Submitting a Proposal
General Information
The deadline for submitting proposals for the 2025 annual meeting in New York has passed.
This form is for submissions to the in-person annual meeting, which will take place in New York City from Friday, January 3, through Monday, January 6, 2025. Sessions accepted by the Program Committee for the in-person meeting will be scheduled from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.
Historians from the United States appearing on the program are required to be AHA members. Everyone on the program must register for the meeting when registration opens in the fall of 2024.
Affiliates with questions about submitting affiliate sessions should consult our affiliate page.
Session Proposals
Before submitting a proposal online, session organizers should collect the following information, which will be needed to submit a complete proposal:
- Session title (of no more than 20 words)
- Session abstract (up to 500 words)
- Short session abstract for the meeting app (up to 50 words)
- Paper or presentation titles (if any)
- Abstract or description for each presentation (up to 300 words). Descriptions should be included for both roundtables and formal sessions.
- Biographical paragraph or CV summary (up to 250 words) for each participant
- Correct e-mail address for each participant
- Affiliation, city, state, and country for each participant
- Chair (required) and commentator (optional) for the session
- Organizer (required), serves as the principle point of contact but is not listed in the meeting program. Organizers are free to serve in other roles, which will be listed
- Audiovisual needs, if any
- Professional Twitter handle for each participant (optional)
- Website for each participant (optional)
- To assure substantial time for interaction between speakers and audience, panels are typically limited to a maximum of four participants in addition to a chair
Please Note: The Program Committee cannot accept single paper proposals.
Organizers submitting multi-session workshops will also be required to submit a brief description of the overall purpose and goals of the workshop. Organizers submitting experimental sessions will be asked to submit a 75-word description of the session format.
Poster Proposals
Organizers submitting poster proposals will need:
- Poster title
- Abstract of poster (up to 500 words)
- Poster abstracts should describe how poster will present information visually, as well as what the poster will argue intellectually
- Short abstract of poster for the meeting app (up to 50 words)
- Biographical paragraph or CV summary (up to 250 words)
For more information on crafting a poster proposal, take a look at our poster resources.
Additional Information
For detailed instructions and advice about using the online proposal system, consult the Frequently Asked Questions about the Submission of Proposals. Questions about policies, modes of presentation, and the electronic submissions process should be directed to the AHA staff.
To help members find sessions of interest, the online program for the annual meeting will include links to the abstracts for sessions and presentations entered into the electronic proposal system. The annual meeting app will include the short abstracts submitted with the proposal. Abstracts will be published as submitted to the Program Committee; individuals will not have the opportunity to edit abstracts after the proposal deadline. Please enter and review the information with that in mind.
Participants on accepted panels are expected to be available for all session slots, to the extent practicable. We can accommodate schedule requests based on religious practice, teaching schedules, ADA requests, and other obligations, which should be submitted with the proposal.
Presentation in Absentia
The AHA does not normally allow presentation via Skype, Zoom, or videoconference, as we find that it detracts from the experience for attendees, due to issues with sound quality and connectivity. It is also more difficult for the audience to interact with presenters who are not physically present. We do, however, allow presentations in absentia.
While we will not have high-speed internet capacity to support videoconferencing in the meeting space, we will offer a low-tech hybrid option for presenters unable to travel to the in-person meeting, in which presenters prerecord their presentation to be played during the session. Presenters may also elect to have another panelist read their presentation. Participants on affiliated society sessions should consult their affiliate for details.