Meet New People

There are numerous ways to catch up with old friends or meet new people at the annual meeting. Newcomers are encouraged to join us at Getting the Most Out of the Annual Meeting, an orientation for first-time attendees. A variety of thematic receptions, including ones for undergraduates, graduate students, two-year faculty, K-12 teachers, HBCU faculty, students, and alumni, bloggers and twitterstorians, and public historians, provide opportunities to socialize and network. Finally, stop by the eighth annual Career Fair on Saturday afternoon, hosted by the AHA's Career Diversity for Historians initiative, where you can speak with dozens of historians working in government, education, non-profit organizations, and the private sector.

Explore Career Paths

Historians work in all kinds of professional settings, and the annual meeting offers opportunities to explore how and where they practice their craft and use their skills. Learn about job-hunting during the pandemic in the faculty and non-faculty realms in Graduate and Early Career Committee Open Forum: Looking for Work in a Pandemic-Reports from Recent History Job Seekers. Stop by the Career Fair, and speak with dozens of historians working in advocacy organizations, business, and higher ed administration. While you are at the Career Fair, check out Ask an Assistant Professor to get the scoop from faculty at a range of colleges and universities about what their job is really like. Still want more? The annual meeting program features a range of panels focused on careers for historians in podcasting, documentary editing, publishing, and more.

Learn New Skills... or Hone Existing Ones

The AHA's Career Diversity for Historians initiative has identified five key skills that help historians succeed in careers both inside and beyond the professoriate. The annual meeting is a great place to gain familiarity with many of them. For example, you can develop your digital know-how at the Digital Project Showcase and Digital Drop In. Interested in communicating with a broad range of audiences? Stretch your communication skills at a lightning round or workshop, explore narrative podcasting, or find out more about the challenges and opportunities of practicing history online. 

Teaching is an essential historical skill, and the annual meeting is overflowing with workshops and panels devoted to professional development for teachers in K-12 and postsecondary environments. In conjunction with the AHA's History Gateways initiative, we are holding panels on the introductory history course, and how to redesign them to better serve students with a wide range of preparation and motivation. Current and future faculty will benefit from discussions about lessons learned from the pandemic, and panels on teaching contemporary controversies and free speech. Check out our guide to Teaching and Learning activities at the annual meeting for full details.

Reimagine Doctoral Education

The annual meeting will feature a special lightning round session focused on how history graduate programs can integrate professional development, including pedagogical training, into their curriculum. It's a must-see for faculty interested in learning more about the work history departments are doing to better prepare their PhD students for a variety of career outcomes. This session is part of the AHA's ongoing effort to work directly with faculty committed to realigning doctoral education in their departments with the more expansive vision of professional opportunities available to historians. It builds on two special projects organized by the AHA in 2020 and 2021: our spring 2021 Career Diversity Faculty Institute, which you can read about here, and our Survey of Doctoral Programs, which collected a broad array of information pertaining to the culture, curriculum, and process of doctoral education in history. The survey results, which we'll begin releasing in spring 2022, will provide history faculty with a thorough overview of the state of doctoral education in history and help them assess their own programs and inform the ways in which they train the next generation of historians.

For Undergraduate Attendees 

AHA22 offers professional development activities for undergraduates, too! Attend orientation and find out how to get the most from the conference, and stop by the reception to mingle with other undergraduate students and faculty. Describe your research to fellow historians in the undergraduate-focused Lightning Round (sign-up here) and poster session.

Session Roundup

AHA22 is the place to explore career paths for historians and diversify your skill set. Whether you are pursuing a degree in history, currently seeking employment, or are a faculty member interested in how you can better prepare your students for their careers, you'll find panels and workshops that provide insight and inspiration.

Thursday, January 6

Modes of Historical Story-Telling: Reaching beyond the Academy with Graphic Arts, Films, and Physical Culture
Thursday, January 6, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Opening the Gates: The Futures of History from the Liberal Arts College Perspective, Part 1: Workshop
Organized by the AHA Teaching Division with the Teagle Foundation
Thursday, January 6, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

"I Want to Learn More about My History!" Innovative Approaches to Engaging and Retaining Borderlands College History Students
Thursday, January 6, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Research and the Tenure and Promotion of Historians
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in History
Thursday, January 6, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Beyond Collaboration
Organized by the AHA Research Division
Thursday, January 6, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Opening the Gates: The Futures of History from the Liberal Arts College Perspective, Part 2: Roundtable
Organized by the AHA Teaching Division with the Teagle Foundation
Thursday, January 6, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Opening the Gates: The Futures of History from the Liberal Arts College Perspective Social Hour
Organized by the AHA Teaching Division with the Teagle Foundation
Thursday, January 6, 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Friday, January 7

Modes of Historical Story-Telling: Reaching beyond the Academy with Radically Expansive Narratives
Friday, January 7, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Pipeline Programs between HBCUs and R1s: Why They Matter
Organized by the AHA Professional Division and the AHA Committee on Minority Historians
Friday, January 7, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Doing History Differently: Pandemic Lessons for the Post-COVID Future
Friday, January 7, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Course Redesign for the Introductory History Course
Friday, January 7, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Teaching Race
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in History
Friday, January 7, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Examples of Pipeline Programs between HBCUs and R1s
Organized by the AHA Professional Division and the AHA Committee on Minority Historians
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

The Association of University Presses' Roundtable on Getting Your Book Published
Organized by the AHA Professional Division and the AHA Research Division
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Beyond Zoom: Research and Audience in the Digital Age Organized by the AHA Research Division
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Equal Access: Teaching World History in Community College Survey Courses Using Open Education Resources (OER)
Joint session with the World History Association
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Gender, Collecting, and Public History at the Smithsonian
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Innovation and Intersections in the 21st-Century History Discipline and Classroom
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Playing the Past: Digital Games in the History Classroom
Friday, January 7, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Meet the Editors and Staff of the American Historical Review
Friday, January 7, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

How Do You Conceptualize a Second Book?
Organized by the AHA Professional Division
Friday, January 7, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Graduate and Early Career Committee Open Forum: Looking for Work in a Pandemic-Reports from Recent History Job Seekers
Organized by the AHA Graduate and Early Career Committee
Friday, January 7, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Americans' Perceptions of History: New Research and Next Steps
Joint session with the American Association for State and Local History
Friday, January 7, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Film Screening: John O'Connor Film Award Winner, Documentary: "The Greatest Gay Victory": CURED as a Case Study in Historical Rediscovery
Friday, January 7, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Digital Project Showcase and Digital Drop In
Organized by the AHA Digital History Working Group
Friday, January 7, 2:00-5:00 p.m.

Teaching and the American Historical Review
Organized by the AHA Research Division
Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Committee on LGBTQ Status in the Profession Open Forum
Organized by the AHA Committee on LGBTQ Status in the Profession
Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Making the Case for History: Curriculum, Enrollments, Advocacy, and Equity
Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Urban History as Public History: Building Equity in Campus-Community Collaborations
Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Graduate Student Perspectives on Career Diversity Initiatives
Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Narrative Podcasting as Scholarship
Joint session with the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Friday, January 7, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Central American Studies Section and the Latin American Library at Tulane University: Central America, Archives, and History
Conference on Latin American History
Friday, January 7, 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Plenary: American Routes
Friday, January 7, 8:30-9:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 8

A Paleography Escape Room: A Practicum on Using Paleography Games to Build Historical Skills in the Classroom
Saturday, January 8, 8:30-10:00 a.m.  

Doing History Online: Podcasts, Twitter, and the Digital Archive
Saturday, January 8, 8:30-10:00 a.m.  

Film Screening: Lincoln and Douglas: Touring Illinois in Turbulent Times
Saturday, January 8, 8:30-10:00 a.m.  

Imagining the 20th Century through Visual Culture: Media, Legacy, and the Historical Narrative
Saturday, January 8, 8:30-10:00 a.m.  

Decolonizing and Recentering Indigenous Specialists: Knowledge and Practitioners in the Americas and the Indian Ocean
Saturday, January 8, 8:30-10:00 a.m.  

K-12 Educators' Workshop: LOC 101: Finding-and Engaging Students with-Primary Sources from the Library of Congress
Sponsored by the Advanced Placement Program of the College Board 
Saturday, January 8, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Modes of Historical Story-Telling: Children's Literature
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Improving the Status of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: Building on the AHA Statement
Organized by the AHA Professional Division 
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Digital Pedagogy Drop-In Session
Organized by the AHA Digital History Working Group 
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Taking Notes and Teaching Note-Taking in the 21st Century
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Integrating Comics in the World History Classroom: A Practical Workshop
Joint session with the World History Association 
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Hellhounds on the Trail: Building Restorative History from a Legendary Blues Archive
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Embrace the Rainbow: A Conversation about Queering Traditional Museums and Other Public History Institutions
Joint session with the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History
Saturday, January 8, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Department Chairs Luncheon
Organized by the AHA's Institutional Membership Program and the AHA Professional Division 
Saturday, January 8, 12:00-1:30 p.m.  

Career Fair
Organized by the AHA's Career Diversity for Historians initiative 
Saturday, January 8, 1:00-4:00 p.m.  

Modes of Historical Story-Telling: Gathering Stories to Preserve and Create Histories of People and Places in and around New Orleans
Saturday, January 8, 1:30-3:00 p.m.  

Historians for Mental Health: An Open Discussion
Organized by the AHA Professional Division 
Saturday, January 8, 1:30-3:00 p.m.  

More Than a CV Line: Collaborative Research in Practice
Organized by the AHA Research Division 
Saturday, January 8, 1:30-3:00 p.m.  

Teaching with Historiography in Secondary Classrooms: Challenges and Learning Opportunities
Organized by the AHA Teaching Division 
Saturday, January 8, 1:30-3:00 p.m.  

Digital History: Storytelling Latinidad
Saturday, January 8, 1:30-3:00 p.m.  

Federal Jobs Workshop
Joint session with the Society for History in the Federal Government
Saturday, January 8, 1:30-3:00 p.m.  

Modes of Historical Story-Telling: Community Collaborations and Multiple Publics
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.  

What to Expect When You're Working with an Editor
Organized by the AHA Professional Division and the AHA Research Division
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

A State of the Field for Busy Teachers: Reconstruction
Organized by the AHA Teaching Division
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Teaching Plagues and Pandemics
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Is Podcasting the New Punk Rock? History, Historians, and Podcasts
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.  

Monuments, Colonial Violence, and Global Histories
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.  

Museums, Memory, and War Contexts in Colombia
Conference on Latin American History
Saturday, January 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Teaching and Learning Networking Opportunity
Saturday, January 8, 3:45-4:45 p.m.

Film Screening: The Neutral Ground
Saturday, January 8, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

National History Center of the American Historical Association Reception
Saturday, January 8, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Sunday, January 9

Modes of Historical Story-Telling: Crafting Narratives of Trauma for Public Audiences
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Strategies for Redesigning Introductory Courses in History: Innovative Ideas from the History Gateways Project
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Teaching Lessons from the Pandemic: From the Classroom to Online and Back
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

The Editor as Historian, the Historian as Editor
Joint session with the Association for Documentary Editing 
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Contentious Events in the Context of Federal History
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Digitizing the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Discovering and Preserving Marginalized Voices in America, 1870-1920
Joint session with the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

What Might "Restorative Justice" Look Like in an American History Museum?
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Harnessing Local History for Community Engagement and Identity: Examples from South Louisiana
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Teaching Contemporary Controversies in the Secondary School History Curriculum
Radical History Review 
Sunday, January 9, 9:00-10:30 a.m.  

Assignments Charrette
Sunday, January 9, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  

Baking It In: Curricular Change and Career Diversity
Sunday, January 9, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.  

Teaching Creatively with Digital Tools: Lessons from the Pandemic Pivot
Sunday, January 9, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.