About the Symposia
In 2025, the American Historical Association will co-host a series of three symposia on the possibilities and challenges of large-scale historical research. For decades, historians and digital humanists have been at the forefront of collaborative, computational, and digital research, but the scale, volume, and complexity of historical records have expanded far beyond the organizational capacity of individual scholars.
Historians are increasingly engaged with questions of data sovereignty, access, and preservation. Despite the significance of these historical records, federal and private foundation funding for historical research has remained largely static and is often tailored for individual researchers. As federal agencies support multi-institutional centers (“engines”) to drive research in the natural and social sciences, historians are considering similar modes of organizing historical research. These symposia will explore the possibilities and challenges of large-scale historical research.
Upcoming Events
The Future of Research in the Age of AI
This symposium will take place on March 27–28, 2025, at the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. Our goal is to foster a community of practice that spans many disciplines and kinds of institutions and to enable colleagues to reflect on the opportunities and challenges for conducting large-scale research and creative inquiry in the age of AI in the discipline of history and allied disciplines across the humanities and social sciences.

July 30–August 1, 2025
Annual Meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, California
More information about this symposium will be available soon.

October 16–17, 2025
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center
Washington, DC
More information about this symposium will be available soon.