/directly through anti-DEI legislation, bills affecting undocumented/DACA-mented individuals, and the attacks on numerous minoritized groups (e.g., queer and trans, disabled, Black people);

  • A questioning of who AAHHE serves; in what ways have we replicated oppression within our own association boundaries (e.g., whiteness, queer and trans-antagonism, patriarchy), and what are we doing about it?;

  • And growing institutional dynamics that simultaneously profess a commitment to minoritized communities, while devaluing practices and policies that put these commitments into action; 

All of these concerns and more need our focus and attention at this conference. 

Shaping Equitable Futures. In looking back on our legacies and existing in the present, we must not forget to dream and imagine a different world for various intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas—one that addresses intersecting systems of oppression and that equitably distributes resources for our communities. This final aspect of our theme pushes attendees to articulate the innovative and equity-focused practices that will move our people forward. Here, we ask that people consider their academic disciplines beyond education and what connections to local groups can look like. These visions must be those that foreground those most minoritized in Latinx/a/o communities—both on and off our campuses. 

To know where we are going, we must look back to where we have been and collectively exist in our present power. 

Conference Strands

When you submit to the conference, you will locate your proposal under one of the following strands. We recognize that your proposal may fit in multiple strands (and the work of the strands is inherently interconnected), but we ask that you select one. In addition, you will also choose one of the presentation types: 

a. Art as Activism/Artivista Approaches,
b. Educational Sessions (Scholarship- or Practice-Focused),
c. Interactive Workshops/Symposia,
d. Poster Presentations, or
e. Roundtables (Works in Progress).

Finally, we have designed the following conference strands in the attempts to be inclusive of all academic disciplines, as we believe interdisciplinarity will only enhance the contributions that we make in higher education. 

  1. Wrestling with Past, Present, and Future Sociopolitical & Historical Contexts
  2. Re-Imagining Love, Care, and Energies to Heal and Move Forward
  3. Foregrounding the Epistemic Contributions of the Intersections of Latina/o/x Diasporas
  4. Constructing Coalitions and Communities 

Conference Strands Description

1. Wrestling with Past, Present, and Future Sociopolitical & Historical Contexts

This strand addresses the sociopolitical realities that are facing various intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas in higher education. Proposals in this strand should foreground an examination of or responses to bills, legislation, and elections that have affected the thriving of Latinx/a/o communities. We also foresee this strand being a place where those who engage in historical and archival research can bring to light the narratives of Latinx/a/o diasporas. Presentations can also include collective brainstorming about what it means to be an agent in the fight among/within such sociopolitical shifts. 

2. Re-Imagining Love, Care, and Energies to Heal and Move Forward

This strand centers on the spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being of intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas. Proposals in this strand should foreground initiatives designed to sustain and nurture Latinx/a/o communities. We also foresee this strand as welcoming proposals that provide opportunities for individuals at the conference to engage in these practices. 

3. Foregrounding the Epistemic Contributions of the Intersections of Latina/o/x Diasporas

This strand acknowledges and uplifts the knowledge and experiences of those most minoritized in Latinx/a/o communities (e.g., Afro-Latinx/a/o, people with different legal statuses, indigenous, queer and trans communities, various intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas, etc.). Although we expect presentations in each strand to center these groups, proposals in this strand should include considerations of how to explicitly foreground these individuals in higher education. 

4. Constructing Coalitions and Communities 

This strand discusses the notion of creating coalitions and communities in and out of higher education. Proposals in this strand encourage attendees to reflect on how to bridge the gap between groups and individuals on- and off-campuses (e.g., with student, staff, and faculty organizations; community groups; other institutions; virtual spaces) with the intention to better serve intersections of Latinx/a/o diasporas. Additionally, this strand encourages proposals that address how Latinx/a/o communities can better serve others as a collective enacting commitments of solidarity and interdependence.