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 tenth 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 Guided Discussion. 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.

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 digital teaching resources, 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.

For Undergraduate Attendees 

AHA24 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 and poster session.

Session Roundup

AHA24 offers a platform for historians from all specializations and professions to discuss, disagree, and learn from each other. Many sessions relate to the work historians do to engage with the public, from writing for various audiences to engaging policymakers. Other sessions offer perspectives from historians involved with a broad range of historical work. A selection of such sessions is found below.

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Thursday, January 4, 2024

Faculty Mentorship in Liberal Arts College History Departments
1:30-3 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

Peeking behind the Professional Curtain: Public Facing Research and the Application of History
1:30-3 p.m.

Experiencing the Immersive Global Middle Ages: A Workshop and Digital Lab
1:30-3 p.m.
Joint session with the Medieval Academy of America

Missing No More: Researching, Writing, and Selling Women's Biographies
1:30-3 p.m.

Historians for Mental Health: An Open Discussion
3:30-5 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

Is It Terminal? Revisiting the History Master's Degree
3:30-5 p.m.

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Friday, January 5, 2024

Feedback Session: Survey of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty
8:30-10 a.m

Introductory Graduate Courses in the Age of Career Diversity
8:30-10 a.m.

Op-Ed Workshop
8:30-11:30 a.m.
Organized by the AHA Research Division
Free advance registration required

Effective Mentorship and Advising in History Graduate Programs
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

How I Work: Four Historians on Process
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Joint session with the Coordinating Council for Women in History

Navigating the Stages of a Community College Career in Teaching History
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Graduate and Early Career Committee Guided Conversation
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Working Luncheon for Directors of Graduate Studies
12-1:30 p.m.
Tickets must be purchased in advance

Historians and the "Culture Wars" in Higher Education
1:30-3 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

Communicating History to Young Audiences: Historians Reflect on Writing Children's Books
1:30-3 p.m.

Embracing Messy Numbers: A Roundtable on Finding, Making, and Using Historical Data
1:30-3 p.m.

What's Next for History Majors?
3:30-5 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

Advocating for History: A Workshop on Steps and Strategies to Support the Discipline
3:30-5 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Teaching Division

HBCU Networking Event
4-5 p.m.

Reception for Two-Year Faculty
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the Teagle Foundation

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Saturday, January 6, 2024

"Alt-Ac" at the Crossroads: Advice and Guidance for the New History Majority
8:30-10 a.m.

Disciplinary Advantage: Historians as Administrators
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

Department Chairs' Luncheon
12-1:30 p.m.
Organized by the AHA's Institutional Membership Program and the AHA Professional Division
Tickets must be purchased in advance

Career Fair
12:30-3 p.m.

Essential Work: A Panel Discussion among Faculty Graduate Directors
1:30-3 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

History at the Crossroads: Challenges and Solutions for History Departments
3:30-5 p.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

So You Want to Publish in an Academic Journal
3:30-5 p.m.

Publishing Digital History: A State of the Field
3:30-5 p.m.
Joint session with the Association for Computers and the Humanities

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Sunday, January 7, 2024

Fed Up with the Academic Job Market and Career Path? Pathways for Historians in the Federal Government
9-10:30 a.m.
Organized by the AHA Professional Division

Digital Dossiers on and off the Tenure Track: Dos, Don't, and D'ohs
9-10:30 a.m.
Organized by the AHA Digital History Working Group

Taking It to the Streets: A Historians' Roundtable on Translating Scholarship into Community Change
9-10:30 a.m.

AI and the Historical Profession: Applications and Implications
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Podcasting, Pedagogy, and Publics: A Roundtable on History Delivered Right to your Ears
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Reimagining American History: How Digital Scholarship and Media Enhance Historical Accessibility and Teachability
11 a.m-12:30 p.m.