38th Annual Conference

Drawing on capabilities theory, intercultural competence frameworks, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the conference will explore:

• How international exchange programs expand students’ capabilities for agency, affiliation, critical thinking, and practical reason.
• How intercultural encounters can be designed to promote genuine dialogue rather than superficial cultural tourism.
• How institutions in Latin America and the United States can partner to build reciprocal — rather than extractive — exchange relationships.
• How human welfare rights and global ethics can be integrated into the design and assessment of intercultural programs.

Guanajuato, Mexico is an ideal host city for AAPLAC 2027. A city designated as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, nestled among hills and mountains, with striking blue skies, labyrinthine streets, beautiful colonial architecture, and a vibrant cultural life. The city where Mexico’s independence movement began, and where the celebrated painter Diego Rivera was born, and where the Festival Internacional Cervantino is held every year, drawing artists from around the world to promote aesthetic enjoyment and creative encounter. Carlos Fuentes described Guanajuato as “the city made for slow conversation and strolling, magical in its stone labyrinths and in its shifting colors defined by the passage of day and night.”

The Universidad de Guanajuato (UGTO)

Founded in 1732, UGTO’s flagship campus is located in the city of Guanajuato, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Social Sciences and Humanities Division and the Department of Education is home to the International Research Network on Human Development (RIIDH), which since 2014 has organized annual international colloquiums on human welfare rights, global ethics, and education for sustainability —with the participation of more than 30 partner institutions across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

As the host institution of AAPLAC 2027, the University of Guanajuato is deeply committed to fostering international education and intercultural exchange in Latin America.

Save the date and be part of the change.

Future Conferences

The Executive Board of AAPLAC seeks site proposals to host the Annual Conference in future years. Please contact AAPLAC President Abel Rubén Hernández Ulloa with any questions.