Great Salt Lake Argumentation Conference Center for Civic Discourse and Debate

The Alta Conference is Now "GSLAC"

Since 1979, the Summer Conference on Argumentation has been held biennially in the mountains of the Salt Lake City region. Originally co-sponsored by the National Communication Association and the American Forensic Association, what was long referred to simply as the "Alta conference" has brought together a group of international scholars interested in all aspects of argument. Now almost marking 50 years since it first started, the conference is the oldest continuous academic conference in argumentation study.

And now the "Alta conference" is the "Greater Salt Lake Argumentation Conference" (or GLSLAC), sponsored by the University of Utah's Center for Civic Discourse and Debate in partnership with the American Forensic Association. Moving to Park City's Deer Valley Resort beginning in 2027, GSLAC will continue the tradition of the biennial conference based in Utah. The conference aims to bring together scholars to advance the study of argumentation through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic methods. Continuing the legacy of the conference, GSLAC serves the scholars, teachers, and practitioners of argumentation by facilitating publication of the Conference’s selected works and by enabling student participation in a formative conference.