Call for Discussants

What are NCPH Working Groups?

Working groups, involving up to six facilitators and up to twelve discussants, allow conferees to explore in depth a subject of shared concern before and during the annual meeting. In these seminar-like conversations, participants have a chance to discuss questions raised by specific programs, problems, or initiatives in their own public history practice with peers grappling with similar issues. Working groups articulate a purpose they are working toward or a problem they are actively trying to solve. They aim to create an end product(s), such as a report, article, website, or exhibition.

2024 Working Groups

For 2024, eleven working groups are seeking discussants:

  1. A Circle of Care for Black Women Working at Sites of Trauma
  2. AAPI Public History Working Group: Opportunities and Partnerships to Grow the Field
  3. Best Practices for Creating Sustainable Public History Class Projects
  4. Beyond Tunnel Vision:  Recovering the Hidden Stories of the Transcontinental Railroad
  5. Creating a Teaching Tool for Community-Engaged Work
  6. Empowering the Public History Workplace, Part Two: Resources, Organizing, and Pedagogy
  7. Innovation and Reinvention: Doing Public History in Postindustrial Communities
  8. Leadership From Below: Strategies, Best Practices, and Resources
  9. Rethinking Black Museums in the Age of Black Lives Matter
  10. Women in Public History Working Group
  11. The World War II Home Front, Part Three

Read the Call for Working Group discussants to learn more about each group:  Word format | PDF format

To apply to join one of these working groups, please fill out the form describing the issues you wish to raise with your peers, together with a one-page resume, CV, or biographical statement, by November 15, 2023. We welcome submissions from individuals across a range of professions and career stages. Please see the specific working group descriptions below. Individuals who are selected will be listed as working group discussants in the conference Program and will participate in the working group session at the annual meeting.

Expectations

This fall the group facilitators will ask discussants to contribute a 500-1,000-word case statement. The case statement will describe a discussant’s particular experience, define the issues this experience raises, and suggest strategies and/or goals for resolution. Case statements will be circulated among participants and posted to the NCPH website. Discussants are expected to read and provide written comments on one another’s case statements well before the conference date. Some working groups may also have additional shared background reading materials identified by their facilitators or may choose to open case statements for wider public input. Discussants are expected to meet in person next April at the National Council on Public History and Utah Historical Society’s joint meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.

To apply

Please fill out the discussant application form, making sure to select which working group you are applying to join. (You may apply to participate in a working group whether or not you have submitted another presentation or session proposal. You may apply for only one working group.) All working group discussants are expected to register and pay for the annual meeting within six weeks of acceptance.

Apply at http://ncph.org/conference/working-group-discussant-application/