The AHA’s 126th annual meeting takes place in Chicago this Thursday, January 5 through Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Today we’ve rounded up Program highlights and other information to help you make last-minute preparations for the meeting. Check back here at AHA Today throughout this week for daily overviews of events and other annual meeting news.

Travel and Transportation
Make traveling to and around Chicago as smooth as possible with this information on traveling from the airport, public transportation in Chicago, taxis, and parking options.

General Info
The annual meeting General Information section on the AHA website has a variety of helpful information, including details on the shuttle service between hotels, quiet rooms at the meeting, hotel floorplans, locations and hours of services and events, and much more.

Program
If you’re a regular reader of AHA Today, you may have been following our “Session of the Week” series (find them all in the Annual Meeting section). These featured sessions, including Did We Go Wrong? The Past and Prospects of the History Profession, Whither the Future of the History Textbook, Popular Protest in Global Perspective, and others, are just a few of the hundreds of sessions taking place this week.

Also check out our lists of sessions on teaching, digital methods in history, and of interest to graduate students and early career professionals. And find a complete list of all the sessions at the meeting in the annual meeting Program, available online and in PDF format.

Job Center
Taking part in the Job Center this year? Whether you’re a job candidate or part of a search committee, Liz Townsend, who runs the Job Center, has the Top Ten Job Center Tips for you.

Hit the Job Center page on the AHA website for a map of interview locations in Chicago and other helpful info. The Job Center Handout, which contains a list of all the job searches taking place in Chicago that have been reported to the AHA, has been continually updated since it was first posted.

Chicago
Learn more about the annual meeting host city by attending a session or tour on Chicago history. The Supplement to the 126th Annual Meetingcontains articles on all Chicago has to offer historians (preservation, protest history, museums and attractions), even restaurants, cheap eats near the hotels, and historians’ favorite food spots.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.