The AHA annual meeting includes 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.
Sessions must take place in person in person in New Orleans. Due to the late decision deadline, participants should be prepared to make last-minute travel plans. Accepted sessions will be listed in the online program and the meeting app.
These sessions should explore either major, late-breaking controversies within the discipline or the relevance of history and historical thinking to current events. We strongly encourage organizers to build panels that encompass a range of perspectives. Sessions that adopt an international approach are particularly welcome.
Before submitting a full proposal, organizers should send a two- or three-sentence description of the planned session for permission to move forward with the submission. Short descriptions will be due by November 10; the selection committee will respond within a week of the November 10 submission deadline.
Our goal is to enable historians to engage major issues that have only recently crossed our horizon, that either relate directly to the work of historians, or call for historical context and commentary. The bar for acceptance will be considerably higher than through the regular process.
Select organizers will be invited to submit full proposals, which must be for complete 90-minute sessions. Most sessions will be limited to four speakers plus a chair; since these are by definition conversations that respond to recent events we do not expect traditional research presentations. We do not generally provide LCD projectors for late-breaking sessions.
Individuals already on the program are welcome to participate, as long as they comply with the rule that participants may appear on no more than two sessions at the annual meeting, in two different roles.
With the exception of foreign scholars and those from other disciplines, all persons appearing on the program must be members of the AHA, although membership is not required to submit a proposal. All participants must register for the meeting. The Association aspires to represent the full diversity of its membership at the annual meeting.
A selection committee made up of the 2027 Program Committee chairs, the executive director, and the president will review invited submissions, which will be due by midnight PST on November 20, 2026. Proposers of accepted sessions will be notified of the committee’s decision by e-mail in early December.