The AHA’s annual meeting is known for showcasing the diversity of the historical profession. And one of the best places to see this diversity on display is at the Exhibit Hall, where attendees can see both where the discipline has come and where it is going. New titles hot off the press sit next to reprinted editions of your old favorites. And digital database demonstrations can give you new ideas for your future research and teaching.
Much of the 2017 annual meeting will take place at the Colorado Convention Center. In this large building, you will have the opportunity to exceed your 10,000 daily step goal as you walk past stunning views of the Rocky Mountains. To get to the Exhibit Hall, follow the Grand Concourse to C Lobby and travel up any of the escalators or elevators to Exhibit Hall C. While you’re in C Lobby, stop by the information tables of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Society of Church History.
Attendees with mobility issues can get a ride on our complimentary golf cart service, running between the AHA Information Desk in the A Atrium and the elevators up to the Exhibit Hall in C Lobby during the following hours: Thursday, January 5 from 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Friday, January 6 and Saturday, January 7 from 8 a.m.–6 p.m.; and Sunday, January 8, from 8 a.m.–1 p.m.
Once you enter the Exhibit Hall, the full diversity of the discipline awaits you. The 2017 annual meeting welcomes over 75 companies and organizations representing the full range of historical work, from centuries-old publishing houses to start-up digital mapping websites.
Make your first stop at the AHA booth. We would love to meet you and learn about your work as a historian. If you’re curious about the great projects and initiatives that your dues support, we would love to tell you more. Want to meet the people who help run the AHA? Stop by for one of our “Office Hours” and chat with AHA President Pat Manning, AHA Executive Director Jim Grossman, and Perspectives on History Editor Allison Miller, among others. The full, updated list will be featured in the annual meeting app once the schedule is finalized.
Beyond the AHA booth, in each direction, you will find dozens of exhibitors eager to meet you and learn about your work. If you’re not sure where to start with the dozens of exhibitors and thousands of new books, check out the ads in the annual meeting program to learn what new titles have come out in your field of study. If you fall in love with something new, you can take it home! (And if you wait until Sunday, you’ll get a really good price.)
Are you working on a book? Meet with potential editors to pitch your project! Last year, Amy Lee of Cambridge University Press offered a publisher’s take on the Exhibit Hall, including a set of “Dos and Don’ts” for interacting with editors. Need a new textbook? You can evaluate your options for course adoption and sign up for review copies at many exhibitor booths. Looking for research tools? Find databases to recommend to your institution’s library.
In Denver, we will also debut a new addition: the Exhibit Hall Stage. This new space will allow our exhibitors and other organizations to present their products and their work. Stop by throughout the day to hear about exciting developments in the discipline. Get insights into the range of historical activities, including research, teaching, career prospects, and public engagement:
- Learn about a “game changing” development for historians of early America. Come attend a demonstration of Adam Matthew’s new digital primary source database.
- Faculty participants in the Measuring College Learning Project will discuss “Why We (Might?) Need a Standardized History Assessment Now.”
- The AHA’s own Stephanie Kingsley will give a tour of our new Teaching Resources web pages.
- Robert Townsend of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the author of numerous reports on job trends, will discuss the “Career Prospects for Graduate Students in History and Humanities.”
- Producers of the PBS documentary show Colorado Experience will discuss how historians can communicate their work to the public through the medium of film.
- Come discuss the best strategies for marketing the history major to today’s undergraduates with Stephen Aron of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Find the full, updated schedule in the annual meeting app.
Stop by the Exhibit Hall whenever you have a chance during the meeting. We’re open Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. You’ll find something new each time you visit. Remember, books love company!
This post first appeared on AHA Today.
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