2027 AAHHE Conference

Transforming Higher Education Through Community Care and Action

Conference Theme

The American Association for Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) invites you to submit for the 2027 Annual Meeting to be held at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), March 12 – 14, 2027. The 2027 Conference Annual Theme, Transforming Higher Education Through Community Care and Action, calls for participants to convene at a coalitional moment in higher education, a time when institutions, communities, and policymakers are called to respond collectively to opportunities and challenges facing our field. As Chavez (2013, p.9) explains, "a coalitional moment occurs when political issues coincide or merge in the public sphere in ways that create space to reenvision and potentially reconstruct rhetorical imaginaries.” Grounded in this understanding, the conference invites researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers, students, and community leaders to examine how scholarship, practice, policy, and advocacy can collectively reimagine and transform higher education while advancing AAHHE's mission to prepare, support, and advance Latinx/a/o/é students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members.

Across disciplines, scholars and practitioners have discussed how collective action sustains caring communities (Dutt & Kohfeldt, 2018; Suarez-Balcazar, 2025). Community care recognizes that transformative change is relational and requires practices grounded in reciprocity, trust, cultural affirmation, collective responsibility, mutual aid and shared resources, and attention to the well-being of those engaged in the work. At this year’s AAHHE Conference, we invite participants to consider how institutions can create conditions in which Latinx/a/o/é students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members experience all aspects of community care. By centering community care alongside scholarship, practice, policy, and advocacy, the conference calls upon researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers, students, and community leaders to embrace this coalitional moment by building partnerships that not only respond to the challenges facing higher education, but to do so while also cultivating belonging, healing, solidarity, and collective possibility. Through community care and collective action, participants are invited to strengthen institutions, communities, and movements for educational equity while collectively reimagining and transforming higher education through coalition building.

Conference Context: Honoring Place and Community

Our host for the 2027 conference, Sacramento State, embodies the conference theme by demonstrating how institutions can navigate coalitional moments through collective action, community care, and an intentional commitment to student success. As a Carnegie Community Engagement Campus, the second most diverse campus in the Western United States, and a top performer on social mobility in the region, Sacramento State has intentionally cultivated an environment where belonging, access, and opportunity are foundational to institutional transformation. To read more about Sacramento State’s multiple Minority-serving Institution (MSI) identities and how it informs the mission and imperatives click here.

Located in California's capital city, Sacramento State is uniquely positioned at the intersection of higher education, public policy, advocacy, and civic engagement. As a leading center for legislative, policy, research, and community partnerships, the University provides an ideal setting for the AAHHE Annual Conference to convene scholars, practitioners, policymakers, students, and community leaders to engage in discussion and dissemination of innovative and critical thinking across disciplines as we collectively imagine new possibilities for transforming higher education through scholarship, practice, policy, advocacy, and community care. 

Call For Proposals

We welcome proposals from a variety of disciplines, including but not limited to Education, Social Sciences, Humanities, Business, Health and Human Services, STEM and the Arts. The conference will focus on community-centered research, exploring models of intersegmental partnerships among community colleges, universities, K-12 systems, and community organizations. It aims to advance policy, practice, and advocacy to intentionally serve diverse Latinx/a/o/é communities, promoting equity and inclusive excellence. A mix of invited panels and platicás will accompany this open call for individual submissions and symposia proposals. The conference agenda and format will provide space for the presentation, discussion, reflection, and to promote active participant engagement.

We invite scholarship, practice briefs, policy analysis, community-engaged work, and innovative programs that demonstrate how collective action and community care can create more equitable, inclusive, and responsive educational environments. The goal of the conference is to highlight emergent findings, frameworks, paradigms, and methodologies to inform the future of higher education while also creating space for collective reflection, dialogue, and action. Participants will engage with research, policy, and practices that advance educational equity, strengthens institutional and community partnerships, and supports belonging for Latinx/a/o/é researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers, students, and community leaders.

For more information about the 2027 AAHHE Call for Proposals, visit here.

2027 Conference Theme Strands

When you submit your proposal to the conference, you’ll find it categorized under one of the following strands. We understand that your proposal might fit into multiple strands (and the strands’ work is inherently interconnected), but we kindly request that you select one. Lastly, we’ve designed the strands to be inclusive of all academic disciplines, as we firmly believe that interdisciplinarity will only enrich the contributions we make in higher education.

Bridging intersegmental partnerships between community colleges, universities, and K-12 systems

This strand invites sessions that bring together members from diverse educational sectors, including community colleges, universities, and K-12 schools. These sessions will facilitate partnerships that share a common vision and responsibility, as well as likely shared resources, to eliminate barriers, address community needs, and foster conditions for community members to flourish. 

Transforming cross-sector collaborations among educational institutions, community organizations, policymakers, and advocates

This strand focuses on how families, communities, educators/ faculty, and community organizations work together to improve experiences for community members. 

Building Coalitions Across Institutional Designations and Shared Struggles

This strand invites submissions that critically examine the designations, metrics, and rankings employed to position communities in opposition to one another. In the current climate characterized by heightened anti-DEI rhetoric, institutions must actively engage in efforts to foster unity across racial and ethnic divides and uplift one another.

Intersectional Approaches to Enrich and Transform Understandings of Community and Action

This strand invites sessions that employ intersectional approaches to investigate, examine, showcase, and transform understandings of communities and action. Sessions within this strand will enhance definitions of community and action in ways that align with visions for sustaining liberatory futures.

References

Chavez, K. (2013). Queer Migration Politics. University of Illinois Press.

Dutt, A., & Kohfeldt, D. (2018). Towards a Liberatory Ethics of Care Framework for Organizing Social Change. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 6(2), Article e5087. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v6i2.909

Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2025) Promoting caring communities through collective action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 76(3-4), 259-267.

Updated 8/13/2026