Call For Proposals

The Canadian Historical Association/ Société historique du Canada Annual Meeting. An Online Conference Organized out of the University of Alberta, 31 May – 2 June 2021

In spring 2021, the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences (convened by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences) will be an online conference organized out of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The Canadian Historical Association/ Société historique du Canada (CHA|SHC) will hold its annual meeting as part of this online conference. The CHA|SHC meeting will take place from 31 May to 2 June 2021.

The University of Alberta is located on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples including the Cree, Blackfoot, Metis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, Ojibway| Saulteaux|Anishinaabe, Inuit, and many others whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our vibrant community.

THEMES

Congress 2020 was cancelled because of COVID-19. The theme would have been “Bridging Divides: Confronting Colonialism and Anti-Black Racism.” The CHA|SHC recognizes the significance of considering how academic and other institutions perpetuate systemic racism that disadvantages Indigenous and Black communities. The 2020 theme is of clear and pressing importance locally, nationally and internationally, and will remain one of the themes for the 2021 CHA|SHC meeting.

In January 2020, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences announced the theme for Congress 2021 will be “Northern Relations.” This theme is appropriate to Edmonton’s geographical location and historical interconnections, as well as crucial to ongoing processes of reckoning with settler colonialism and climate change.

Considering the urgency of these two themes, local organizers of the 2021 CHA|SHC annual meeting have adopted the over-arching theme of “mobility and exchange” in the aim of featuring scholarship on Black and Indigenous peoples and communities, on colonialism, and on the north. We also invite submissions that approach “mobility and exchange” from other perspectives. Prospective participants are invited to conceptualize mobility and exchange in broad terms, exploring the varied ways communities, people, beings, ideas, and things move across time and through space. Participants are particularly encouraged to engage with the barriers, inequities, and asymmetries that often characterize processes of mobility and exchange, especially insofar as these have affected Black communities, Indigenous peoples, and others harmed through ongoing colonial processes. 

FORMAT

The over-arching theme of “mobility and exchange” underlines the distinctive format of the 2021 annual meeting, which will involve participants in exploring new ways of exchanging ideas and mobilizing knowledge. Participants in standard sessions, both those initially accepted for 2020 and those newly accepted for 2021, will pre-record their presentations. A standard session at CHA|SHC 2021 will start with the playing of pre-recorded presentations. Following pre-recorded presentations, there will be time for questions and discussion involving presenters and attendees. Sessions will be recorded and made available for later viewing.

Presenters’ recordings should be 12 minutes or less in length and will be due some weeks in advance of the conference. Further instructions on pre-recording presentations, including specific deadlines and best practices, will be available in the months to come. While pre-recorded presentations and live discussions will be the format for most sessions at the 2021 CHA|SHC annual meeting, local organizers may be able to accommodate a limited number of sessions that play out in other ways. Those interested in this prospect are invited to approach local organizers for further discussion. Local organizers are James Muir and Shannon Stunden Bower. They can be contacted at chashc21@ualberta.ca. 

To accommodate time zone differences, the CHA|SHC meeting days will be shorter than usual, with only minimal breaks between sessions. We welcome panel proposals from CHA|SHC Affiliated Committees but we are unable to accommodate the business meetings that typically occur over the lunch break. Affiliated Committees desiring business meetings in spring 2021 are encouraged to arrange these outside the conference.  

Our spring 2021 event will be the 100th annual meeting of the CHA|SHC and it will open a year of centenary activities for the CHA|SHC’s 100th anniversary in 2022. The non-traditional format of this year’s conference provides an excellent prompt to reflection on some of the association’s standard practices – an opportunity to consider how we might adapt to pursue more effectively and responsibly our scholarly goals as we embark on the CHA|SHC’s second century.

PROPOSALS

Proposals for the CHA|SHC annual meeting are welcome from academic and public historians and from colleagues in related disciplines and occupations, both from within and beyond what’s now widely known as Canada. While applicants are encouraged to address the conference themes, proposals may pertain to any field of historical inquiry or history teaching. Proposals may be submitted in English or French.

Potential presenters are encouraged to assemble full panels (ideally four presenters) and to secure chairs but individual submissions are also welcome. We reserve the right to modify panels if necessary. Only one proposal per individual will be accepted and an individual who has indicated their intention to present material accepted for the 2020 conference should not make a new proposal for 2021. All presenters must be members in good standing of the CHA|SHC.

All proposals are to be submitted through the CHA|SHC’s electronic submission system at https://cha-shc.ca/submissions/2021-cha-call-for-papers. Applicants will need to sign in (if you have been a member of the CHA|SHC within the last five years) or create a user profile to access that section of the organization’s website.

Proposals consist of contact information for presenters and a chair (if applicable), a 250-word panel abstract (if applicable), and a 250-word abstract for each presenter. Some further details about the proposals and participants are also required. The deadline for submissions is 4 January 2021. No late submissions will be accepted. Organizers will release a call for poster/digital object presentations at a later date.

If you have questions about this call for papers or the annual meeting itself, please email chashc21@ualberta.ca. Questions or concerns related to the electronic submission process can be sent to cha-shc@cha-shc.ca. 

The CHA Annual Meeting was cancelled

     Cancelled Program

June 3-5, 2019

A Beginner's Guide to the 2019 CHA Annual Meeting

Have a look at the CHA's program.

The Program at a glance

The Program at a glance
Sunday & Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

Recording of the Panel on Access to Information: Historical Research under Bill C-59 

Listen to the podcast of CHA President Dominique Marshall's address entitled "Children's Drawings and Humanitarian Aid". 

History Slam: Canadian Mysteries with John Lutz and Ruth Sandwell - http://activehistory.ca/2015/07/history-slam-episode-sixty-five-canadian-mysteries/

History Slam: Metis and the Medicine Line with Michel Hogue - http://activehistory.ca/2015/06/history-slam-episode-sixty-three-metis-and-the-medicine-line/

History Slam: Congress Recap with Michel Duquet, executive director of the Canadian Historical Association, and Benoit Longval, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, about the graduate student experience at Congress, the pros and cons of roundtables, and the logistics of the CHA. http://activehistory.ca/2015/06/history-slam-episode-sixty-two-congress-recap-2015/

Dean Oliver's Keynote - http://activehistory.ca/2015/06/podcast-isnt-all-history-public-knowledge-wisdom-and-utility-in-the-great-age-of-storytelling/

Roundtable on Charitable Organizations and Citizen Engagement - http://activehistory.ca/2015/07/podcast-public-private-political-charitable-organizations-and-citizen-engagement/

History Slam: Commemorations in the National Capital Region: Evolution and Findings - http://activehistory.ca/2015/08/podcast-commemorations-in-the-national-capital-region-evolution-and-findings/

History Slam: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights - http://activehistory.ca/2015/08/history-slam-episode-sixty-seven-the-canadian-museum-for-human-rights/

History Slam: First Nations, Calgary Stampede, and the 1923 Raid on City Hall - http://activehistory.ca/2015/09/history-slam-episode-seventy-first-nations-the-calgary-stampede-and-the-1923-raid-on-city-hall/

Participants share their experience at the CHA Annual Meeting.

You can listen to this podcast on ActiveHistory.

Lyle Dick's Presidential Address
http://activehistory.ca/2013/07/podcast-lyle-dicks-cha-presidential-address/

Tweets during Lyle Dick's Presidential Address
http://storify.com/jomac1867/chashc2013-president-s-address

Active History
Sean Graham of ActiveHistory interviews the president of the CHA Graduate Student Committee; Jo-Anne McCutcheon, treasurer of the CHA; and Jodey Nurse from Guelph University http://activehistory.ca/2013/06/history-slam-episode-twenty-three-congress-recap/#more-11367

CHA Keynote Address