CALL FOR PAPERS
ASKHISTORIANS 2020 DIGITAL CONFERENCE
“BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL: HISTORIES OF RUPTURE, CHAOS, REVOLUTION, AND CHANGE”

2020 has been a year marked by rapid and continuous change. From the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which
has cast academic, professional, and personal plans into disarray, to the global and national responses to state oppression, police brutality, and political action, this year has already witnessed the making of a great deal of history. In response to the disruptive nature of these events, the AskHistorians public history forum is hosting our first-ever conference as an online event open to all. The theme, “Business as Unusual”, reflects how human history is lled with examples of people struggling to make do under difficult and quickly changing circumstances. It also describes the conference itself: digital in origin, unrestricted, and open to anyone around the world with a passion for history.

Yet, the AskHistorians Digital Conference is also business as usual. Panels of 3–4 papers will be arranged by theme and presenters will be given the opportunity to discuss their research with an interested audience afterwards. Further information about the conference format, its platform, and the advantages of a digital conference has been attached.

We encourage papers from any academic discipline that engages with the past as the past (e.g., history, art history, literature, religious studies, etc.) and contributions related to any geographic area or period of human history are welcomed.

TOPICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

• Digital history as a response to disruption
• Disruptions in the source record and how this affects research
• Disruptions versus ruptures
• Experiences of catastrophe or revolution
• Historical artistic and literary depictions of catastrophe, real or imagined
• Responses to disruptions and disasters (personal or societal)
• Ruptures and revolutions in historical memory
• The ordinary versus the extraordinary, including perspectives on ways to investigate that difference in the twenty-first century

“Business as Unusual” will be held on 15—17 September 2020 and will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Please send proposals for papers ten minutes in length to askhistorians@gmail.com by 11:59 PM EDT on 10 July 2020. Proposals should include an abstract of no more than 200 words describing your paper and a short biography of no more than 100 words. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decisions no later than 10 August 2020. This is a free conference. No fees will be collected to present or to attend.