Tuesday, March 24 – Thursday, March 2026
UTSA Main Campus, HEB SU Ballroom
Get ready for the 2026 COLFA Research Conference and Showcase! This annual event offers students at all levels (graduate and undergraduate) opportunities to showcase their original academic and creative work for a community of scholars, friends, and the community.
Deadline for Applications: Friday, February 27, 2026!
Why Participate?
Share your small bit of genius, gain experience, build your resume, post to social media, boast to family and friends, and take steps to move forward in your career!!
You already wrote the paper, created the artwork, learned the language. And you earned the “A.” You know it’s good. Why not share it with the world!
Who’s eligible?
Any student pursuing a major or graduate degree in a COLFA program (Anthropology, Art, Art History, Humanities, Communication, English, Film and Media, History, Medical Humanities, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy and Classics, Political Science and Geography, Linguistics, Translation and Intepreting Studies, and more)
How to do it?
Just fill out the conference application. We’ll contact you and let you know everything you need to do to prep your project for primetime! There is no limit to your number of submissions.
Which category is best for me?
We’ve got categories for extroverts, introverts; scholars, creatives, and performers; English speakers and Spanish speakers. If you’ve got something to share, we’ve got a way for you to share it. We want to know what you’re thinking. See the categories below to find which best fits your project and personality!
Key Dates
Application opens: December 1, 2025
Deadline for Applications: February 27, 2026
Conference Dates: March 24 - March 26, 2026
Presentation Categories
· Oral Presentations
· Poster Presentations
· 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) – graduate students only
· Digital Projects and Digital Storytelling
· Music Lecture-Performance
· Creative Writing
· Film & Video
· Art (the 42nd Annual Juried Student Exhibition will be held in conjunction with the COLFA Research Conference and Showcase.)
For any questions, please contact colfa.conference@utsa.edu
View our 2025 COLFA Research Conference and Showcase Winners
View our 2025 COLFA Research Conference and Showcase Photo Gallery
GENERAL CONFERENCE GUIDELINES
The purpose of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Spring Research Conference is to showcase the research, scholarly, and creative works of Undergraduate and Graduate students in COLFA. All students are encouraged to submit an application to participate.
- Submissions can be made in English or español.
- No limit to submissions per student as the primary author per category.
- You may submit in more than one category.
- Deadline for applications: February 27, 2026
- Students who apply by the deadline will receive an email with conference details at a later date.
- The conference will take place on Wednesday, March 24, 2026 and Thursday, March 26, 2026 on UTSA’s Main Campus at the HEB Student Union Ballrooms. Times and location information will be sent at a later date.
ABSTRACTS
- When applying for the conference, you will be asked to submit an abstract.
- Abstracts should be 50-100 words, detailing your submission and what attendees can expect from your presentation, performance, or art work.
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If you would like guidance on how to write a strong abstract, visit this resource from the Council of Undergraduate Research: http://curartsandhumanities.org/resources/how-to-write-an-abstract/
COLFA Conference & Showcase Workshops: Poster Design and Presentation
Join COLFA Student Success Center for an information session about the 2026 Research Conference and Showcase! If you are interested in presenting at the COLFA Research Conference, or just curious and want to learn more, this session is for you! You will learn about the benefits of presenting at the conference, how to get started choosing your topic and writing an abstract, and an overview of the 2026 conference.
How to Apply
Created something visually beautiful, interesting, provocative? Do you have a painting, a sculpture, or an installation to share? Any current UTSA student may apply for this exhibition, independent of major, classification, or area of study; you do NOT need to be an Art major to submit!
More info on the 42nd Annual Juried Student Exhibition coming soon!
Are you a poet, a storyteller, or just wildly out-of-the-box creative with language? Submit your work of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenplays, stage scripts, hybrid genres, etc here. You will have the opportunity to present your work at the UTSA Literary Voices reading during the conference gala, if you wish. (Works in English, Spanish, Spanglish or any language presently taught at UTSA are encouraged).
Submissions
- Creative Writers must submit a manuscript of 10-20 pages of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenplays, stage scripts, etc. Hybrid-genre work is also accepted.
- Manuscripts must be double spaced in 12 point font, either Arial or Times New Roman.
- A cover sheet should accompany the creative writing project. It should include the applicant’s phone number and email address. In addition, students should indicate the work's title, their level of study (undergraduate or graduate) along with their program of study. The writer’s name shall not appear anywhere on the work.
- When filling out the conference application, put "N/A" in the #9 Faculty advisor/mentor space, because this is not required for the creative writing competition.
- Submit your manuscript and cover letter through the conference application form, no later than February 15, 2026.
Have you produced a project for a COLFA class involving at least two media including text, still images, moving images, sound, and/or animation? Then this is the cateogry for you. (Students working in new media/digital media may choose to submit a given piece of work in either Art or Digital Media, but the same work cannot be submitted for both categories).
Click here to submit your application
Click here for more information on the Digital Media and Storytelling category
Are you a budding filmmaker with a story to tell? Showcase your talent at the upcoming COLFA Research Conference & Showcase by submitting your student film production! This is your chance to share your work with peers, faculty, and the UTSA community while gaining valuable recognition and feedback.
Are you a musician who loves both to perform and talk about their craft? This is your place! A brief intro of your work followed by a juried performance.
Submissions and Presentations
- Students must provide a spoken introduction to their performance followed by the live performance (or pre-recorded video performance).
- Each presenter will have 15 minutes, including time for question and answer.
- Limit one Music Lecture-Performance submission per student.
Interested in talking about and discussing your work in front of a live audience of professors and students? This category is for a ten-minute talk with PowerPoint followed by 5-minute Q&A.
Got something to share but more interested in one-on-one engagement? Interested in organizing your ideas in a concise, visual format? Then a poster presentation may be right for you. Submit your idea (abstract) then join us for workshops to help you turn it into a poster.
Click here to submit your abstract by February 27, 2026 (We will help you build the poster later)
Click here for more information on the Poster Presentation category
For grad students only, the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) is an invaluable opportunity to showcase your scholarly work or research in a short, live, and lively presentation. It’s a way to mini-TED-Talk your big ideas. Great practice for thesis defenses, job interviews, or cocktail parties. A must for all grad students!
- Open to Graduate Students only.
