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The Historical Society’s 2010 Conference

"Historical Inquiry in the New Century"
June 3-5, 2010, George Washington University, Washington, DC

Since its inception over a decade ago, the Historical Society has been committed to fostering critical engagement and dialogue among historians in and out of the academy. With the theme of “Historical Inquiry in the New Century,” the 2010 THS conference seeks to take stock of where the profession currently stands.

Under this broad rubric, we invite participants to address a wide range of questions and issues, including: What are the current historiographical debates? Where do particular fields currently stand? What's changed for the good—or the worse—in specific areas?  What have been the clearest criticisms of the profession? What are the truly "big questions" historians face, and are we adequately grappling with them? How do THS members want to see history written?  What, in fact, are our aims/goals for the history that we write?  What are the audiences for the history we write? Who's reading us? What impact, if any, do we have on larger, non-scholarly debates and understandings?  To what extent have academic historians snapped out of the rigid   concepts and pedantic writing that has long marked our profession?

In an age that sees itself as moving beyond modernity, the ground has shifted under the various grand narratives of its European origins. The 2010 THS conference hopes to cast a critical eye on traditional and revisionist chapters in that narrative, such as the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, or the Industrial Revolution. At the same time, we hope to promote ongoing efforts to frame the histories of Africa, Asia, and the Islamic world in terms of categories not shaped by European narratives. We expect that historians working with many different kinds of sources and representing all fields and perspectives will be party to these discussions.  We also envision this conference as a conversation about what makes history a discipline. Since historians cannot rely on a single method to fit all situations, we expect to take a close look at different approaches to the past. We are interested as well in the challenges created by the nature of available sources, and by the issues that arise when one borrows theoretical approaches from other disciplines. In addition to historiographical and state-of-the-field papers, of course, we also invite papers on specific participants* specific research areas in such diverse fields as military, religious, business, political, world, and intellectual history.

We hope that this conference will serve as a point of departure for a clear-sighted analysis of the likely future of historical studies in the new century.  We particularly encourage panel proposals, though individual paper proposals are welcome as well.

Please submit proposals (abstract and CV) by January 31, 2010, to
Eric Arnesen, THS 2010 Program Chair, at jslucas@bu.edu.

2009 Regional Events

Joyce Malcolm, "Peter’s War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution"

A Free Public Lecture
Bentley University, April 24, Morrison Hall 300, Bentley University

The Historical Society and the Department of History at Bentley University invite you to join Joyce Malcolm (George Mason U.) for a discussion of her new book Peter’s War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution.

The Historical Society’s 2008 Conference

"Migration, Diaspora, Ethnicity, and Nationalism in History"
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD  June 5-8, 2008

2008 Regional Events

David Hackett Fischer, "Champlain's Dream"

A Free Public Lecture
December 4 at 7pm, Eastern Nazarene College, Shrader Lecture Hall

The North as a Civil Rights Battleground

Debating Thomas Sugrue’s Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North featuring author Thomas Sugrue. December 13

Co-sponsored by the Newberry Seminar in Labor History

Commentators:

Eric Arnesen, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jane Dailey, University of Chicago
Adam Green, University of Chicago
John T. McGreevy, University of Notre Dame
Amanda Seligman, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The 2006 Conference of the Historical Society

"Globalization, Empire, and Imperialism in Historical Perspective"
June 1-4, 2006, Chapel Hill, NC, William and Ida Friday Center
 2004 Conference |2002 Conference|2000 Conference|1999 Conference

New England Region of the Historical Society

A Symposium on Jonathan Sarna’s American Judaism, Executive Dining Room, Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts, 6:30-9:00 pm, Wednesday, April 5th, 2006

The Historical Society is pleased to co-sponsor a symposium featuring Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History Jonathan Sarna. 

Sarna is the author or editor of more than twenty books.  His latest work, American Judaism, has already received high praise in and outside of the academy.  It won the 2004 National Jewish Book Award, Choice Magazine selected it as an Outstanding Academic Title, Publishers Weekly named it a Best Book of 2004 in the Religion category, and the Los Angeles Times included it in its 2004 bestseller list.

Comments on Sarna’s American Judaism will be provided by Nancy Ammerman of Boston University, Jon Butler of Yale University, and David Starr of Hebrew College. 

Please send your RSVP by March 24th to 
Chris Beneke, cbeneke@bentley.edu.
 

New York City Region of the Historical Society

September 29 – October 1st: “Translation, The History of Political Thought, and the History of Concepts (Begriffsgeschichte): An Interdisciplinary Conference” at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. 

New England Region of the Historical Society

October 27: Lecture and Discussion: Pauline Maier, “Take This or Nothing': Rethinking the Divisions over Ratification of the Constitution.” Comment by Drew McCoy. Bentley College (Morison Hall Board Room, Rm, 300), 7pm. Contact CBeneke@bentley.edu for information and directions. 

December 6: Lecture: David Hackett Fischer, “Deep Change: Rhythms of American History.” Eastern Nazarene College (23 East Elm Avenue, Quincy, MA) Student Center Auditorium 7:30pm. Contact donald.a.yerxa@enc.edu for information and directions.t

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Past Events