Historical Society Conference, 2012

Randall Stephens

December 1, 2011 seems far, far away. But, it will be upon us before we know it. That date marks the deadline for panel and individual paper submissions for the Historical Society's 2012 conference: "Popularizing Historical Knowledge: Practice, Prospects, and Perils," Columbia, SC, Thursday, May 31st - Saturday, June 2nd, 2012. Here's the CFP:

Professional historians in the United States are increasingly being called upon to produce more “popular,” more accessible history. How do and how should academic historians reach popular audiences? How and to what extent is “popular” history written around the world? Does the meaning of and audience for “popular history” vary from place to place? Along with professional historians, states, elites, and a variety of interest groups have long had an interest in sponsoring, supporting, and generating historical knowledge for popular and other audiences. We seek paper and panel proposals that will consider “popular” history in its various guises and locales. How and to what extent is the interest in “popular” history genuinely new? How do and how should historians interact with television and movie production or write op-ed pieces or blogs or serve as expert witnesses? Is there such a thing as a truly “popular” history? Do we need a distinctive “popular” history and are historians properly equipped to write it?

Please submit proposals (brief abstract and brief CV) by December 1, 2011 to Mark Smith and Dean Kinzley, 2012 Program Chairs, at jslucas@bu.edu

I was thinking about the main theme and wondering about some ideas for panels. . . .

"Writing Popular History for the General Public"; "Public History and the Public Historian"; "How Journalists Write History Bestsellers"; "Can Late Antique History Reach a Large Audience?"; "Popular History in the 1950s, Popular History in the 2000s"; "Howard Zinn and David McCullough: A Consideration of the Politics of Popular History"; "The Rise and Fall and Rise of Biographical History"; "Reenactors of the World Unite: What Professional Historians Can Learn from Living History Buffs"; "How Will Writing Popular History Shape Your Career?"; "The State of Popular Digital History"; "How Not to Write Popular History"; "PBS's American Experience and TV History"; "The Career of Ken Burns." The list could go on and on!