¡Vivimos Aquí – We Live Here! Exploring the Past & Reimagining the Future of Our Changing Communities.

This year marks the University of Missouri Cambio Center’s 23rd Cambio de Colores-Change of Colors Conference. Focused on change and integration, we will meet June 4-6, 2025 in St. Louis, Missouri to share research and promising practices around Latine/Latinx, Hispanic and newcomer communities.

We are interdisciplinary! We invite service providers, grassroots organizers, educators, artists, researchers, students, and extension specialists to join us. We welcome proposals for posters, presentations, organized panels, and workshops. The deadline for submitting a proposal is January 12, 2025, 11:59 pm. Click here for PDF version of the Call for Proposals.

Please continue reading for more information about: 

• Important dates
• This year’s theme – ¡Vivimos Aquí!
• Submission Information
  • Proposal content
  • Proposal expectations 
  • Description for each conference track 

IMPORTANT DATES 

• November 5, 2024 – Call for Proposals 
• January 12, 2025 – Submission deadline
• March 5, 2025 – Notification of acceptance 
• April 8, 2025 – At least one author must be registered 
• June 4-6, 2025 – Conference in St. Louis, Missouri!

All presenters will be responsible for their own travel expenses and conference registration fees. There is a limited number of scholarships available for students and community members; please visit our conference website to apply.

¡Vivimos Aquí! – We Live Here! 

Exploring the Past & Reimagining the Future of Our Changing Communities

This year, the theme for Cambio de Colores 2025 takes inspiration from the multi-media effort called “We Live Here” created by St. Louis Public Radio in 2015. At that time, the region was reeling from the racial unrest that unfolded after the killing of two Black men by police in Ferguson and St. Louis City. In similar ways, today, the region and the nation continue to reel from anti-immigrant racism repeated not only by people in the streets, but also by people in power. 

And yet, ¡vivimos aquí! We still live and thrive here: immigrants, the children of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. This includes a vibrant community of people from the Caribbean to Central and South America, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominican Republicans, Colombians, Hondurans, Venezuelans, Peruvians, Brazilians, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, Chileans, Haitians, Uruguayans, Paraguyans, Costa Ricans, Salvadorans, Cubans, Argentinians, Bolivians, Ecuadorans, Cubans, Belizians, and Panamanians. St. Louis also includes the largest population of Bosnians outside of Europe; other refugees and displaced peoples, from those escaping today’s conflicts in Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza, to migrants from previous wars, including refugees from Vietnam and previously incarcerated Japanese families; and St. Louis’ most recent and growing settlement of voluntary migrants from India. 

This year, we focus on telling the stories of exactly how we live here, alongside long-time residents. We will connect theory to practice as we consider community change and integration. We welcome proposals that explore the realities of migration, both the challenges and the joys: the legal battles faced; the health conditions that result; the communities that are developed; the economic challenges overcome; the education that is offered; and the resistance, successes, and beauty of youth and families growing together. Through these stories, our research and our practice, we aim to develop more positive discourse and ideas about how to support and let us be supported by our changing communities.

We will describe just who we are and, indeed, how we live here.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

This conference focuses on the dialogue among research, promising practices, and advocacy. To enable fruitful dialogues, researchers are expected to connect with others by fostering discussions on the meaning and applications of their research. Meanwhile, social service providers, artists, policymakers, and advocates are asked to highlight the research needs and/or outcomes of their work. All presentations are expected to address change and integration in some way and should consider this year’s theme for inspiration. Click here to submit.

PROPOSAL CONTENT

• Contact Information: name, position title, organization, address, phone, and email for each presenter
• Biography: 100-word biography for each presenter
• Proposal Information:
  • Conference Track (see below for description of 4 options)
  • Scope of submission (local, regional, national, and/or global) 
  • Submission type (poster, presentation, panel, or workshop)
  • Intent to submit short paper for Conference Proceedings 
• Title: 15-word limit 
• Abstract: 100-150 word abstract  
• Proposal: 500-word description of your proposal 

REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH SUBMISSION TYPE

Presenters will choose one of the following submission types:

• Poster – on display throughout the conference
• Presentation – on research or promising practice (15 minutes)  
• Organized panel – combination of 3 or 4 research presentations (75 minutes) 
• Workshop – on promising practice (75 minutes) 

Each research proposal must include:

1. Objectives 
2. Research context 
3. Research methods (including research questions and data sources)
4. Results
5. Implications for practice

Each proposal on promising practices must include:

1. Objectives
2. Context/organization of your practice 
3. Main audience of your practice
4. Description of practices (for presentation) or interactive activities (for workshop) 
5. Implications

Posters will be set up on the first day of the conference. Easels or boards will be provided. Presenters should bring their own tape, pins, paper, or other materials. Poster size should not exceed 4’x4’.  Students who want to participate in a poster competition should indicate this on the submission form.   

DESCRIPTIONS FOR EACH CONFERENCE TRACK

Civil Rights and Political Participation: Policies and political decisions shape individuals’ civil rights and political participation in changing communities. This track welcomes proposals on topics that touch upon both the impact and the agency of civil rights, for example: (1) the diversity of political engagement across Latine, Hispanic, and newcomer populations, including their work within the growing movements for racial and economic justice in the U.S.; (2) how discrimination or threats to one’s identity impacts engagement and/or representation in our democracy and public institutions; (3) recent legal changes or training programs that shape the political agency or civil rights of immigrants. The goal of this track is to raise awareness and share initiatives about legal rights, civil rights, and political engagement that affect individuals’ livelihoods and integration. 

Education and Youth Development: Latine, Hispanic, and newcomer youth are resilient, activating their own cultural resources and assets as they grow and learn. This track welcomes proposals on: (1) programs and policies for Latine/Hispanic and newcomer youth, including newcomer programs, language and bilingual programs, and specialized community and extension projects; (2) factors that shape youth experiences as they grow and learn, including cultural values, family expectations, transnational movement, and opportunities offered by local institutions; (3) challenges and contributions of various stakeholders involved in youth education and development. The goal of this track is to bring together 4-H, extension specialists, researchers, and educators to work collaboratively on enhancing educational equity, opportunities, and youth development.

Community and Economic Development: Latines, Hispanics, and newcomers make important impacts across communities and economies through their entrepreneurialism, business development, and risk-taking mindsets. Their work builds bridges, promotes dialogue, and creates opportunities that benefit changing communities. This track welcomes proposals that explore: (1) Latines’, Hispanics’ or newcomers’ cultural and social capital assets that promote community or economic development; (2) the conditions and values that hinder and/or promote their involvement and success in community and economic development activities; and (3) current economic trends across regions and/or Latine/newcomer populations. The goal of this track is to inform public policy, enhance service delivery, and support strong economic and community development.  

Health: Being healthy is complex and challenging, and requires resilience and adaptation in newcomer communities. Health is shaped by differences in transnational movement, economic circumstances, education, behavioral choices, living conditions, and the physical environment. This track encourages submissions that explore the following topics: community-based health care programs; cultural gaps in access to healthy lifestyles and outcomes; consequences of acculturation on health behavior; influence of race, ethnicity, and cultural competence on doctor-patient relationships; traditional and indigenous health practices; health literacy; domestic and sexual violence; mental health; and policies that support or inhibit healthy behaviors. The goal of this track is to translate research into practice, in order to develop more healthy Latine, Hispanic, and newcomer communities.