The 2023 AHA annual meeting will include a set of late-breaking sessions, submitted shortly before the meeting, to allow historians to respond to current events or recent controversies within the discipline. Encompassing a wide range of perspectives, these panels show the relevance of history and historical thinking to public culture and policy. Add late-breaking sessions to your meeting agenda via our Late-Breaking Sessions schedule track in the AHA23 App.

Late Breaking: History, Memory, and Geopolitics—How the Legacy of World War II Shapes National Narratives in the 21st Century

Thursday, January 5, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon E (5th Floor)

The goal of this panel is to promote a lively discussion about World War II in international politics and popular culture. In addition, the panelists hope that our discussion will underscore the danger of conflating history and collective memory while also emphasizing the importance of both to contemporary society.

Late Breaking: Writing Refugee Histories in an Unsettled World

Thursday, January 5, 3:30–5:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon B (5th Floor)

This panel takes the urgent fact of massive human displacements in the contemporary work—as the result of wars, state repression, internal conflicts and, increasingly, climate-related catastrophe—as the occasion for reflecting on the writing of refugee histories: its value, its methodological challenges, and the current state of the field.

Late Breaking: “Woman, Life, Freedom”: Historical and Embodied Perspectives on Revolutionary Change in Iran, 2022–23

Friday, January 6, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon H (5th Floor)

This interactive panel illuminates the challenges faced by Iranian women in the wake of the 1979 Revolution and currently in widespread protests following the death of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini; she died in September while being held in custody of the morality police.

Late Breaking: Originalism, the Supreme Court, Gun Laws, and History

Friday, January 6, 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon H (5th Floor)

This roundtable will bring together historians to explain and explore the arguments over history that were central in the recent Bruen decision. In addition to discussing the role of history and originalism in the decision and its aftermath, the presenters will briefly spotlight cutting-edge areas of new research on guns in US history.

Late Breaking: Bridging the Divide between Historians and Journalists

Friday, January 6, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon D (5th Floor)

This panel aims to explore how journalists and historians can better work together by coming up with practical solutions that honor both professional standards. The historians on this panel have all written for major mainstream news outlets and the journalists have all written about the past.

Late Breaking: “Safe Supplies” of Opiates, Widespread Health Care Access, and Downsides of Drug Laws—History’s Lessons for Addressing the Opioid Epidemic

Saturday, January 7, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon E (5th Floor)

While the scope of the opioid epidemic is exceptional, precedents in American history can inform the current debate. Many generations have contended with the reality that a beneficial medicine can also be a dangerous and addictive drug. This panel will provide historical context for the opioid epidemic and recommendations regarding the response.

Late Breaking: Engineering and Disasters—A Historical Perspective on Hurricane Ian at the Intersection of Engineering, Sustainability, and Vulnerability

Sunday, January 8, 9:00–10:30 a.m.
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom Salon I (5th Floor)

To examine larger questions of public policy, this roundtable discussion responds to the disaster of Hurricane Ian in Florida with a panel of specialists on the history of the built environment, disasters, and engineering.