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2026 Conference Info

Welcome to the 2026 ISSRNC Annual Conference

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PROVISIONAL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

The ISSRNC conference will officially begin on Saturday, October 10, 2026. The conference will primarily take place at Ca Foscari University and Casa Artom (Wake Forest University) on San Polo Island, Venice.

Please note that all concurrent panel and papers sessions will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday (October 13-14). As such, all presenters should plan to attend through the end of the conference.

The full conference schedule, including the presenter schedule, will be made available in August, after registration closes.

We encourage all conference participants to review the provisional schedule closely, and to plan to arrive in Venice before the conference begins on Saturday afternoon. Wednesday is a full conference day, and we encourage all participants to stay and join us for the Conference Closing Events scheduled for that evening.

ISSRNC MEMBERSHIP

All conference participants must be members in good standing of the ISSRNC at the time of the conference.

Membership pricing is based on income level and includes free online digital access to the Society’s affiliated academic journal, the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture.

You will be prompted to update your membership before you will be able to register for the conference.

REGISTRATION

Conference registration will open on May 1, 2026. All ISSRNC conference presenters are required to register by August 1, 2026. Cost of registration includes access to ISSRNC panel, plenary, and keynote sessions, and any planned special events.

 

Standard Registration (May 1 – Aug 1)
Late Registration (Aug 2 – Aug 31)

** The deadline to register for all conference presenters is August 31. Presenter registration will close automatically at 11:59 pm (PDT).

Student $200
Contingent Faculty $300
Tenure Line Faculty $375
General Admission – Non-Presenters $125

 

TRAVEL

Know Before You Go

Venice is known as ‘The Floating City’. Movement in and around the city is limited to pedestrian traffic and boat transit (no cars, bikes, or motorized vehicles). As a pedestrian, please note that there are numerous ramps, bridges, and stairs in the city that you will need to be able to navigate. Likewise, there are multiple venue spaces for the conference which will require you to move about the city during the day. If you have accessibility considerations, Venice does have accessible public and private boat transit and has added accessibility ramps throughout much of the city. We encourage everyone to do their research before booking their travel – there are a lot of excellent resources available online for helping tourists understand how to navigate the city.

The primary conference venues are located on San Polo Island. We encourage you to keep this in mind as you book your travel arrangements.

Additional Travel Details

ACCOMMODATIONS

The primary conference venues are Ca Foscari University and Casa Artom (Wake Forest University), which are located on San Polo Island, Venice. As you are considering where to book your accommodations, we recommend that you plan to stay on San Polo Island somewhere between these two venues. The area just north of Ca’ Foscari University also has good accommodation options, but will be further from Casa Artom. There are also good options available on San Marco Island, and there is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Grand Canal to San Polo, the Ponte dell’Accademia.

Hotels: The price for hotel accommodations in Venice is very high averaging around $200-$250/night minimum. We recommend you book your accommodations as soon as possible to ensure you get the best deal. To guarantee accurate pricing and avoid getting scammed, please make sure that you book directly through the official hotel website and not through a third-party vendor. Here are a few options that are centrally located in San Polo near the primary conference venues:

Air B&B + VRBO: There are a lot of good options for Air B+B’s and VRBOs on San Polo Island that are more affordable than the hotels. Especially if you know other people who plan to attend the conference, we encourage you to consider booking a shared Air B+B or VRBO space.

Hostels: Venice has a number of great private and shared hostel options if you are looking for something more cost effective. Again, make sure you book directly through the hostel website and make your reservations early.

GRADUATE STUDENT PAPER AWARD

At each conference, the ISSRNC selects one graduate student paper to receive a merit-based award for best graduate student paper. All submissions will be anonymously reviewed by the Awards Committee and the winner will be announced at the Awards Ceremony during the Conference Banquet.

→ Submit Your Application Here

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026

WELCOME RECEPTION – BANQUET & AWARDS CEREMONY

ISSRNC will host a welcome reception on the opening night of our conference, Saturday, October 10th. We will also host our conference banquet and awards ceremony on Monday, October 12th. All registered conference participants may attend these events at no additional cost, but advance registration is required by Sept. 1.

CONFERENCE FIELD TRIP

ISSRNC has arranged three exciting field trip options for participants to choose from. Field trips are an optional conference add-on and are an excellent way for conference participants to explore the area alongside friends and colleagues.

The three field trips are detailed below. We encourage participants to explore these options online before making their reservations.

All field trips will take place on Monday, 12 October 2026.
ISSRNC Refund Policy:
In the event that you are no longer able to attend the conference and need to cancel your participation, please be aware of the following deadlines for refunds that will be observed.
 
Registration Refund: The deadline for registered participants to receive a refund for conference registration is September 1, 2026. [**All registration refunds will have a 10% administrative fee deducted to cover transaction costs.] After this deadline, no refunds will be issued for registration.