Around the Field – October 7, 2026

07 October 2026 –

From Around the Field this week: Imagining America has selected Penn State University as its new host campus; The Alliance for Texas History has announced a new award recognizing public service in history; NCPH has extended their call for poster proposals to October 18; and Preserve This is hosting a virtual 4-week Introduction to Community Archiving 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Imagining America (IA) has selected Penn State University as its new host campus beginning July 1, 2027. IA is a national consortium that connects scholars, artists, and designers to promote public scholarship, humanities and the arts in higher education.
  • The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has published the results of its inaugural National Museum Survey (NMS). It is the first comprehensive federal dataset regarding museums nationwide and is available to view on their data portal
  • Nominations for the 2027 Dan David Prize are now open until October 13, 2026. The Dan David Prize is the world’s largest history prize, annually awarding 9 prizes of $300,000 each to scholars in the historical disciplines
  • The National Park Service is inviting public input on four early concepts and future of the reconstructed fort at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. Comments are being accepted through October 23, 2026
  • The Oral History Association is seeking a host institution or executive director for a five-year commitment beginning on January 1, 2028. Letters of interest should include a preliminary explanation of factors that would make you an appropriate executive director or your institution an appropriate home. Letters are due November 1, 2026

AWARDS AND FUNDING

  • The Alliance for Texas History has announced the Dan K. Utley Award for Public Service, which recognizes those with a sustained record of service, character, and positive influence in preserving and sharing history. The award includes $1,000 and further details regarding the nomination process will be forthcoming
  • The Council on Library and Information Resources has opened its Digitized Hidden Collections grant for academic, independent, and community-based nonprofit organizations that collect, preserve, and share unique materials. The application period closes October 20, 2026
  • The Costume Society of America has opened its application for the Small Museum Collection Care Grant that provides museums with $1,600 to assist with costume and textile collections. The application is due November 1, 2026
  • The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) invites applications for the final competition of the ACLS Digital Justice Grants Program to support digital projects across the humanities and social sciences that engage marginalized histories. The deadline for applications is November 3, 2026
  • The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting grant applications for its 2027 fiscal year. Museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions are encouraged to apply by November 13, 2026

CONFERENCES AND CALLS

  • The Long Island Museum Association & Long Island Historical Societies are hosting their inaugural conference From Collection to Connection in Garden City, New York on December 7, 2026. Call for session proposals are due October 9, 2026
  • The Organization of American Historians is hosting, “Coasts, Currents, and Islands: Exploring the Interwoven Histories of the United States & the Pacific,” part of its History in Place Symposium series, in Honolulu, Hawai’i, US, from October 10-11, 2026
  • The Oral History Association is hosting its 2026 Annual Meeting, “Landscapes of Memory,” in Portland, Oregon, US, from October 14-17, 2026
  • New Jersey Monuments to Migration and Labor is hosting a symposium for Interventions, Legacies, and Futures in New Brunswick and Paterson, New Jersey, from October 15-17, 2026
  • The Business History Conference is hosting its annual meeting in Mexico City, Mexico, from March 18-20, 2027. Paper proposals should be submitted by October 16, 2026
  • History and Archives in Practice is hosting its annual event in London, England on April 28, 2027. Proposals should be submitted by October 16, 2027
  • The National Council on Public History is hosting its annual conference “Holding the Line” in St. Missouri, from April 21-24, 2027. Call for posters is available until October 18, 2026
  • The Italian Association for Urban History is hosting its annual congress in Genoa, Italy, from September 7-10, 2027. Call for papers are open until October 18, 2026
  • The World History Association is hosting its 36th annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from June 27-29, 2027. Call for proposals are due October 19, 2026
  • Qatar National Library’s Heritage Library & Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies are jointly hosting a conference in Doha, Qatar, from October 19–20, 2026, that focuses on the public history field in the Middle East
  • The Western History Association is hosting its 66th Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, US, from October 21-24, 2026
  • The Universities Studying Slavery consortium will host its fall conference, “250 Years of Freedom and Unfreedom: Truth, Liberty, and Justice for All,” in College Park, Maryland, US from October 22-25, 2026
  • Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life is meeting for its 2026 National Gathering, “Tides of Transition: Restoring Collective Spirit in Troubled Times,” in Davis, California, US, from October 23-25, 2026
  • The Alliance for Texas History is hosting its annual conference in McAllen, Texas, from May 26-28, 2027. Paper proposals are due by November 1, 2026
  • The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations is hosting its 2027 annual conference in Arlington, Virginia, from June 24-26, 2027. The call for paper proposals ends November 1, 2026
  • The Museums Association of the Caribbean is hosting its 2026 annual conference, “Caribbean Museums: Connectors, Conveners, and Catalysts for Change,” in Port of Spain, Trinidad, from November 9-13, 2026
  • The Lost Region Recovery Project is hosting its Midwestern Studies conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from November 19-21, 2026
  • The Association of Critical Heritage Studies is meeting for its 8th biennial conference in Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand, from November 30-December 2, 2026
  • The Small Museum Association is hosting its 43rd annual conference in Rochester, New York, from February 21-24, 2027
  • The National Humanities Alliance is hosting their Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day in Arlington, Virginia, US, from March 7-9, 2027
  • CivxNow is hosting the Civic Learning Week National Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina, from March 11-12, 2027
  • The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums is hosting its Building Museums Symposium in Los Angeles, California, from March 17-19, 2027
  • The American Society for Environmental History is hosting its 50th annual conference in Richmond, Virginia, from March 31-April 3, 2027
  • The Organization of American Historians will host their 2027 OAH Conference in San Francisco, California, US, April 1-4, 2027
  • The American Institute for Conservation is hosting its 55th annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from May 3-7, 2027 
  • The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) is hosting its annual meeting and MuseumExpo in Houston, Texas, from May 5-8, 2027
  • The Fort Ticonderoga Museum is hosting its Thirty-First Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War Conference in Ticonderoga, New York, from May 21-23, 2027

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

  • The Federation of State Humanities Councils has launched the podcast, By the People: Conversations Beyond 250. It is a series of community-driven programs that explore 250 years of the nation’s cultural life and history
  • The Society of Indiana Archivists (SIA) is hosting “Conquering the Copyright Beast,” a workshop on copyright in digital archives on October 9, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana
  • The Stickley Museum is hosting a 6-part virtual lecture series on the broader architectural history of Gustav Stickley beginning October 10, 2026
  • Preserve This is hosting a virtual 4-week Introduction to Community Archiving course that begins October 12, 2026. The last day for registration is this Friday, October 9
  • The American Alliance of American Museums (AAM) is hosting a virtual webinar on how museums can engage authentically with marginalized communities on October 19, 2026
  • The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is hosting a virtual workshop on getting started in local advocacy on October 20, 2026
  • The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NDCC) is hosting a virtual workshop on grant writing for collections preservation on October 27, 2026

PUBLICATIONS

  • The University of North Carolina Press has published The River That Made Texas: A Forgotten History of the Trinity by NCPH member Scot McFarlane. View the official book trailer and visit the website to learn more
  • The University of Nevada Press has published National Parks and the Supreme Court: Groundbreaking Legal Battles by NCPH member Carla Chung Mattix, which examines how the Court has shaped the National Park System
  • Transpositiones, an interdisciplinary biannual peer-reviewed humanities journal, is seeking submissions for its sixth volume, which will focus on the environmental humanities. Proposals are due October 20, 2026
  • The Open Library of Humanities Journal seeks papers for its issue, Eros Across Antiquity, Ecology and Posthumanism. Abstracts should be submitted by October 31, 2026

To submit an item to this regular listing, fill out the form at https://ncph.org/around-the-field-form/. Please make sure to include a URL where readers can find more information about your posting.

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