Featured Speakers

Our conference planning team is working hard to make sure our 51st Annual CRLA Conference is the best yet! In Albuquerque, you will network with colleagues, explore a beautiful city in mid-70 degree temperatures, participate in informative and educational conference sessions, and join excursions to exciting places like the Sandia Peak and Nob Hill. You will also have the privilege of engaging in keynote and endnote presentations by two outstanding and influential New Mexicans: Jimmy Santiago Baca and Dr. Alicia Chávez.

Jimmy Santiago Baca is an award-winning poet/writer of Apache and Chicano descent. While serving five years in prison during his 20s, Baca taught himself to read and write and began composing poetry. He is the author of countless poems and numerous books, including A Place to Stand. During his keynote address during our opening breakfast, Baca will inspire attendees to create a place in their hearts and minds to affirm their importance in their students’ journeys. Additionally, he will offer a pre-conference writing workshop for registered participants and a book signing for all attendees. For more information about Jimmy Santiago Baca, please visit his website.

Dr. Alicia F. Chávez is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of New Mexico. Her scholarly interests include identity and leadership in higher education, as well as culture and college teaching and learning. During her endnote address during our closing brunch, Dr. Chávez will facilitate an interactive session that will introduce participants to a model of cultural strengths in learning, teaching, and facilitating. Activities will be facilitated in the session to assist participants to apply introspection to understand how their own cultural values, beliefs, assumptions, and behaviors manifest in ways they design for, interpret, interact with, and engage learners. Participants will discuss and apply a balance of cultural strengths to facilitate learning. Teaching Across Cultural Strengths, a book co-authored by Dr. Chávez, has been selected as our One Book, One Conference reading.

We are delighted to host these motivational and inspirational speakers at our 51st Annual Conference in October!

Interested in serving as a conference volunteer?

If yes, CRLA would love to have your help on-site in Albuquerque. Please contact Shelley DeBlasis, 2018 CRLA On-Site Chair (deblasis@nmsu.edu) with your intent to serve as a volunteer. Examples of volunteer areas include the following: Dinner on the Town Guides, Ticket Collectors, Media Team Members, and Registration Desk Helpers.

Call to Conference

From Wednesday to Saturday, there will be a schedule packed with pre-conference institutes, roundtables, concurrent sessions featuring speakers in all twelve of CRLA’s SIG strands, meetings of SIGs and regional groups, as well as a variety of social and cultural events that will allow you to explore our host city.

For more information view the Call to Conference.

Save the Date

February 1 Call for Proposals Opens
April 2 Proposals Due
June 1 Proposal Acceptance Notice
June 26 Call to Conference
June 26 Registration Opens
August 16 Presenter Registration Deadline
September 14 Early Registration Deadline
September 21 Exhibitor Application Deadline
October 15 Registration Deadline
October 24-27 Annual Conference

*Unregistered presenters’ names will not appear in the program and the presentation will be cancelled in case there are no other registered co-presenters for that presentation.