Welcome to the fourth Cultural Evolution Society Conference, CES2022! The conference, will be held from September 21-23 in the city of Aarhus, Denmark.

As last year, Underline will support the online component of the conference. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is causing a great deal of uncertainty for all of us. Therefore, we seek to offer a hybrid format that will hopefully allow some folks to travel to Aarhus, others to meet up locally or regionally in CES hub-lets, and other yet to participate online. The field of cultural evolution is growing in size and scope; its theories, methods and applications - both academic and applied - are getting ever more robust. Do join us in what promises to be an exciting exchange of ideas and a celebration of our field.

About the Cultural Evolution Society

Confirmed keynote speakers:

• Prof. Ruth Mace, Department of Anthropology, University College London
• Prof. Marcelo Cardillo, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas, Buenos Aires
• Prof. Fiona Jordan, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Bristol University
• Prof. Michele Gelfand, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford University

The ESLR (early-career researchers studying social learning and cultural evolution) is hosting a pre-conference workshop on: Cultural Evolution for Good: Applications and impact of cultural evolution research and methods. The workshop will take place on September 20th (the day before the start of the CES conference) at the Interacting Minds Centre at AU. For more information including how to register, do check: https://www.eslrsociety.org/events/cultural-evolution-for-good-applications-and-impact-of-cultural-evolution-research-and-methods/.

Note also that this year's CES conference will take place in direct continuation of the 8^th biennial meeting of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion - for further details do visit https://iacesr.com/conferences/.

The Cultural Evolution Society (CES) announces two new funding schemes for its 4th Conference in Aarhus, Denmark! We thank the John Templeton Foundation for providing funds to support these awards.

<<< DEADLINE EXTENDED to Sept 10 >>>

1. Inclusivity awards:

In an effort to promote a diverse attendance at the CES conference, we are providing a limited number of travel awards of upto 800 USD, and registration fee waivers to assist with the costs of attending the meeting either in-person or online. The funds are aimed towards individuals facing barriers to participating in academic meetings. Eligible individuals include but are not limited to applicants who are:

• from low and middle income countries
• from countries with limited funding for research; 
• individuals with disabilities; 
• individuals from communities who have been marginalised or are underrepresented in the academy;
• individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds;
• carers of children or other dependents;
• underemployed individuals;
• individuals lacking other support for attending the meeting.

Individuals may apply for both a travel award and registration fee waiver. Funding decisions will prioritise criteria that help increase the diversity among CES conference participants.

2. Funding for Local CES Conference Meet-ups

As we embark on our very first hybrid conference, CES encourages delegates who cannot attend the in-person conference to gather locally or regionally in smaller groups during the dates of the conference, in order to have the benefits of in-person discussions and networking while participating virtually in the conference. We are providing funding of up to 2000 USD to organise such local/regional CES conference mini-hubs. The funding can be used by organisers for costs associated with hosting the meet-up such as providing food and beverages for attendees, or renting meeting space and AV equipment. The organisers can also choose to discount registration fee by refunding hub participants a portion of their registration fee. To comply with donor restrictions, the funds cannot be used to support travel costs for hub attendees (transportation and accommodation). 

The format of these meet-ups should be designed by organisers to meet and leverage local needs and opportunities for CES researchers. We especially welcome creative ideas that harness these meet-ups to overcome the limitations of virtual attendance, and provide delegates with a rich and stimulating conference experience. 

If we receive more applications than we can fund, funding decisions will prioritise ideas that are most likely to provide delegates with an enhanced conference experience, and geographic regions that are not well represented at CES conferences.

The application links can be found here on the conference website, the CES website, and on CES twitter. Deadline to apply for the awards is now extended to Sept 10. Applicants will be notified on a rollling basis.

CES is dedicated to providing a welcoming and harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, racialization, age, religion, nationality, or the presence of or care for dependents. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference at the discretion of the conference organizers.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

• Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, racialization, age, religion, nationality
• Sexual images in public spaces
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
• Harassing photography or recording
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events
• Inappropriate physical contact or unwelcome sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

For more information on the Code of Conduct, see here. 

To inquire about the code of conduct or to report a violation of the code of conduct, please contact the organizers via culturalevolution2022@gmail.com.