The 40th Australian Historical Association (AHA) Conference, will be hosted by Deakin University Contemporary Histories Research Group on the theme ‘urgent histories’.

History-writing is proving both persistent and insistent in the face of current assaults on the human condition. The pandemic and climate change demand historians respond as both scholars and engaged citizens in the face of worldwide political efforts to realign the past to fit present imperatives. Populism and authoritarianism are undermining the humanities and revealing the urgent need for historical thinking in public and policy debate. Our response to these challenges depends on how they are understood in relation to human experiences past and present, narrated in rich historical context, and made compelling through skilled storytelling.

Urgent Histories, on Wadawurrung country in Geelong, Australia, invites historians to focus on the uses and usefulness of the past in pressing contemporary public debates, disputes and narratives. It welcomes histories and history-making distinctive to the local and particular through to addressing shared human conditions.

The convenors welcome proposals for papers and panels on any geographical area, time period, or field of history, especially those relating to the theme of urgent histories. Confirmed AHA and affiliated streams include environmental history, economic history, oral history, children and youth, and religious history.

We are very excited to be organising an in-person conference for the first time since 2019. Thanks to the wonders of technology some conference sessions will include opportunities for virtual presentations. You can indicate your preference to present online when submitting an abstract. Preference will be given to postgraduates, early career researchers not currently in full-time employment and proposals from outside Australia.

Online registrants should understand that not all conference sessions will be available to view online. In the event of a pandemic-induced disruption, the conference will transition to a fully online event.

Deadline for proposals

The deadline for abstracts and proposals for panels, including roundtables, is 13 March 2022.

Submissions should be made via the portal available on the new conference website – https://eur.cvent.me/woqyE.

If you have any difficulties submitting your abstract, please contact the convenors at aha2022@deakin.edu.au.

The 40th Australian Historical Association (AHA) Conference, will be hosted by Deakin University Contemporary Histories Research Group on the theme ‘urgent histories’.

History-writing is proving both persistent and insistent in the face of current assaults on the human condition. The pandemic and climate change demand historians respond as both scholars and engaged citizens in the face of worldwide political efforts to realign the past to fit present imperatives. Populism and authoritarianism are undermining the humanities and revealing the urgent need for historical thinking in public and policy debate. Our response to these challenges depends on how they are understood in relation to human experiences past and present, narrated in rich historical context, and made compelling through skilled storytelling.

Urgent Histories, on Wadawurrung country in Geelong, Australia, invites historians to focus on the uses and usefulness of the past in pressing contemporary public debates, disputes and narratives. It welcomes histories and history-making distinctive to the local and particular through to addressing shared human conditions.

The convenors welcome proposals for papers and panels on any geographical area, time period, or field of history, especially those relating to the theme of urgent histories. Confirmed AHA and affiliated streams include environmental history, economic history, oral history, children and youth, and religious history.

We are very excited to be organising an in-person conference for the first time since 2019. Thanks to the wonders of technology some conference sessions will include opportunities for virtual presentations. You can indicate your preference to present online when submitting an abstract. Preference will be given to postgraduates, early career researchers not currently in full-time employment and proposals from outside Australia.

Online registrants should understand that not all conference sessions will be available to view online. In the event of a pandemic-induced disruption, the conference will transition to a fully online event.

Deadline for proposals

The deadline for abstracts and proposals for panels, including roundtables, is 13 March 2022.

Submissions should be made via the portal available on the new conference website – https://eur.cvent.me/woqyE.

If you have any difficulties submitting your abstract, please contact the convenors at aha2022@deakin.edu.au.

The Oral History Society, United Kingdom, will hold its annual conference for 2022 on 8-9 July. The theme is ‘Home‘.

Home as both an idea and a physical place has deep meanings for all of us. It connects us to family, generation and communities, both past and present; it is conveyed and expressed through memory, objects, images and the emotions. Home can confer and establish identity and belonging but it can also signify status or position. It can be a place of safety but also of danger, a refuge but also a site of confinement. Our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has put home in the forefront of shared understandings and discussions of home.

To access the Call for Papers (submission deadline 31 January 2022) and further information about the conference go to: www.ohs.org.uk.

The annual meeting of the Oral History Association will be held from 19-22 October 2022 in Los Angeles, United States.

We live in uncertain times. A global pandemic, the escalation of racial violence, attacks on democratic institutions, and a worsening climate crisis put strain on individuals and communities alike, often challenging the ways we understand our present and envision a future.

While the turmoil around us feels out of the ordinary, it is not without precedent. A nation founded on liberty and democracy but simultaneously on settler colonialism and slavery lives in contradiction, the avoidable but very common result of which has been violence, calamity, and instability for generations. Indeed, the present moment rests on these historic imbalances, whether in the ascendancy of authoritarianism and racial nationalism; the movements for Black lives, immigrants’ rights, and climate justice; or the myriad ways chronic inequities have exacerbated the impact of the deadly pandemic. Our present is exceptional, but it also unites us with generations of humanity who have faced their own struggles to endure.

As a worldwide lockdown interrupted the normality of societal life, it served as a palpable reminder of human capabilities and needs. Obliged to shift our family and work lives, we found ways to adapt and maintain. In need of comfort and community, we engaged new modes of communication and connectivity to provide solace and care. Though far too many fell victim to the virus—whether in body or spirit—many more invented ways to nurture and lift up. These collective trials harnessed our creativity and resilience. Naturally, they also compelled us to search for meaning, to reexamine, and, ultimately, to remember.

Call for proposals – deadline 4 March 2022

The Program Committee welcomes an array of interpretations of the conference theme. In the spirit of transformation and adaptation, this year’s session formats are informed by last year’s program committee, who promoted new ways of disseminating the stories we collect and share.

Find out more: www.oralhistory.org/2022-call-for-proposals.

Hosted by the National Archives of Singapore (NAS), the 2022 Virtual International Symposium of the Southeast Asia Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (SARBICA) will take place from 15 to 17 November 2022 including a pre-symposium Workshop on 15 November.

The symposium theme is  ‘Preservation & Sustainability: Two Sides Of The Same Coin?’. Preservation is a cornerstone of memory institutions like the archives, while sustainability and sustainable development are the all-important challenges of our times. Partnering both issues in the theme is appropriate and timely. The theme also suggests that there may be differing opinions and perspectives on this link. The Symposium shall provide a venue to raise awareness, gain new perspectives, promote discussions and engage with questions on the intersection between the work of memory institutions, the environment and sustainability.

Expand your networks, and bond with fellow professionals at the events. For more information regarding the registration fees and other details, please visit https://sarbicasymposium2022.nas.gov.sg/.

The New Zealand Oral History Conference will be held from 18-20 November 2022. The Call for Papers closes 1 August 2022.

From taonga tūturu to inherited family possessions material culture plays a fundamental role in symbolizing our expressions of identity and transmitting memory across generations. The term material culture here is taken to include any objects made or modified by a human, from the smallest item of jewellery to large monuments or buildings, and the ways in which these objects are understood and/or given symbolic or other meanings in oral histories. In this conference we hope to explore two major themes. The first concerns the different roles that objects play in the oral histories of iwi, hapu, whānau, or national, family or individual oral history narratives; and the second focuses upon oral histories and material culture in the context of institutions, such as galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (sometimes referred to as the GLAM sector).