The Utah State Historical Society invites proposals for papers, sessions, and panels for its 67th annual conference to be held on September 27, 2019, at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City.
The conference theme takes a long view of the interior West. Whereas local and state history tend to build on narrow case studies, we encourage proposals that stretch the temporal dimensions of the past. Special attention will be made to the region’s long human history of prehistoric and indigenous groups and cultures, as informed by oral tradition and the methodology of archaeology and ethnography. Likewise, we welcome studies that incorporate evolving natural processes: the geologic, climatic, and environmental. The theme also lends itself to histories of structural systems, of demographic trends, and of cultural values that span generations.
The long view encourages historians to borrow methodologies and ways of thinking that stretch their subject matter beyond a constricted time frame. Any number of approaches are possible. The theme may prompt some to look at the macro, expanding the scales of their histories by observing patterns and relationships over a broad canvas, while for others it leads to the micro—to longterm forces at play in a particular place or community. Whatever approach is taken, the theme can reveal interconnections among seemingly disparate episodes, new origins in the stories we tell, and historical antecedents in contemporary practices and behaviors.
We invite the public, scholars, students, policymakers, and organizations to submit proposals for papers, panels, or multimedia presentations on this theme. Submissions on other aspects of Utah history will also be considered. We welcome a range of formats, from the traditional panels and sessions to more innovative formats. We encourage full session or panel submissions, though we will make every effort to match single paper proposals with other panels and papers.
Proposals should be submitted to Individual Submission and Session or Panel Submission.
The 2019 Call for Papers is also available as a PDF to be shared with your colleagues.
Queries may be directed to Jedediah Rogers or Holly George, 2019 program co-chairs, at uhq@utah.gov.
Additional conference information will be posted at history.utah.gov/2019conference.