Important announcement about the 2026 BAFTSS Annual Conference | 25 April 2025
BAFTSS is withdrawing its 2026 annual conference from Bournemouth University due to the planned mass layoffs there. The conference will go ahead in Bournemouth, but not at the university.
The Executive Committee believes the Association’s mission to sustain members and their work can now no longer be squared with the institutional host model for our annual conference. This model was based in mutual benefits: reciprocal legitimation, access to suitable conference venues at reasonable cost for BAFTSS and income generation for institutional hosts. At the present moment of deep cuts affecting the Association’s membership, BAFTSS cannot offer institutions engaged in divestment from our fields any financial or reputational gains for hosting our annual conference.
Members of the Bournemouth conference team will continue to organize the event on a voluntary basis in their capacity as members of the Association.
We are excited by what this change of model will enable us to do. We will proceed on the usual timeframe with abstracts due in the autumn, acceptances communicated in the winter and the conference taking place in the spring break. We will make every effort to keep the concessionary rate as low as possible and to ensure the top rate does not substantially exceed the 2025 full registration fee.
Please look out for updates regarding specific venue and further details in the coming months.
The Executive Committee believes the Association’s mission to sustain members and their work can now no longer be squared with the institutional host model for our annual conference. This model was based in mutual benefits: reciprocal legitimation, access to suitable conference venues at reasonable cost for BAFTSS and income generation for institutional hosts. At the present moment of deep cuts affecting the Association’s membership, BAFTSS cannot offer institutions engaged in divestment from our fields any financial or reputational gains for hosting our annual conference.
Members of the Bournemouth conference team will continue to organize the event on a voluntary basis in their capacity as members of the Association.
We are excited by what this change of model will enable us to do. We will proceed on the usual timeframe with abstracts due in the autumn, acceptances communicated in the winter and the conference taking place in the spring break. We will make every effort to keep the concessionary rate as low as possible and to ensure the top rate does not substantially exceed the 2025 full registration fee.
Please look out for updates regarding specific venue and further details in the coming months.